Attorney General Rob McKenna went back to his roots to announce his plan for the future: candidacy for the governor’s office in 2012.
McKenna told several hundred supporters at his alma mater Sammamish High School Wednesday that he plans to create a more sustainable state government that creates more jobs, and a greater emphasis on education. He laid out these goals as the starting point of his campaign, but didn’t delve deeply into how to accomplish them.
The three tenants of the campaign are the center of what he called A New Direction. The message was scrawled across a whiteboard on stage. McKenna delivered the message as he confidently strode across the auditorium stage, notes in hand.
The first prong of McKenna’s campaign: jobs. It’s no secret that thousands of people are out of work, and to them the immediate pressure of finding a job trumps all political and social issues.
“We need a government that recognizes that the most basic job flipping burgers is better than the most elaborate social program,” he said.
Washington is home to many world-renowned companies like Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks and Amazon, and McKenna wants to create an environment to entice businesses to start and move here.
Part of having innovative businesses involves employing a capable and skillful workforce. That is partially built through a solid education system. McKenna hammered the state’s lack of commitment to the education system for much of his 45-minute speech. He cited statistics showing the declining percentage of the budget going to education. He noted Washington is 48th in the country in degrees issued. If these trends continue, he said, Washington residents won’t be in line for the top jobs created by the state’s innovative companies.
“If we don’t prepare them for the jobs, they’re going to be preparing lattes for the people who come here from out of state, and that’s not acceptable,” he said.
The only way to restore the education system, McKenna said, is to rein in the state system. He expressed frustration at rising health care costs and the associated pay raises for state workers. Extreme savings could be achieved, McKenna said, through attrition, letting workers retire and moving capable young workers up and cutting the resulting open positions.
McKenna said the Attorney General’s office has fewer employees than it did in 2005, but remains productive.
“We get more work done with the tax dollars you give us; we ought to be doing that with every agency in state government.”
At the end of each portion of his speech, the audience of supporters turned the auditorium into a sea of McKenna’s blue campaign fliers. The room was filled with chants of “Rob, Rob Rob.”
It remains unknown who will be McKenna’s competition. Current Gov. Christine Gregoire has not announced whether she will run for a third term. A possible replacement could be found in U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island).
McKenna served on the King County Council before being elected Attorney General in 2004. McKenna has been a part of several high profile cases, including a lawsuit to block President Barack Obama’s health care legislation.