07.07.08
The historic rally for Obama in unhateable Portland
06.04.08
Obama clinches nomination
Barack Obama has done it. A half-black African, half-white American who started out in community organizing before he moved on to politics is the democratic nominee for President of the United States. On Oct. 5, 2006, I wrote this in a blog item: “An intriguing matchup would be Barack Obama against John McCain but Obama probably isn’t ready and McCain might not win his party’s nomination.”
Well that’s exactly what we have on June 4, 2008, Obama vs. McCain. I was expressing some doubts, but Obama has proved he is up to the challenge and McCain emerged from a crowded Republican field. Maybe I have a future career as a pollster or pundit. Anyway, Obama has made it this far and if he can draw out the differences between himself and McCain, he ought to be the next president of the United States. America is ready to fix what’s gone wrong.
05.20.08
Doing the right thing: Japanese-Americans get honorary degrees
On a warm, sunny day at the University of Washington May 18, a historical wrong was put right.
Several months after Japan bombed of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Excecutive Order 9066 which barred those of Japanese descent, most of them Ameican citizens, from living on the West Coast. More than 100,000 Japanese-Americans were put behind barbed wire in internment camps in desolate areas across the western United States.
At that time, about 450 Japanese- Americans were attending the University of Washington and they would be forced to discontinue their education there. The university was able to relocate about 58 students to other colleges and a few received diplomas in a makeshift ceremony at the Puyallup Fairgrounds where they were being held. But most never returned to the UW and to get a degree, until now.
About 70 of the students, now in their 80s, attended the ceremony at Kane Hall to receive their honorary degrees, in an unprecendented act by the university. They saw old friends they hadn’t seen in years and were cheered on by their families.
Former U.S. Congressman and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who lived in an internment camp as a boy, gave the commencement address.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” Mineta said. “It’s never too late to rejoice that the right thing has finally been done. And it’s never too late to be grateful to those who do the right thing.”
04.15.08
Not keeping it real: Barack, small towns and liberal elitism
Barack Obama’s comments about small town folks being bitter and clinging to religion and guns may have been politically dumb and elitist, but when taken in context are much ado about nothing. All three candidates have spent most of their lives living in urban environments, so I don’t think any of them can naturally relate to people in small towns without sounding phony. The best that can be said about Obama in this incident is that he was honest, although he made the comments in the safe confines of a San Francisco fundraiser.
As someone who grew up in a small town turned suburb in Oregon, went to college in a small city in rural eastern Washington, and started my journalism career in a small cities in Oregon and northern California, I think Obama’s comments are an oversimplification. I also was born in Pennsylvania and lived in the small college town of Carlisle although I don’t remember it.
Places I’ve lived, Walla Walla, Wash. and maybe Carlisle aside, are probably more liberal than the towns that Obama is referring to but he’s not completely wrong. Anti-immigrant sentiment ran high in my hometown in Oregon when Mexican migrants starting arriving to work in area farms. People own guns and go to church, certainly, but as has been pointed out this is part of a long tradition. Obama probably wouldn’t go to many small towns other than to wrassle votes, but then again neither would Hillary Clinton or John McCain. The question is, as author Thomas Frank asks in “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” why do working class folks vote for Republicans who don’t advocate policies that benefit working class people? Part of the problem, in my view, is liberal condescension of the average person’s lifestyle and paternalism. To this end, Obama may have become a victim of his own education, ambition and success in elite institutions like Harvard and the U.S. Senate. Obama does have a history of “keeping it real” but it happened on the streets of Chicago which gives him credibility among urbanites and blacks but won’t appeal to as much to blue collar whites. Hillary Clinton, other than living Arkansas, doesn’t have this experience either, but for some reason people perceive that she will pursue policies that will benefit them. However, her actions in the Whitewater scandal demonstrate that her love for working class people is abstract.
Conservative George Will, in a column today, jumps all over Obama’s comments and ties them to a history of liberal condescension that he maintains developed after Roosevelt.
