Press Talk: The D’s risk a lot on this gamble

If one of them wins the county chair position, that means more power.

Voters already slapped these two bad actors by approving a new form of government. The county charter passed — in large part — to reduce their power.

But like so many political characters, they don’t go away quietly. So here we are again.

We’re having this election because of the new form of government. The charter created two new seats to join the three-member council. And one of those new seats is the chair.

The chair gets paid more money than the other councilors and has some control over the council. Think of it as like the mayor of a city.

There is a third Republican in the race for county chair. That’s former County Commissioner Marc Boldt.

Boldt isn’t always on the right side of issues. And he won’t be up for a Rhodes Scholarship anytime soon. But compared to the M&M boys, this guy is looking more and more like a savior.

So with three Republicans in the race, why is it, if a Democrat joins the festivities, it likely will muck up the works?

Here’s how.

In a conservative-leaning county, the D’s likely could put up only token opposition. But that doesn’t mean the Democratic candidate won’t get a bunch of Democratic votes.

And it is the moderate Republican Boldt who needs every one of those Democratic votes to beat at least one of the M&M boys to get to the general election. Then, at the general election, Boldt should be able to beat — say, Madore — because of all the stupid stuff he and Mielke have been doing.

I ran all of this by Deanna Pauli-Hammond, chair of the Clark County Democrats. And, as you might imagine, she doesn’t see it the same way I do. At least not publicly. She told me earlier this week she fully expects “a good, strong, Democrat” to get into the race. She wouldn’t name him or her, in order to allow the candidate to announce on his or her own timetable.

Ed Barnes and Kelly Love keep coming up in these discussions.

You likely know their names. Barnes — a big union supporter — and Love — CEO of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce — are often involved in Democratic doings.

Barnes? Think of him as Ragnar, played by Ernest Borgnine in the classic 1958 movie “The Vikings.”

Ragnar was trapped by the enemy. He was facing a pit of hungry wolves. He knew he couldn’t win that battle but still willingly jumped in. Hey, he gave it his best shot.

I ran into Barnes this week and asked him about running for county chair.

Mostly he just smiled and said he still had time to make a decision. But he did say he thought it was the right thing to have a Democrat go up against the M&M boys. And he disagreed with my premise that a D in the race would hurt Boldt.

Love? She’s likely the Democrats’ best hope. Bright, articulate, charismatic. But when I asked her Friday if she was in, her answer was straightforward:

“No.”

Love said she’s keeping her political options open for the future, but now is not the time to run.

Look, I get it. The Democrats find themselves in a very awkward position. They know it would be much better for the community if Boldt were elected as opposed to Madore or Mielke.

But how does a major party just step aside on a big race like this? How do the county D’s simply admit they are that weak?

So the party will do what most of us do when we can’t admit the truth to ourselves: We move into a delusional state. We convince ourselves the truth is not the truth.

Pauli-Hammond concedes the scenario I laid out is a possibility. But she will not concede it is the possibility.

“Of course, we think of all kinds of scenarios,” she said. And her scenario plays out where a Democrat could win this countywide race.

Me? I think that’s sort of like a poker player trying to decide if he should draw to an inside straight. The smart player folds and waits for a better opportunity.

Let’s see how the Democrats play this hand.