Posted Mon, Apr 9, 11:02 a.m.

I didn't set out to prove that older workers were easily going to find work. My field is actively seeking older workers but I know that is not true of most. I only wished to make the point that many boomers who delayed retirement for a year or two are ...

Posted Sat, Apr 7, 2:22 p.m.

I'm an early Boomer who retired in 2006. Quite a few of my friends who planned to retire in 2008 and 2009 put those plans on hold when their 501k investments took a hit. Now that their retirement funds have recovered, they are all retiring this spring. My brother-in-law works ...

Posted Sat, Mar 17, 10:17 a.m.

A few months ago I, too, expected a close battle between Romney and Obama. I no longer do. Why? In the last few weeks I've had conversations with more than a dozen Republican women who have told me that they will not be able to support a Republican candidate this ...

Posted Mon, Feb 6, 2:38 p.m.

In the most recent polling available, Jay Inslee managed to cut McKenna's lead from 6 to 3 points. Inslee managed that gain in a 3 month period with almost no advertising or press. That polling data is nerly a month old now. I expect the two are in a virtual ...

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 4:48 p.m.

"Seattle’s Catholic Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, in an announcement published this weekend in all parish bulletins, appeared to the faithful to 'call, email or write' legislators and urge opposition to same-sex marriage," the Seattlepi.com's Joel Connelly writes." Archbishop Sartain may well have written a missive to parishes but it was ...

Posted Mon, Jan 16, 3:30 p.m.

I would love to be able to opt out of Whitepages and Yellow Pages. It has been more than a decade since I actually used either. I don't even bring them inside anymore. They go drectly from my porch to my recycling bin. I never have any difficulty finding the ...

Posted Fri, Dec 16, 3:49 p.m.

From what I've read, the particulate levels in the air are much higher in the Fern Hill residential area of Tacoma than they are anywhere near the Port. That suggests that home heating and vehicular traffic would be the major contributors--not industry.

Posted Tue, Dec 13, 11:51 a.m.

Electoral races look better now for Democrats than they did three months ago. Since then generic Democrat has gained 3-5 points over generic Republican, Democratic voters have become more enthusiastic and Republican voters less enthusiastic, Obama's job approval rating has improved from an RCP average of -15 to -5, Obama ...

Posted Sat, Oct 1, 11:23 a.m.

I agree with Harris Meyer. Nobody who seriously follows Democratic politics believes Clinton will run. In fact, no serious observer expects Obama to have a credible primary challenger. Consider the blog response to Nader's call for a challenge and the quick slap down it received from Sanders and Feingold.

Posted Sat, Oct 1, 11:17 a.m.

"Bridges found and disallowed 1678 illegal votes cast" votes disallowed by Bridges included signature discrepancies,seniors who voted at the polls after voting by absentee (perhaps more memory lapse that an attempt at vote fraud)and felons who had petitioned for restoration of rights and believed incorrectly that their rights had already ...

Posted Tue, Jul 26, 10:32 a.m.

Wu has announced that he will resign his seat as soon as the current debt ceiling crisis is resolved ( contrary to what NY Times reported; he has NOT resigned yet.)Oregon officials have announced that the old district lines willl govern in the primary and special election to follow to ...

Posted Mon, Jul 25, 12:28 a.m.

While it is true that some government unemployment estimates are as high as 9% for November 2012, a number of private studies predict much lower rates due, in large measure to a shrinking work force. Data collected from numberous pension and insurance sources suggest that a significant number of baby ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 5:24 p.m.

There are quite a few USA manufactures of shoes remaining. Among them: Magdesians (women's shoes), SAS Shoes, Kepner Scott (children's shoes), Allen Edmonds (men's shoes, Munro and Company (women's shoes), Soft Star Shoes (women's and children's shoes) and Friedson Bros. (riding boots for both men and women. I have a ...

Posted Wed, Jul 6, 3:05 p.m.

Blue Light, If you discount all candidates who have received tribal support, then you had better think twice about McKenna, too. In 2008 he received contributions from the Tulalip Tribe, the Swinomish Tribe, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe, the Spokane Tribe and the Yakama Nation. Your anti-Native American rants ...

Posted Wed, Jul 6, 10:26 a.m.

Whether BlueLight likes it or not, Indian Tribes have sovereign nation status that requires somewhat different treatment. Do I want Health Care Reform scrapped because it treats Indian Health Services differently? Hell no!

Posted Thu, Jun 30, 10:24 a.m.

As a blue collar Pierce County Democrat, I can say with confidence that, though we once loved Brian Sonntag, we no longer support him and have let him know in no uncertain terms that we are backing Inslee for governor. He lost us for good when he backed Susan Hutchinson.

Posted Sun, Jun 19, 10:57 a.m.