Obama has fueled this fire, but in the end, though, this debate is much ado about nothing. The issue is not whether Obama can fit in with blue collar folks, but what he will do as President.
Small town folks don’t need Obama to be their best friend. They just need a government that will care about their jobs, health care and quits sending their kids to Iraq. If he will do that, it doesn’t matter if he is an elitist.
03.04.08
Obama, Japan?
While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama do battle in Texas and Ohio today, here’s a bit of news that ought to lighten the mood. Apparently, Obama has a namesake town in western Japan, where many residents have caught Obamamania. The mayor of Obama sent the senator a package of gifts last year hoping to get a response and got a letter back recently. Obama means “small shore” in Japanese.
03.03.08
News flash: Obama is an opportunistic politician
For unique perspective on Barack Obama check out http://dallasobserver.com/2008-02-28/news/obama-and-me/full ”>this piece by a reporter who covered Obama when he was in the Illinois state legislature.
One of the more interesting tidbits is how Obama hired a Harvard guy to help disqualify his opponents in his first legislative race. I think it’s human nature for black politicians like those mentioned in the story to be pissed about the fact that Obama is getting all the credit right now. As Sen. Mitch McConnell said, the democratic race is between a “New York senator who was born in Illinois, and an Illinois senator who was apparently born in a manger. But in the end you have to look at the larger picture. While Obama isn’t a saint, he may be the best option out there.
02.20.08
Image, perception and the politics of fear
In the political battle over image in the democratic presidential campaign, it appears Barack Obama is winning, as he chalks up his ninth victory in a row in Wisconsin. His confidence is growing. As has been argued by Andrew Sullivan and others, Obama himself, represents a conduit to change, his image and leadership could push policy in a positive direction.
Obama is preaching that it takes all of us together to solve our problems as opposed to preaching the politics of us versus them. In Texas, last night he trotted more policy prescriptions to go with hope. By contrast, in her comments tonight, as quoted by The New York Times, Clinton played on people’s fears, a tactic that seemed to work in George W. Bush’s favor, under the orchestrations of Karl Rove.
“This is the choice we face: One of us is ready to be commander in chief in a dangerous world,” Mrs. Clinton said in the remarks, which she also planned to expand upon in a speech in New York City on Wednesday. “One of us has faced serious Republican opposition in the past — and one of us is ready to do it again.”
She implies that Obama is ill-equipped to handle the terrorist threat and deal with Republican dirty tricks. Obama as the nominee, she fears and wants us to fear, is too naive to handle the bad guys in the Middle East and Afghanistan and the bad guys in the other party.
To motivate by fear as any parent or coach can tell you, is effective in the short term, and perhaps in a short election these tactics might work. But the longer this drags on, it gives Obama an edge I think, because hopemongering, with a request for hard work and accountability is something people can buy into long term. Obama’s way may take awhile but it may be the only way. Tough political negotiating is part of the game of course, but if your core values are sound it doesn’t have to disintegrate into cyncism and conning the American people.
A Republican ex-girlfriend of mine called Obama an “empty vessel,” implying that he can give an inspiring speech but lacks the experience and substance to lead the country. She can’t stand McCain and is almost turning to Hillary. In the news cycle, the image you project is your message, your actual message is secondary. For some people there is no there, there. They have nothing beyond the image (see Paris Hilton, Britney Spears). Image (I’m rich, I’m funny, I’m hot, I’m smart, I’m a bad ass; I’m poor, I’m grumpy, I need a makeover, I’m a dumb blonde, I’m a wimp), is just a snapshot, that is only a snippet of truth to make an impression. Obama’s image seems genuine, he is a class act. While he spoke in Seattle he stopped in mid-speech to direct people to help a woman who had fainted in the front row. Afterward he went out and pulled out a megaphone to talk to the several thousand supporters who could not get into Key Arena. There are moments where journalists have been treated shabbily by the Obama campaign, the message being that journalists are “not real people,” and don’t get special privileges. I think the point there is that the Obama campaign wants as much of its message to be filtered through the campaign as opposed to having it being dissected and filtered by the media. There is always a tension there.
