[Vision2020] Lois Blackburn Sets the Record Straight

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (October 21, 2004) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with a very
special thanks to Lois Blackburn.

 

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The Republican Party should not avoid debate

 

This election season, the Moscow Civic Association wanted to improve the
level of political discourse in Latah County by sponsoring a series of
one-on-one debates between the candidates for each position. We wanted a
candidate forum with substance. 

 

MCA board member Bruce Livingston called every local candidate, and all
(Republicans included) agreed to participate. He explained that the entire
debate would take place over five hours, on Oct. 25 and 27, with an hour
slated for each race. 

 

A few days after finalizing this format, Livingston was surprised to learn -
from a newspaper reporter - that according to Barrett Schroeder, chairman of
the Latah County Republicans, no Republican candidates would participate. 

 

In the Daily News (Oct. 7), Schroeder accused the MCA board of supporting
Democratic candidates. He also said the MCA had "misled" Republicans about
the format, and was a liberal Political Action Committee. Furthermore,
Schroeder questioned the invitation Livingston extended to the candidates -
encouraging their supporters to attend the debates, ask questions and create
a real dialog. 

 

We thank the Daily News for allowing us to set the record straight. 

 

First, Schroeder says some MCA board members support Democratic candidates.
That is no surprise. Some MCA board members support Republican candidates,
too. The MCA is a citizen action organization with members representing a
variety of political parties and political persuasions, but all united by a
desire to make Moscow a better and more livable community. 

 

Second, rather than misleading candidates about the format, the MCA clearly
explained from the beginning that this would be a true debate format and
different than the usual candidate panels. 

 

Third, the MCA is not a Political Action Committee. A PAC is created to
funnel money to partisan candidates. The MCA does not give, and never has
given, money to any candidate, at any time, in any race. The MCA has
endorsed candidates for the nonpartisan elections for City Council, but the
MCA has never given a penny to their campaigns. We are not organized as a
PAC, instead we are a 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization. The
MCA is not endorsing candidates in the partisan campaigns represented at the
debate. 

 

Finally, Schroeder was concerned that Livingston encouraged the candidates
to "have their supporters attend to ask questions favorable to them." 

 

Livingston, like the MCA, is interested in maximizing citizen involvement in
this campaign. What better way to do that than to encourage the candidates
and their supporters to attend the forum and enter into the dialog on issues
of importance to them? 

 

In sum, it seems that Schroeder is trying to imply that the MCA is unfit to
sponsor a debate due to bias in favor of one political party. 

 

That accusation is just not true. 

 

For an example of possible bias in the organization of a candidate forum,
Schroeder need look no farther than a representative of his own party, Jeff
Harkins, Republican candidate for Latah County commissioner. Harkins, as the
program chairman for the Moscow Lions Club, organized the club's candidate
forum this year. 

 

The point is not that candidates should boycott the Moscow Lions Club forum,
but that Schroeder's call for a boycott of the MCA forum is shortsighted and
wrong. 

 

Our debates will be Oct. 25 and 27 (at 7 p.m. both days, and both at the
1912 Center). We invite all Latah County voters to attend. And we encourage
the Republican candidates to declare their independence from petty party
politics and join us for a real debate. 

 

 

Lois Blackburn is president of the Moscow Civic Association.

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