In order for Sonntag to beat Inslee he would need strong support in Pierce and Kitsap Counties. When he endorsed Susan Hutchinson and allied himself with the BIAW, he alienated his former supporters in the 6th Congressional District. He can no longer count on a COPE endorsement or support from ...

Posted Wed, Jun 15, 1:21 p.m.

I would suggest that Sonntag is unlikely to run because he the Tacoma backers he has relied upon have informed him that they are committed to Inslee. That includes two former mayors and at least a half dozen legislators and former legislators from Pierce County with whom he has had ...

Posted Thu, Apr 21, 10:29 a.m.

Thank you, bjan. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Posted Wed, Apr 20, 1:31 p.m.

As a Lakewood resident and a frequent passanger on the Tacoma to Portland run, I fully support the proposed re-route.

Posted Wed, Apr 6, 4:26 p.m.

Washington is not a Right to Work [for less] state. Right to Work measures have been rejected by Washigton voters each time they appeared on the ballot. There have also been two attempts to place a Right to Work initiative on the ballot that came up short in the signature ...

Posted Wed, Feb 9, 12:46 a.m.

Re point 3: Working conditions are normally part of a collective bargaining agreement. That is true for cops, clerks and truck drivers. How discipline is to be administered is also usually detailed in a labor agreement. It is a common practice to establish an appeal process. The makeup of the ...

Posted Sat, Dec 18, 12:22 p.m.

Djinn that simply isn't true. Washington makes and exports transportation equipment and medical equipment. Non-aerospace manufacturing exports from Washington state experienced average annual growth of 15.5% from 2000-2009. Much of that growth was in ultrasonic scanning equipment. Washington also is responsible for design and manufacture of veterinary instruments that are ...

Posted Fri, Dec 10, 11:22 p.m.

Given a choice I'd take a team in Oklahoma City, New Orleans or Kansas City over either Bellevue or Seattle. You proposed an answer to the question how to get an NBA team back. My question is why would we want to?

Posted Mon, Nov 8, 11:27 p.m.

Washington has changed since 1972 and so has the state Republican Party. A candidate like Evans could win considerable support from independents and probably some cross-over Democratic support, too. However, it is doubtful that a Dan Evans Republican could fend off a challenge from the right flank of the Republican ...

Posted Thu, Nov 4, 7:19 p.m.

For the time being the electoral map has returned to its 2000 model but that doesn't mean it will stay there. The 2001 redistricting was intended to make that map permanent. A motivated Democratic electorate changed it in 2006 and changed it even more in 2008. There were more Republican ...

Posted Thu, Nov 4, 1:41 p.m.

If you are asking me would I prefer Republican solutions or gridlock, then my answer is that I would prefer gridlock. If the price I must pay for any substantive legislation is extension of the Bush tax cuts, then the price is too dear.

Posted Wed, Nov 3, 7:30 p.m.

Murray won 66.9% of the ballots tallied Wednesday compared to 62.1% of the ballots tallied on election night. Although Rossi continues to lead Murray in Pierce County, the Murray took 51.4% of the first batch of Pierce County votes released to day with another release due at 8:00 pm. Murray ...

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 6:56 p.m.

According to 538's analysis: "SurveyUSA, another automated polling firm which has shown better results for Mr. Rossi this cycle than most other pollsters, also demonstrates such a pattern. Their final poll of the general election has overestimated the performance of the Republican candidate in each of the nine surveys in ...

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 5:46 p.m.

The U W may use unusual methodology but they have a better record of calling the last elections in Washignton than either SURVEY USA or Rasmussen.

Posted Thu, Oct 28, 10:10 a.m.

Muri is on TV and has been since August. I can't visit a site without seeing his internet ads and he is running drive time radio ads. I don't live in that congressional district but Murri was my representative on Pierce County Council. That is why I sent a contribution ...

Posted Tue, Oct 26, 12:12 p.m.

I was surprised that Rossi reached out to McCain for all the reasons you mentioned. A statement from Elizabeth Dole, Susan Collins or Kay Bailey Hutchison might have helped him but McCain's negatives are awfully high in this state even among Republicans. In internal polls late last week Murray was ...

Posted Mon, Oct 25, 9:13 a.m.

We aren't likely to know until after the election but I believe that SURVEYUSA is over sampling Independents and Republicans. I based that at least in part to the substantial leads held by so many Democrates in their state house and senate races. If those pollsters were accurate, then the ...

Posted Tue, Oct 19, 2:48 p.m.

The Fabrizio poll you referenced was in the field nearly 3 weeks ago. The Moore poll results mention in reports today is also old data. The Rasmusssen poll from 9/28 showed a Rossi lead. Rasmussen now shows a 3 point Murray advantage marking a 6 point increase in Murray's support ...

