New GOP chair Susan Hutchison’s plan for redder Washington
Sep 27, 2013, 11:09 AM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 12:27 pm
Well-known Northwest television personality Susan Hutchison is the new chair of the Republican Party in Washington, and she'll definitely have her work cut out for her, says 770 KTTH host David Boze. (Image courtesy Facebook - Susan Hutchinson)
(Image courtesy Facebook - Susan Hutchinson)
Well-known Northwest television personality Susan Hutchison is the new chair of the Republican Party in Washington, and she’ll definitely have her work cut out for her says 770 KTTH host David Boze.
“It’s a tough job you have, the herding of cats as it’s called, because you’ve got to deal with all the different factions,” says Boze. “I don’t envy the job that you have in terms of trying to get the local coalitions together.”
“I think the key,” says Hutchinson, “is that we’ve got to remember who our enemy is, and it’s not within. It’s the Democratic machine. And certainly in this state, that is the case. We need to remind our Republicans that we’re united.”
The issue that unites Republicans, Hutchinson says is the question of: “What is the future character of America to be?”
“Are we going to be the land of opportunity or are we going to be a dependency culture?” says Hutchinson. “That dependency culture is not one that fosters jobs, a work ethic, or hope. And we are fighting it with every bone and sinew in our body.”
She says her role in the fight is to get good Republicans in office. “My job is to elect good Republicans to work with good Democrats, to do good work for the people of Washington state.”
One of her targets is the office of governor, which she says the Republicans could have won in 2012 if they’d compelled more people in eastern Washington to vote.
“I don’t know if you have friends that live on that side of Washington state, but a lot of them don’t think their vote counts. King County, they think, counters everything they want and vote for,” says Hutchinson. “It’s a matter of registering new voters and making sure those who are registered, and lean our way, vote for us.”
She’s also taking a lesson from what she calls “the Obama machine” on developing strong relationships with voters.
“It’s really an amazing, year-long attempt by the grassroots to stay connected to voters. It’s why I believe we lost all those battleground states that we thought we were going to win, like Ohio and Virginia and Florida. It was these grassroots relationships that had been built,” says Hutchinson. “We are going to do that in a better, more organized way in the next year and in the coming years.”
“My goal is to replace Jay Inslee as governor in 2016,” says Hutchinson.