Obama’s message as he gains steam, might be becoming more detailed as things roll on. But the key thing is that he trying to motivate by hope and love rather than fear and personal attacks. Is that a winning formula for a political campaign? Time will tell.
But if you consider some of the most admired people of the last century, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. they motivated people not by fear, but by duty, hope, sacrifice and love.
02.01.08
Swimmer has will to win: Hayden going for state titles in two events
By Tony Dondero
Enterprise reporter
For his 18th birthday, Tyler Hayden’s parents surprised him by showing him videos of him swimming as a wide-eyed 5-year old.
Today, the senior at Shorecrest is one of the top swimmers in the state and a contender for Class 3A state titles in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly.
But back then his swimming skills were much more limited.
“I wonder how I ever became a swimmer because they’re really funny,” he said of the videos.
Hayden started as a novice in the Sheridan Beach swim club and then started swimming year-round at age 10 with the Cascade Swim Club as an eighth-grader. He switched to the Bellevue Swim Club for a year but now is back at Cascade, where he trains at Helene Madison Pool in Seattle.
Hayden has the fastest times in the state in 3A this year in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
“I’m still going to have some stiff competition,” Hayden said. “It’s not going to be that easy,”
His main competition in the 200 freestyle is Mercer Island’s Murray Longbotham. Hayden swam a 51.1 in the butterfly in a club meet this year and is considered the favorite in that event, Shorecrest coach Bill Murray said.
“When I was younger I used to be better at other things,” Hayden said. “I was a breaststroker for awhile but I’ve really always really been good at free and fly. I ended up focusing on those as I got older.”
Hayden finished second to Camas’ Keenan Natyzak in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly at the state 3A meet last year. Natyzak, who now swims at Texas A&M, stands 6-feet-7 inches tall towering over the 5-foot, 9-inch Hayden.
“Those big guys just have an advantage from the start with their reach and wingspan and just ability to push more water,” Hayden said. “I think I can make up for it with my athleticism. I just don’t worry about it — there’s nothing I can do to make myself bigger. You got to use what you can and do the best you can.”
What Hayden lacks in length he compensates for in quickness.
“I’m just naturally quick when I played other sports. That’s what really helped me: quickness,” he said. “I’ve got good reflexes off the blocks. I think I’ve got one of the best kicks in the state.”
Hayden’s talents extend to other events as well. He owns five individual Shorecrest school records. They include the 200 freestyle (1:42.81), the 100 butterfly (52.10), the 100 freestyle (47.2), the 500 freestyle (4:45.5) and the 200 individual medley (1:59.9). He also swam on the record-breaking 400 freestyle relay team. He’s going to try to break the school 50-freestyle record at districts in his leg of the 200 freestyle relay.
Hayden’s dedicated his season to Murray, who stepped away from coaching full-time this season to battle colon cancer.
“Those records I just want to do for him because I knew he enjoys it,” Hayden said.
Shorewood girls coach Susie McDowell and assistant Ryan Treadway have been filling in for Murray, who finished a round of treatment this week, and expects to be around for the postseason meets.
“We’ve had a great relationship over the four years. You don’t replace a kid like Tyler — you just move on,” Murray said.
Hayden, a Lake Forest Park native, played soccer, basketball, baseball and ran distances growing up but decided to focus on swimming.
“I just loved the sport and I thought I had a bright future in it,” Hayden said. “It was really hard to quit the other sports because I loved playing a variety of things.”
Murray, who has coached at Shorewood and Shorecrest, said Hayden is the most talented and most versatile swimmer he’s had the privilege to coach. He also called Hayden one of the smartest swimmers he’s ever coached who has tremendous insight into his technique.
But to get to the stage he is today, Hayden had to endure some trials.
During his freshman and sophomore years Hayden struggled with back problems, the result of how he was being trained and his growth at the time, Murray said.
Hayden used stretch cords in his physical therapy, which strengthens the support muscles in the back. He does the workouts for 45 minutes to an hour while at swim practice.
