The same week U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, visits Vancouver to announce his candidacy for governor, columnist Peter Callaghan of The News Tribune in Tacoma declares that it is too soon for candidates to start their campaigns. (Callaghan’s column: “McKenna, Inslee start runs too soon.”) Why didn’t he write this opinion weeks ago when Rob McKenna declared his candidacy?
When is it too soon to stand up to the divisive rhetoric of the Tea Party? When is it too soon to put a stop to the job-killing economics of the right-wing agenda? When is it too soon to challenge those who would attack public education rather than address the root problem of poverty?
Attorney General McKenna opted to appeal a Superior Court ruling affirming that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to the students of Washington. He will likely lose that appeal. The bully pulpit of the governorship is only one election away.
We have all seen the ugly ramifications of Gov. Scott Walker’s attacks on education and workers’ rights in Wisconsin. When is it too soon to challenge head-on the forces that will divide us, instead to step forward toward the job creation we need? Certainly not the same week Inslee declares, “We are going to give Washington the best-trained work force in the country.”
Dave Boroughs, Vancouver
