"Run, Tim, run!" Far away, that is....

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Why Tim Eyman should, at last, run for public office
Posted by Joel Connelly, March 5, 2013

Tim Eyman keeps no thought or invective to himself.  Emailed press releases from him pour forth daily, giving his judgments on public servants (Governor Inslee is a "lying whore"), recounting the history of past Eyman initiatives and demeaning "bureaucrats," "special interests" and the ubiquitous "they" and "them."

The profiteering initiative mercenary regally addresses his "thousands" of supporters, defines his unique role as putting a "spotlight on issues" otherwise ignored and lectures the press on its duty to report the truth.  Eyman is, of course, a self-confessed liar.

Why hasn't this guy displayed the cojones, at some time in a 13-year public life,  to put his own name before the voters, assume public office and help govern?

Eyman has evaded responsibility like Warren Beatty resisted marriage.  Beatty, however, finally succumbed, and happily so. 

Some years back, then-Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel invited Eyman to come by the courthouse.  Drewel made an offer.  He would open the county's books.   He invited Eyman, like Kevin Kline in the movie "Dave,"  to go through the budget, line by line, and spot savings overlooked by "they" and "them" (e.g. the county's electied officials and public servants).

It was an offer Eyman could refuse.  The drive from Mukilteo to downtown Everett apparently proved too taxing, even though there's one route to take that affords a to-die-for view of the Olympics and passes through a lovely city park.

Now, as the Legislature struggles with a) a budget shortfall, b) a court order to fully fund K-12 education and c) public colleges starved of public support . . . it is time to renew and expand Drewel's challenge. 

In borrowing a phrase once made famous by Eleanor Roosevelt, this is "no ordinary time."  Eyman should be drafted to run for public office and specifically the state Senate or House of Representatives.  He has hurled spears long enough.  It's time to pick up the shield of authority.

Of course, there are risks.  The voters could size up Eyman's sound bites and conclude that he is an empty suit . . . or, given the costume Eyman once wore to an Olympia press conference, an empty gorilla suit.

Eyman, as a legislator, would have to help write a budget.

He would hear from college students who've experienced 15 percent annual tuition increases and see charts showing how middle and high school students aren't acquiring the math and science skills needed to find work in a technology economy.

Eyman would hear advocates for senior services that keep our elderly from being warehoused.  He'd learn of transportation tieups from port managers, worried about competitors spanning North America from Prince Rupert, B.C., to Charleston, S.C.

He would have to listen to all these folk, an entirely new experience for Tim Eyman.

In a classic incident, a couple of years back, the Washington Education Association was explaining impacts to schools that would happen if an Eyman initiative were adopted.  Eyman barged in and started a competing news conference in the next room.  He refused to talk to any of the specifics raised by the WEA or take questions from certain reporters.  He was there only to spout sound bites for the TV cameras.

If a legislator doesn't listen, he/she quickly gets a reputation for insularity.  The voters throw him/her out.  A democracy gives them that option.

And, of course, Sen. (Rep.) Eyman would find that he has an  "Eyman's Eyman" to deal with -- an obnoxious publicity seeker, seeking personal advantage and seeding prejudice.  Tim Eyman would have to confront the darker side of the American dream, something he has yet to recognize in a mirror.

An obnoxious character rarely gets hold of any power position in the Legislature, unless of course your Senate coalition has a one-vote majority and you need Pam Roach's vote to keep it in power.

Instead of collecting dollars from Big Oil and the Beer Institute, and hiring signature mercenaries to get on the ballot, Eyman would need to put together coalitions and massage legislation to get it through to the governor's desk.  It's a skill that requires patience, rather than self-publicizing.

The state Supreme Court last week threw out Eyman's "supermajority" initiatives, which have hamstrug [sic] state tax policy.  The only way a state constitutional amendment can ever get on the ballot is by attracting a two-thirds vote in both house of the Legislature.  The only way that'll happen is with more pro-Eyman legislators.

With "thousands" of followers, it would seem time for the leader to lead.  The Seattle Times editorial page carries water for Eyman initiatives.  It should flow naturally that Fairview Fannie would get behind him.

Run, Tim, run!
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