Hayden also struggled with food allergies and asthma early in his high school career. He changed his diet, which helped clear up those problems and made it possible for him to train harder.
Cascade Swim Club coach Tom Pardee has worked with Hayden since he was 10.
“I think he’s a good athlete all the way around,” Pardee said. “He does have a lot of quickness. He’s a very hard worker and that makes a big difference. He’s one of those kids that shows up for workout no matter what. You can count on him being there.”
Pardee recalled that Hayden as a 10-year-old entered the 500 freestyle for the first time and came out aggressive, sprinting the first 25 yards. Pardee signaled him to slow down, but another coach waved him off, believing that he might do all right. Sure enough, Hayden set a 10-year-old Cascade record.
“He’s technically very good,” Pardee said. “The work ethic has a lot to do with it. He’s explosive. Tyler has a lot of, if not all, the ingredients to be an elite swimmer and go farther than he has.”
Right now, Pardee said, Hayden is a mid-level Division I swimmer but where he truly stands will be determined at state. Hayden has four schools he’s considering right now: Washington, West Virginia, Arizona State and UC Santa Barbara, but he said he expects to wait until March or April to make a decision.
For now the focus is on districts and state. Hayden believes all the work he’s put in will pay off.
“I have a great work ethic and I’m just a competitor. I hate losing,” Hayden said. “I just have that will to win and be better than everyone else.”
01.10.08
Political underdogs become favorites
When Washington’s caucus day arrives Feb. 9 followed by the presidential primary Feb. 19, who will still be in the hunt?
Right now, Barack Obama has the ball and he’s been able to score but can he win? So far it’s looking like he just might.
Like the crazy college football season that concluded with LSU’s win over Ohio State in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game, it’s been a political year where the underdogs have become favorites.
That’s what happened in the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3, when Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee scored convincing wins in Iowa.
Not bad for a guy who Seattle author Sherman Alexie believes has no chance because his middle name is Hussein and for a guy who has eaten squirrel.
Hillary Clinton came in with the most money raised and the Clinton campaign machine behind her. She touted her experience and insinuated that victory would be inevitable.
On the Republican side, Mitt Romney had the most money raised, the confidence and looks.
Both suffered crushing defeats.
Huckabee tapped into populist sentiment and the evangelical Christian vote in Iowa while Obama extended his appeal to women and independents.
All of this of course comes with a bit of caveat. As Clinton pointed out in her caucus night speech, many voters were not represented because to have your vote count you have to show up for a caucus meeting in the early evening. People who couldn’t get baby sitters, hospital staff who work the night shift, waiters and waitresses, cops — the list of people who weren’t represented goes on.
Still, the fact remains that the tacticians in the Clinton campaign couldn’t deliver a victory. But Jan. 8 they rallied for victory in New Hampshire, despite polls that favored Obama, throwing yet another monkey wrench into the campaign.
In 1980s, many Democrats and independents voted for Ronald Reagan, and Obama has similar appeal. Like Reagan, Obama is a great communicator, inspires confidence and makes people feel good about themselves and has a vision. Obama’s critics say he recites too many platitudes such as the “audacity of hope.” While he is eloquent, he lacks experience and his policies are unproven. Then again, Obama’s “hope” mongering is not too dissimilar from what Bill Clinton’s campaign accomplished in 1992, appealing to change and improving the economy. The campaign emphasized that Clinton was “the man from Hope,” referring to Clinton’s hometown.
Clinton is the more experienced pol, and she would offer change as the first woman president. But she’s not an outsider, she’s a D.C., New York insider.
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee and Sen. Maria Cantwell both endorsed Clinton. Inslee touted Clinton’s experience and her ability to win.
“The people of Washington are ready for change. There is too much at stake to take chances after the last seven years. We need a candidate who has been through the fire and knows how to lead,” Inslee said in a press release. “She has the toughness, experience, and resolve needed to end the Iraq war and begin rebuilding America’s image around the world.”