Bipartisanship campaigns are “in” in the 2014 elections.

Recently I visited a candidate forum at the Green River Community College Enumclaw campus. I was surprised to hear that several candidates claimed to be more bipartisan than their opponents.

Republican Sen. Pam Roach has put the word bipartisan on some of her signs around the area. Her opponent, Rep. Cathy Dahlquist, has her 31st District Democratic colleague, Rep. Chris Hurst, campaigning with her and lending his support, making a bipartisan team to finally rid the district of Sen. Roach. Hurst and Dahlquist are shown sitting together in campaign ads in the local papers.

Other candidates at the forum also chimed in about being the most bipartisan – one who could work with their opponents on the other side of the aisle. Phil Fortunato, the Republican candidate who is opposing Rep. Hurst, notes in the voter pamphlet, “It is time to protect our families and put partisan politics behind us.”

Jason Ritchie, 8th Congressional District Democratic opponent to incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, also made references to his bipartisanship during the forum and in the voter pamphlet. “I decided to run for office because partisan bickering shut down the government and harmed thousands of small businesses, including my own. This isn’t the America I want my sons to grow up in.”

Reichert was not at the Forum, but noted in the voter pamphlet, “I’m a pragmatic leader, believing it’s more important to solve problems than claim credit or be trapped in partisanship.”

As I came away from the forum, and then taught my continuing education class on the 2014 congressional elections, I wondered if this bipartisanship tactic was unique to the 31st Legislative District and the 8th Congressional District, or whether it is more widespread.

I checked some of the other races in the voter pamphlet. Republican candidate Craig Keller, who is running against Democratic incumbent Jim McDermott in the 7th Congressional District, made a statement about being bipartisan with a twist in his opening comments: “Like you, I am frustrated by open disregard for our laws. Not just by criminals but by elected Republicans and Democrats! ‘Rovian’ Republicans now plot with House Democrats to betray every American worker with amnesty and a massive expansion of ‘high tech’ worker visas.”

From his perspective U.S. House Democrats and Republicans are involved in bipartisan conspiracy.

Other than Keller’s comments, not much is being said about working together outside our voting area. This seems to be a local issue, engendered no doubt because the 31st is supposed to be more evenly divided than other legislative districts. In order for candidates like Reichert, Hurst, Dahlquist and Roach to continue to be elected, they need to take more moderate stands.

An article titled, “Can Bipartisanship Sell in the 2014 Election? These Candidates are Banking on it.” in The Christian Science Monitor (June 9, 2014) it is noted there are several candidates in Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana, Kentucky and New Hampshire who are using the bipartisan card to attain victories. These candidates can’t win unless they win some crossover votes, so they do what they have to do.

The rest of the nation’s candidates don’t seem to be as concerned about being bipartisan. For most of the nation, it’s politics as usual. Listening to the Democrats and the Republicans in battleground states where millions of dollars are being spent on campaign ads, the battles are pitched and vicious.

Perhaps if we had fewer districts that were “safe” for either Democrats or Republicans and were more evenly divided, there would be more bipartisan candidates and a return to negotiation and compromise. Perhaps it’s time we examine how legislative and congressional district lines are drawn so that, like the 31st and the 8th districts in our area, we would be hearing more talk and hopefully more compromise for the good of the state and the nation.