Asher Responds to Seattle Times Article

Dear Mr. Rosenthal,

I just finished reading your article, “Biden campaigns for Patty Murray.” I and others from the Washington State Progressive Electoral Coalition were present at the protest handing out press releases about our intention to support a progressive independent candidate for US Senate, Dr. Richard Curtis. I am sorry you were not interviewing those who attended the protest as I would have welcomed the opportunity to speak with you.

It certainly must be newsworthy that the “Left wing” of the Democratic Party is willing to walk away from the Democrats to support an independent candidate more in tune with their progressive values than Senator Patty Murray, many from within the single-payer movement. In your article, you misrepresented this group as “supporters” who want to “pass a health-care package quickly.” I think you will find that, quite the contrary, the single-payer group is extremely unhappy with the health-care reform package promoted by Sen. Murray and the administration, which in fact is a payoff to the insurance industry. If you did some homework, you would find that Sen. Murray is one of the largest recipients of donations from insurance lobbyists.

We are also tapping into voter outrage against the two-party system that many feel is now owned and controlled by the corporations. This message is also resonating with some within the Tea Party Movement who, until this candidacy, have not had another mechanism through which they could voice their anger. The excerpt below from the Washington Post shows our potential to reach into the Tea Party Movement with the message of our independent candidate.

Hundreds of independent tea party groups have sprouted up nationwide over the past 12 months. Their members hold divergent political views, and their leaders have publicly quarreled over tactics. But the factions have largely united around a common cause: a don’t-tread-on-me brand of fiscal conservatism and a belief that the government, first under President George W. Bush and now under Obama, has recklessly plunged deeper into debt and overstepped its constitutional powers. “If you take 1,000 so-called tea partiers and ask them what this movement is, you’ll get 1,000 different interpretations,” said Mark Williams, a talk-radio host and chairman of the Tea Party Express.  – CBS News

A large part of this debt, which gets little press coverage, is the cost of the so-called “War on Terror” which, to date, has cost Washingtonians over $21 billion. That $21 billion would have gone a long way in the state of Washington. David Swanson, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.com and author of Daybreak, Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union addresses the “imperial presidency” and the abuse of constitutional powers which many thought would be part of the promised “change.” By electing Obama, the American public voted for change but got more of the same. There are a lot of reasons why you are seeing this frustration percolating within the electorate, Mr. Rosenthal. I hope you will do some investigative reporting and get to the reasons why.

We will be holding an official press conference the first week in March, time and place to be determined. I have attached the press release we circulated yesterday. Please make note of the impressive list of endorsements Dr. Curtis has received since February 7 when the Senate Search Committee of the Washington State Progressive Electoral Coalition first asked him to run. We are in the process of setting up a campaign website but background information on Dr. Richard Curtis can be found at his website.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Maryrose Asher
Interim Campaign Coordinator

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