And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Tribes target Gorton with casino
money
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/local/html98/gort_19990404.html
by Danny Westneat
Seattle Times Washington bureau
Fueled by profitable casinos at a handful of
reservations, Native-American leaders are planning to
spend $1 million to $5 million in the 2000 election to
try to defeat Republican Sen. Slade Gorton, whom
they regard as their primary political enemy in the
United States.
Gorton and Native Americans have been fighting to a
stalemate for three decades: in the courts, in Congress
and in a war of words.
For the first time in Gorton's political career, tribes in
the Northwest and around the nation have the ultimate
election-year weapon: money.
The large sums the tribes are talking about could be a
potent threat to Gorton, who is hoping to raise $7
million for his re-election campaign. But it also would
herald a political coming-of-age for the tribes. As
recently as five years ago - the last time Gorton ran -
local tribes barely were involved in electoral politics.
"There's a hope that we can at least be a player in the
political system," said Bob Whitener, executive
director of the Squaxin Island tribe, near Olympia.
"We're not even dreaming of controlling anything - we
just want to have an effect like everybody else."
Gorton's campaign is hoping the tribal effort backfires.
A Gorton fund-raising letter last month raised the
specter of "Indian tribes flush with gambling dollars"
willing to "spend whatever it takes to defeat him." The
letter lumped the tribes in with other groups opposed
to Gorton, including "the trial lawyers, the bosses of
big labor, (and) the radical environmental groups."
That the chronically poor tribes are being mentioned
alongside some of the top powers of politics suggests
how much has changed since some of the tribes began
making money.
In the last presidential election year, the nation's 557
tribes collectively spent $1.35 million in federal
elections, a tiny fraction of the more than $2 billion
that was funneled into campaigns that year.
Tribal money still will be a drop in the ocean, but this
year tribal leaders are hoping to concentrate it. In
addition to targeting Gorton, Native Americans also are
expected to give heavily to presidential candidates,
particularly Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican
and a strong defender of the unique legal status of
tribes as sovereign nations.
It's difficult to overstate the animosity many Native
Americans feel toward Gorton. The state's senior
Republican has a long history of opposing tribes in the
courts. Most notably, as attorney general in the 1970s,
he fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court the
landmark ruling giving Indians a treaty right to half of
the state's salmon catch.
But in the last few years his relationship with tribal
leaders has soured even further. He advocated sharp
cuts in tribal budgets in 1995, then introduced a
proposal two years ago to force tribes to waive their
sovereign immunity in lawsuits.
Gorton said he was not trying to undermine tribes as
independent nations; he thinks only that federal legal
policy toward Native Americans is unfair and elevates
some rights of Indians above those of non-Indians.
But his idea touched off a furor among many Indians,
who said their entire identity is wrapped up in the
treaties their ancestors signed and the independent
"nation" status they gained as a result.
"Slade Gorton's name is known on reservations from
Alaska to Florida," said Ron Allen, head of the
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and president of the
National Congress of American Indians.
"If we say we have a chance to beat the dean of the
anti-Indian movement, I think tribes everywhere will
scramble for money."
As much as $500,000 could come from Auburn's
Muckleshoot Tribe, according to tribal sources. The
1,400-member tribe operates the state's most lucrative
casino and, thus far, has assembled the most
sophisticated political operation among local tribes.
Last year the Muckleshoots gave $100,000 to 112
candidates for state and federal offices, 104 of whom
were elected.
The man in charge of the Muckleshoots political
efforts, Michael Moran, would not say how much the
tribe plans to spend but said "it could be substantial,"
particularly if Gorton draws a strong Democratic
opponent that tribal leaders think has a shot at winning.
"We're not going to just dump money into a lost
cause," he said, adding that he is skeptical about the
Democrats' chances because Gov. Gary Locke
decided not to challenge Gorton.
The three local tribes with profitable casinos - the
Muckleshoots, Tulalips and Puyallups - gave the state
Democratic Party $20,000 earlier this year to conduct
a public-opinion poll about Gorton's strengths and
weaknesses. The Muckleshoots also have given
$30,000 to various national Democratic committees,
including one that is targeting Gorton for defeat.
The last time Gorton was on the ballot, in 1994, the
Muckleshoots did not have a casino and the total
yearly budget for the tribe was about $8 million.
Today, the casino alone has revenues of at least $45
million a year.
Local tribal leaders also are hoping to get money from
the few tribes that truly have gotten rich off gambling.
Last year, for instance, Connecticut's Mashantucket
Pequot Tribe, which runs a $1 billion-a-year casino,
donated more than $400,000 to federal candidates and
parties.
Tribal leaders involved in plotting election strategy say
they have not decided yet how to spend the money.
Some options include donating to the state and national
Democratic parties or forming an independent
political-action committee that would buy television
ads to air the tribes' views on Gorton's record.
Spending a lot of money on politics may not sit well
with some Native Americans, who say money earned
in the new casino era would be better spent on jobs,
housing and better schools.
Moran of the Muckleshoots also warned the tribes
must be judicious with whatever newfound financial
clout they have.
Gorton still is chairman of the Interior Appropriations
Committee, which gives federal aid to Indian tribes. He
may retain that post after the election, Moran said.
"Going after Gorton is not a low-risk strategy," Moran
said.
"We're getting more sophisticated, but we need to be
careful about how we engage in federal campaigns, or
it could blow up on us. This really is new territory for
tribes in the Northwest."
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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