Bush, Murray, Nethercutt and smiles all around

Here’s something you don’t see and hear every day on the campaign trail: George W. Bush and Sen. Patty Murray standing on the same platform, and the president saying something nice about the senator.

It happened Friday in Portland, when Bush stopped by to talk about the economic benefits of spending $15 million in federal funds to dredge the Columbia River and improve shipping lanes. He’s proposing an amendment to get it done, and invited members of the Northwest delegation who have been pushing the dredging for years to come to his event.

Murray took him up on the invite, as did her likely GOP opponent, Rep. George Nethercutt.

So there they all were at the Port of Portland, sun overhead and Columbia rolling along in the background, and Bush passed out the kudos:

“I thank my friend, (Sen.) Gordon Smith, for his leadership on this important project. I want to thank Senator Patty Murray from the state of Washington for joining us, and for working on this project, as well. This project needs bipartisan cooperation … And I want to thank my friend, George Nethercutt, congressman from the state of Washington, for joining us, as well.”

As if to be sure that no one detected a perceived slight in Bush’s comments, the Nethercutt campaign sent out a press release explaining how he “played a leadership role” in securing money for dredging. Among his efforts was a discussion of dredging while riding with the president on Air Force One, earlier this summer.

Murray’s Senate office sent out a notice that seemed to say “thanks for finally noticing” what a big deal this is. In it, she “applauded” the administration’s announcement of support, noting it came just days after she sent Bush a letter asking for support of the dredging project.

Strange plane fellows

While Nethercutt has complained about the difficulties of getting together with Murray for a debate, the two did bump into each other Friday, even before they shared the state with the president.

They took the same flight from Sea-Tac to Portland. Sources said they did not sit together.

Nethercutt hung with the president after the Port of Portland event, including the big fund-raiser in the Seattle suburb of Medina. Murray wasn’t invited to that particular soiree.

Strange plane

Folks driving in the West Plains might have noticed an unusual jet parked at Fairchild Air Force Base on Friday. Make that an unusual jumbo jet.

The backup for Air Force One is available when the president is traveling, in case anything happens to the primary plane. It has to be close enough to be called in at short notice, but not so close that any kind of natural disaster would affect both planes.

Meanwhile, back in Spokane

While the president, the senator and the congressman were basking in the Portland sun, a handful of seniors were trying to express their displeasure with the new prescription drug savings cards for Medicare recipients. They gathered in front of the U.S. Courthouse in Spokane, where Nethercutt has his main district congressional office, saying they wanted to talk to him about the Bush administration plan that he supports. Nancy Fulster, one of the protesters, said the card would cost her more money than she would save on drugs, because it would force her to go to stores that charge her more than she currently pays by shopping around.

Of course, Nethercutt wasn’t in his office and they knew he wasn’t in his office – one even carried a sign demanding “Where is our Congressman?” – so this was really designed more as a campaign event than a serious discussion about Medicare. They didn’t even have an appointment, which is always a good idea when one wants to stop by to have a serious chat about a complicated issue with anyone.

But no matter. They did a few interviews outside, then went up to the office, left letters expressing their displeasure complete with names and addresses, and got the name of his scheduler.

Confession time

For many years – perhaps as many as 14 – The Spokesman-Review has been incorrectly reporting one aspect of the voter registration process when it said “registrars are available at many fire stations, schools, government offices and elsewhere.”

Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton read that in Thursday’s newspaper and called to inform us that registrars haven’t been available since 1990. It obviously went right over our heads, but that’s when the law changed to simplify voter registration and do away with the specially trained registrars in charge of reviewing a prospective voter’s qualifications.

Ever since Washington enacted the Motor Voter Law, one need only fill out the form, which is available at many fire stations, schools, government offices and elsewhere. Honest.