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Washington governor’s rising national profile prompts talk of presidential bid

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a two-term Democratic governor and former congressman, is best known outside the state for his focus on climate issues and renewable energy, but lately he’s getting notice for a different role: adversary to President Donald Trump.

And while he’s aware of the 2020 presidential chatter that includes his name, Inslee won’t talk about his 2020 ambitions—other than not ruling out a potential run for a third term as governor.

Cornell Clayton.
Cornell Clayton

Cornell Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, said a governor from a small Western state would have an uphill battle in what could be a crowded Democratic field for president.

But he said Inslee’s public challenges of Trump have elevated his profile. Inslee’s embrace of issues like gay rights, defense of states’ legal marijuana markets and addressing climate change “put him on the map as a possible serious candidate,” he said.

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Lewiston Tribune

Washington state Democrats raising more money than in recent past, but winning in November remains an uphill climb

The metaphorical pocketbooks of several local political campaigns are feeling Democrats’ “anger” toward the White House.

More liberal voters are mad—ticking off a litany of frustrations including failing to take a definitive stance against alt-right supporters who engage in racist rhetoric, separating children from their parents at the southern U.S. border and what many say are numerous political gaffes by President Donald Trump since he took office. Those issues paired with the seeming unwillingness of many sitting members of Congress to denounce those actions, have encouraged many Democrats to reach into their pockets and support candidates they think better align with their values.

And, in Washington state, that ire is resonating—four of the state’s 10 Congressional districts so far this year have seen more money raised by Democrats than in the past three elections.

Travis Ridout.
Travis Ridout

With America more polarized than ever, the impact is more tangible and the door open larger to candidates from another party, said Washington State University political science professor Travis Ridout.

As a result, more formidable candidates not in the president’s party enter the political sphere in midterm years because statistics show they have a better chance of winning. Because of their apparent abilities, they raise more money and ultimately earn more votes than similar candidates in presidential years who generally don’t put as much time and effort into campaigning.

And what seems to be a significant amount of money for Democrats in Central Washington, who have barely had any presence in past years, still doesn’t compare to normal Republican fundraising—the Republican National Committee routinely raises millions more than its Democrat counterpart—Ridout said.

“There is a minimum level you need to run a successful House campaign,” he said. “Five hundred thousand dollars may seem impressive when the previous candidate only raised $50,000. But that doesn’t mean it’s enough to beat an incumbent.”

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Yakima Herald

In wake of Cambridge Analytica revelations, new momentum behind Klobuchar’s Honest Ads Act

Last year, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia introduced a bill, called the Honest Ads Act, to regulate online political ads the same way that political ads are regulated on print, TV, and radio — with clear disclosure requirements and a public record of ads.

Travis Ridout
Travis Ridout

Travis Ridout, a Washington State University professor who studies political advertising for the Wesleyan Media Project, says the political moment right now is strongly in favor of fuller disclosure of political advertising. “What the companies are saying is, hey, we’re open to regulation,” he says. “I’m not sure they really want regulation.”

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MinnPost

George Washington’s lessons and the future of political civility

A list of 110 rules of civility became associated with the nation’s first president, George Washington, through a notebook that he assembled as a 13-year-old in 1745. At the time, it was common for students in the colonies to copy lists of social rules and morals. Recent presidents, despite the inevitable divisions in society on their watch, have tended to be conciliators rather than agitators. Donald Trump was an agitator from the start, experts said.

Cornell Clayton
Cornell Clayton

“Beginning with his behavior in the Republican primary debates, continuing through the general election, and now in the White House, Donald Trump had not just ignored but delighted in breaking the norms of civil political behavior,” said Cornell W. Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University and author of Civility and Democracy in America: A Reasonable Understanding.

Examples of Trump acting outside of shared norms for modern presidents include his taunting nicknames for political opponents (“Little Marco,” “Lyin’ Ted”), his chants of “lock her up” against defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and his consistent exaggerations and falsehoods, scholars said.

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Politifact

Foley speaker: Take a deeper look at sexual violence

Paris professor gives insight into international sexual/gender-based violence

An influx of funding to prevent sexual/gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo may just be scratching the surface of a problem with a deeply complex undercurrent, said Jane Freedman, a professor of politics at the Universite de Paris 8 in Paris who spoke on the issue Monday afternoon as part of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service’s ongoing Coffee & Politics series at Washington State University Pullman

Gender-based violence, Freedman said, was first brought to the United Nations Security Council’s table at the start of the millennium, when it passed Resolution 1325, considered a landmark resolution for acknowledging the disproportionate impact of war on women in the form of sexual violence.

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News