The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

286 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
I award The Times my first prize for a journalistic double standard . . .
and bias against Republicans and conservatives. . . .
On June 18, The Times chided Bill Clinton for quarreling with Jesse
Jackson and thus hurting Democratic unity. Who is “the enemy” that is
being ignored when Clinton and Jackson spat? The Republicans, according
to The Times. After criticizing Clinton for dividing Democrats, on
June 23 they criticized me for not dividing Republicans. That is a double
standard.
The Times took no editorial notice two years ago when I angered GOP
state convention delegates by flatly stating my disagreement with the
platform’s anti-abortion plank. . . .
The Times’ double standard is also evident in its reaction to the two
parties’ platforms. If the GOP platform is written by extremely conservative
Republicans, the Democratic platform is an example of left-wing
thinking, endorsing protectionism, a state income tax and single-payer
universal government-mandated health care. . . .
Gone are the days when The Times reflected the great wide center
of Washington state political thought.
The new Times should state its bias flat out: Conservatives and Republicans
are the enemy; The Times supports any form of liberalism
espoused by the Democratic state platform. 7
Lowry opted to run for governor. It was Bonker who challenged Murray
for the Democratic senatorial nomination. Continuing her string of
once thought improbable victories, “The Mom in Tennis Shoes” easily
outpolled the former congressman, then trounced Chandler in the general
election. The Republican nominee made a fatal error in what came
to be known as “The Year of the Woman.” With the fallout still fresh
from the Adams scandal and Anita Hill’s charges that she had been
sexually harassed by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas,
Chandler should have realized that having a female opponent presented
a minefield. * Yet when Murray jabbed him hard during one of their debates,
the tall, handsome former TV newsman offered a chauvinistic rendition
of the refrain from a popular Roger Miller ditty: “Dang me, dang
me/They oughta take a rope and hang me/High from the highest tree/Woman
would you weep for me!” 8
* Gorton finally made up his mind to vote for Thomas’ confirmation after meeting with
the 14 women in his Senate office. “They were split among those who believed Thomas’
story, those who believed Hill was harassed and those who, like Gorton, felt both were
telling their own version of the truth.” Adams voted against confirmation. 10