Political ineptitude. Benton in the Seattle Times.

I typically go through a great many newspaper on a daily basis.  So imagine my surprise when I read this in the Seattle Times:

The GOP currently has 24 seats in the Senate and needs only one more for an outright majority.

That means the party would no longer need Tom and Sheldon to control the Senate if it makes gains in November — although Democrats maintain they can reclaim control next election.

“The minute we pick up one more seat, we will elect a Republican as majority leader. There’s no question about that,” said Don Benton, R-Vancouver, the deputy GOP leader in the Senate.

Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, the Senate GOP caucus chair, said she assumed a Republican majority leader would be elected if her party gets a majority, “but I’ve learned not to guess what’s going to happen in the future.”

Others also said it’s too early to predict what the caucus would do.

Is this true?

Maybe.

Should Benton have said it?

Absolutely not.

The GOP claims this big tent.   I freely admit that I am no longer a part of it and sleep much more soundly for it as I reserve my right to vote for and otherwise support any candidate, regardless of party, whom I choose.  (Just for one example, I routinely voted for Brian Sontag for state auditor and have routinely voted against Jaime Herrera for anything.)

Rodney Tom deserves to be in the state senate, perhaps more than some who have an "R" after their name.   I have no clue what possessed Sen. Benton to take this shot at him except, perhaps, some of that rage he feels towards Sen. Ann Rivers might have rubbed off.

As Sen. Parlette indicated, it's premature to make any such blanket statement.  Whoever becomes the GOP leader in the event they can miraculously attain a majority without Sen. Sheldon or Sen. Tom, I guarantee it won't be Sen. Benton or any of the posse.

This kind of statement is foolish and like any other effort to inject rank partisanship into a tenuous coalition accomplishes nothing except to hand the democrats ammunition to first, strengthen their view that GOP "bi-partisanship" is a sham and second, weaken Sen. Tom NOW, during THIS session, in addition to making his path to re-election that much more difficult.

Whatever the Caucus ultimately decides, Benton's statement was uncalled for and counter-productive.

He should know better.