Seattle Times free ads for GOP gov candidate an outrage

E-mail from Jay Inslee's campaign chair:

When I opened up yesterday's Seattle Times, I about fell out of my chair.

The Seattle Times Company -- the largest newspaper in Washington State -- took out a full page ad supporting Republican Rob McKenna, part of what they later admitted is a nearly $80,000 independent expenditure on McKenna's behalf. Reports filed with the Public Disclosure Commission show that the Seattle Times will be placing an ad for the McKenna campaign every day until election day.

I have never before seen something this outrageous from a news organization in all of my time in politics. Not even FOX News has ever done anything like this before. This expenditure makes the newspaper the third largest contributor to McKenna's campaign effort.

Join us in calling out this outrageous ad by making an urgent contribution of $25 to help us fight back.

Jay and the Seattle Times have had their differences over the years. They supported the Iraq War while Jay voted against it, for example.

But this absolutely takes the cake.

Executives at the Times are claiming that this was purely a business decision. But perception matters, and you can understand why it's so hard to imagine how they can hope to present themselves as an impartial source when they're spending nearly $80,000 supporting McKenna's campaign.

We can't allow this to go unanswered. Will you contribute $25 right now to help us fight back against this unprecedented move?

Thank you for standing with Jay against this ridiculous expenditure.

Sincerely,

Joby Shimomura
Campaign Manager
Jay Inslee for Washington