Sue Lani Madsen: Passion, politics and parades on the way to the election

Passion to save America drives people into politics. Parades and community fairs drive campaign schedules. And speaking from personal experience, there’s going to be a lot of windshield time for candidates this summer.

It was already going to be a crowded year on the road with every statewide office on the ballot. Then Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers made the decision to retire from the U.S. Congress at the end of her term.

Ten candidates have already declared for the open seat in the 5th Congressional District covering the eastern third of Washington. Three candidates have filed with the Public Disclosure Commission for two open seats in the 7th Legislative District. The “Mighty 7th” sprawls across Douglas, Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, a sliver of Spokane County plus a third of Grant County. Five small East Coast states would fit into the same area as the 7th Legislative district.

As one eager candidate who was new to Eastern Washington memorably exclaimed midway through the 2008 legislative campaign, “I never realized it’s so big!”

Twenty years ago, the 7th Legislative District included Lincoln County instead of Douglas and Grant, and only part of Okanogan County. Scott Barr, a neighbor who served in the Washington Legislature from 1976 to 1993, set a high bar for 7th District campaign travel. The story went that if there were four people meeting for coffee, he’d show up.

Barr spent a lot of time in his car. So did I, as a candidate for the 7th District seat in the state House of Representatives in 2004 and 2008. I even had a portable desk belted into the passenger seat for working on the road. While parked – mostly. I might have peeked at a file on a long straight stretch of country road now and then.

One of the most valuable campaign volunteers a candidate will ever have in Eastern Washington is someone who will do the driving.

A determined candidate has to be represented anywhere people are gathered, and that means county political dinners, conventions, fundraisers, chambers of commerce and community days in every small town. If it’s a Saturday, there’s parade somewhere from May through September, occasionally two or even three. Schedule conflicts are inevitable.

In 2008, my competition was Shelly Short, now known as state Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, for a seat as a representative. There were two parades on the same day. Wilbur’s Wild Goose Bill Days parade started at 10 a.m., Republic’s Prospectors’ Days parade at noon. Theoretically, if I was one of the early entries in Wilbur, headed north after my trip up and down main street, met the Keller Ferry on the south side of the river, and drove just a tiny bit fast up Highway 21, I could make it into the Prospectors’ Days parade before the last logging truck rolled. Theoretically.

A beautiful drive along the San Poil River was one of my favorite perks of campaigning, but not that day. Many community events had included silent auctions, and a winning bid on a scenic airplane ride with a private pilot set the solution. Wilbur has an airport. Republic has an airport. Friends volunteered for ground transport. And the pilot enjoyed an excuse to play with his plane on a gorgeous summer day.

At the Wild Goose Bill parade, entries went up one side of the highway and then back along the same route on the other side. Everyone got to be in the parade and see the parade. I waved at Shelly as we passed. No sign of her husband, Mitch, and I figured she’d sent him to Republic.

The pilot picked me up in Wilbur and we made it to Prospectors’ Days in plenty of time to plant a puzzled look on Mitch’s face when I strolled into the staging area. After enjoying the festive atmosphere and food truck lunch, my pilot and I returned to Spokane’s Felts Field. I made it a three-for-one day, squeezing in a candidate interview on more mundane work-a-day issues with a labor union in Spokane in the late afternoon.

That was a great day on the campaign trail, and not just because the pilot let me take a turn flying the plane.

There weren’t many deep conversations about saving America, but it was a day spent experiencing the America that’s worth saving. Citizens celebrating their communities, proudly driving their polished work rigs down the middle of a small town main street and tossing candy. Families enjoying a day out strolling in a safe crowd, checking out entrepreneurs selling crafts or running food stands. And meeting with a craft union proud of their work and willing to take part in our deliberately clunky system of checks and balances to thoughtfully interview a candidate even if she did have an R after her name.

To the candidates of the 2024 election cycle, enjoy the view out that windshield. We live in a beautiful state, in a beautiful country. It’s worth saving.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.