Posted Tue, Sep 28, 12:11 p.m.

Cell phones were around in 2008 certainly. I've had a cell phone since 1990. What is new is the increasing number of people in all age groups abandining landlines. The National Center for Health Statistics published a report early this year that reports that 25% of all US households are ...

Posted Mon, Sep 27, 12:08 p.m.

In late August the generic ballot gave Republicans a double digit advantage. Now the RCP average is R 4.4. On both coasts Democrats have been gaining in the polls while in the Midwest Republicans are extending their leads. Will Republicans pick up seats in this off-year election? Certainly. Will Republicans ...

Posted Wed, Sep 22, 9:19 a.m.

Chris, I am certainly not the only one who knows that the RCCC and DCCC are commissioning polls on significant races throughout the country. I used to do contract work for a number of pollsters and still talk to former colleagues in the field. On Monday I said that a ...

Posted Tue, Sep 21, 10:39 a.m.

All Republicans aren't surging. Heck has improved his position in the 3rd with Herrara's lead now only 3 points (Heck 44 Herrera 47 likely voters 9/7-9/9)which is a 4 point improvement since the last Greenberg, Quinlan Rosner poll and withing the 4 point margin or error of the poll.

Posted Mon, Sep 20, 7:29 p.m.

SUSA polls have been real outliers in WA state so far this election season. Dick Muri isn't surging. Watch for a DCCC release in the next few days showing Smith very comfortably ahead by more than 15 points among likely voters.

Posted Thu, Sep 16, 12:56 p.m.

Now the new Rasmussen poll is out and it gives Murray a 5 point lead. Now Murray has a +4 in the Real Clear Politics poll of polls. All of these polls are of likely voters and each pollster uses a slightly different likely voter screen. What is intriguing to ...

Posted Thu, Sep 16, 11:03 a.m.

As a Democrat, I'd like to think that Murray is surging. I think the more likely answer is that swing voters really don't like Rossi very well and that he is losing weak support he enjoyed when he was compared to two much more conservative candidates. Murray is picking up ...

Posted Wed, Sep 15, 4:17 p.m.

The new CNN/Time poll conducted by Opinion Research and released Sept. 15th gives Murray a 9 point lead over Rossi among likely voters and a 6 point lead over registered voters. The likely voter sample was 906. Like Elway OR using live interviews and includes cell and landline calls.

Posted Tue, Sep 14, 9:38 p.m.

I don't think it is unreasonable to think that Nethercut improved his position from September to Novemeber as more voters on the western side of the state came to know him. Murray's margin in the Elway Sept 2004 was 20% and 15% on the October 2004 Elway poll, I would ...

Posted Wed, Sep 8, 11:05 a.m.

The Moore and Fairbank polls last week both show Murray with a 5 point lead over Rossi. I understand looking at independent polls first but when both parties' commissioned polls reach a different conclusion, I think it is wise to question the independent poll results. I'm very curious about the ...

Posted Fri, Aug 20, 10:18 a.m.

At this point election results show Ds outpolling Rs in both Pierce and Snohomish and I'm not "ignoring" the votes that went to other candidates in either party. It is also telling to look at Thurston where the margin by which Ds outpolled Rs increases with each tabulation of late ...

Posted Mon, Aug 2, 11:14 a.m.

Gallup was the first to show a shift in the generic ballot but other polls including Polimetrix and PPP show a shift with the same timing. The mid-July Quinipiac poll showed a narrowing of the Republican lead and the most recent Reuters/IPSOS shows a tie after reflecting a 6 point ...

Posted Sat, Jul 31, 1:28 p.m.

For the second week in a row the Gallup poll shows a Democratic preference in the generic ballot survey. Rasmussen's most recent poll in the state recorded a 5 poiont improvement for Murray in a two-way race against Rossi and a slightly larger improvement against Didier. In the same poll, ...

Posted Thu, Jun 3, 10:06 a.m.

It hasn't been that long since Gregoire argued a case in a courtroom. While it is true that she sometimes seems tense and nervous speaking before a crowd, no tension is evident when she argues a case. Your description makes me think you've never seen her courtroom persona.

Posted Wed, May 26, 9:50 a.m.

National events will decide this race and the national tide is turning. A Quinnipiac poll released May 25 shows voters prefer a Democrat over a Republican in midterms by a 42 to 36 margin. That represents an 8 point swing toward the Democrats since May 1st. A Wall Street Journal ...

Posted Mon, Apr 26, 11 a.m.

I don't expect Rossi to jump in. His internal polls don't show the positive results of the outlier Survey USA poll. Murray's own polls show much the same data Rasmussen reported earlier. Rossi cannot afford another loss. He won't jump because his data doesn't show this race to be a ...