Doc shortchanges Central Washington voters

Maybe we should feel honored that 4th District Congressman Doc Hastings has declined an invitation from this newspaper's editorial board for a joint interview with his opponent this year.

Such candidate interviews lead to the Yakima Herald-Republic's endorsements of candidates and Hastings apparently knows full well they can't be taken for granted. In that sense, it's a compliment. It's also unprecedented — the first time in our memory that a sitting office-holder has refused our request for an endorsement interview.

Hastings, first elected in the Republican congressional landslide of 1994, is being challenged by Democrat Richard Wright in Hastings' sixth bid for re-election. As is our custom in contested races in election years, we invite the opposing candidates in for a question-and-answer session, which plays a significant role in the board's decision of whom to recommend to voters.

Hastings declined the invitation. In a faxed statement from his Washington, D.C., office last week, he said:

"I'm certain you understand that during each election year candidates for public office are approached by a wide range of organizations and media outlets desiring to make endorsements in their races. Of course, common sense dictates that candidates decide on a case-by-case basis which media and other endorsements to seek.

"In my case, since I'm not seeking the Herald-Republic's endorsement, it won't be necessary to include me in your endorsement interview schedule this year.

— Doc Hastings"

Instead, Hastings is apparently more comfortable with an Oct. 31 session with his hometown Tri-City Herald, which endorsed him two years ago — while we endorsed his opponent, Democrat Sandy Matheson.

Surely that development wouldn't influence Hastings' decision to turn us down this year. Or would it?

We looked back on our 4th District track record since Hastings was first elected in 1994 and find that we have endorsed him twice in six tries — in 1998 and 2002. In the other four, we endorsed his Democratic opponents — then-incumbent Jay Inslee in 1994; Rick Locke in 1996; Jim Davis in 2000 and Matheson two years ago.

That endorsement record is clear evidence that we look at each race individually — and neither party designation nor incumbency is a guarantee for endorsement. Of the two finalists at the time, we recommend the person we feel will do the best job in representing all the diverse interests of the 4th District. In fact, we set the same standard for any race in which we make a recommendation to voters.

The endorsement process provides Herald-Republic readers with a kind of information not available to voters anywhere else: the considered view of three informed voters who sat down with both candidates in a side-by-side session and asked questions of importance to the Yakima Valley.

For Hastings to say that information is not important enough to give an hour of his time is both arrogant and disrespectful to the Central Washington voters who have supported him in the past. He doesn't owe it to us, but he does owe it to them.

His statement indicates he'll pick and choose those he will grace with his presence. And, while that is certainly his right, that's a shame, too, because it could tarnish by implication the endorsement process of other organizations and media outlets. Do his actions suggest he will only meet with those he thinks will rubber-stamp his re-election bid?

In our process, every election is a new challenge and we approach it with that in mind. And even a six-term incumbent is not a slam dunk.

Life and politics go on. We have conducted several joint interviews for a host of races on the Nov. 7 ballot and still have a few to go, including the finalists in statewide Supreme Court and U.S. Senate contests.

Apparently, they aren't as hard-pressed for time and decision as Doc Hastings.

— Yakima Herald-Republic, Oct. 3