A thought I’ve had lately is that the day will come when U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, is going to retire. Who wants to try to follow him?
When the Seattle City Council came to Bremerton for a retreat more than a year ago, they wanted to hear from Mayor Cary Bozeman and Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority’s Norm McLoughlin about Bremerton’s revitalization. After several examples, many of which included references to how Dicks got federal money for the city, Seattle officials began joking that the key to more Seattle redevelopment was having Dicks as their congressman.
Of course, Dicks’ ability to bring home the . . . money isn’t universally regarded as a good thing. Witness the comment in Sunday’s story from Dicks’ Republican opponent, Doug Cloud, in the 2006 general election.
“He (Dicks) is certainly a representative of the military-industrial government complex and that is popular in the district at the present time.”
It will be a big jacket to fill for his successor.
“It will be a big jacket to fill for his successor.”
Kilmer for Congress!
However Norm has been waiting to get to this position for his entire career so he is not going to retire any time soon.
I want to be the first to propose Joshua W. Brown for the hypothetical vacated seat from Dicks. Just think of the possibilities for Bremerton !! Wow !!
Norm Dicks is the last of his kind …no one can fill his shoes.
He was trained by two of the giants in our state…maybe the country… and they had the sense to pick the right person to coach….to follow them.
As nice as it is to give away tax dollars to one worthy cause after another, I hope he remembers tax dollars are hard earned.
Congratulations too…no one is handing Norm Dicks something he didn’t earn…he has worked long, hard and smart.
Sharon O’Hara
Another thing to consider is that now Norm has a Democratic Majority to work with in both the House and the Senate he can move legislation better than ever before. From my dealings with the Congressman I got the impression that he was rather excited about his job and shows no sign of slowing down or retiring.
He’s not going anywhere. Jake’s take on things is right on.
But, Kilmer (no spine) and Brown (no home)? Congressmen? No way. The two of them couldn’t fill Norm’s jacket.
Besides does anyone honestly think that either of those two would stand up to the party the way Norm does? Kilmer or Brown would be disastrous. They won’t make it if they have to choose between the military or the local democratic party line.
I mean Norm is the party, but c’mon.
We have at least a decade or more of Norm in Congress to look forward to. He joked at a Christine Rolfes fundraiser in 2006 that he plans on beating Senator Jackson and Magnuson’s state record for the longest time in congress.
Senator Kilmer bucked the Democratic Party by remaining silent on SB 6040 a bill close to your heart Coby. He did this much to the chagrin of party insiders.
The local Democratic Party supports Norm and the idea that you have to choose between supporting Kitsap military bases and the Democratic party is insane.
Norm is also a supporter of Jack Murtha and he thinks that we were lied to about Iraq and he supports an immediate phased withdrawal.
Norm is a very very important figure but he is not our only Congressman.
Also I believe that Commissioner Brown’s new house is in the 1st Congressional district not the 6th but I am not exactly sure since that is right where the line is drawn.
Silence isn’t exactly bucking the party line is it? Kilmer was against the track no doubt about it, he just didn’t say so in public. Not exactly a maverick.
Jacob, you know damn well that there are several people within the democratic party who aren’t enamored with the military-industrial complex. And you also know that Norm’s vote for the latest Iraq war was not well received.
I’m just saying that I don’t think that there is a Kitsap politician, aside from Bozeman, who is self-assured enough to make their own stand on issues. Who is out there who really has a vision for the future of this country and this state and county?
And I think that it is even more true now that you have a rabid democratic base after the last election. The far left has gone “hyperactive.”
Derek is not going to be up for Re-election until 2010. NASCAR in Kitsap will be an obscure footnote by then.
You don’t really know that for a fact.
Depends a lot on how the economy will be doing in 2010. If local governments need revenue and people need jobs it will always be an issue.