Adelle Ferguson 8/11/11

Locke said skilled, but too cautious

OUR OWN GARY LOCKE, the first Chinese-American governor, has been sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. Ambassador to China.

Well, he should suit President Obama just fine.

In his political career, nobody questioned his intelligence or ability, but he was cautious to the point of near paralysis when it came to being a leader rather than just minding the store. Remind you of any presidents you’ve heard of?

I always liked Gary Locke despite the fact his image was tarnished by a character flaw few politicians can survive. The highest compliment a politician can be paid is “he never goes back on his word.” The worst thing you can say is “you can’t count on him.” Gary Locke’s word is no good. Gary Locke tells you one thing and does another.

He’d make a deal and then back out at the last minute for fear of aggravating the wrong people. I once wrote that the reason he waited so long to get married was because he couldn’t find a girl the Washington Education Association liked.

“Gary has two flaws,” one of his cohorts said of him. “Buyer’s remorse and amnesia.”

EXAMPLE: IN 2000, he asked the Public Employees Benefit Board to give health benefits to same sex partners of gay and lesbian state employees. Republicans wanted a ban instead to avoid costs of $11.5 million. Locke agreed it was unaffordable but after everybody had gone home, he ordered the benefits given anyway.

Example: In 1997, Republicans got a one man-one woman marriage definition bill passed, corresponding to Congress’ Defense of Marriage Act. Gov. Locke vetoed it and Democrats refused to override the veto. In 1998, the bill came up again with a threat: enact it or we’ll send it to the ballot as a referendum. Democrats decided they’d rather pass the bill than have all those conservatives turn out in November when the D’s hoped to regain the majority. If it was vetoed, they said, they’d vote to override.

They didn’t want to override a veto, so they advised Locke to let the bill become law without his signature. He agreed. The D’s told the R’s they had a deal and they passed the bill. Overnight, Locke changed his mind and told the D’s the deal was off and he would veto the bill because to do otherwise made him look inconsistent. The D’s were furious over his broken word, but they didn’t break theirs and voted to override.

Obama’s Secretary of Commerce, Locke denied a request from Sen. Kerry in January to allow Massachusetts fishermen accused of violations to seek reviews and return of fines levied against them by federal officials they claimed were overzealous and excessive.

But when Locke was nominated for ambassador in March, which meant he had to be confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Kerry, he had a change of heart. He gave 80 fishermen and businesses a month to file new complaints and seek the return of fines.

As I said, I always liked Locke despite his tendency to cave to big unions and spend all our money and then some. I praised him when during the campaign for governor he maintained that politicians should listen, rather than ignore and deny suggestions from someone just because he or she was in the opposite party.

But did he ever follow through? Not that I ever saw. His reputation for consistency is based more on his reneging on promises made to the point “putting a Locke on it” got a whole new meaning.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69, Hansville, WA, 98340)