This RainDagger Productions video, posted Friday on YouTube, shows constituents and, in the final scene, challenger Paul Richmond confronting Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA 6th) on Jul. 3, 2008, at a ceremony in which
ground was broken for the Northwest Maritime Center at Hudson Point in Port Townsend, WA.[1] -- Dicks has represented the 6th Congressional District for 32 years, first winning election at the age of 35 in 1976 after ten years on the staff of Sen. Warren Magnuson, who himself served 45 years in Congress (1936-1944 in the House, 1944-1981 in the Senate). -- Sen. Magnuson left his secure House seat after eight years and served 36 years in the Senate, but in 1980 lost to Slade Gorton. -- Dicks, for his part, has chosen to stay in the House of Representatives. -- "He has passed up several chances to run for the Senate, and has become a senior Democrat in the House. Dicks has brought to the House the aggressiveness and political shrewdness that were the hallmarks of the Magnuson staff in its golden days, plus a hard-nosed interest in defense and intelligence reminiscent of Magnuson's colleague for 40 years, Henry Jackson" (
The Almanac of American Politics 2004 [Washington, D.C.: National Journal Group, 2003], p. 1697). -- Antiwar activists continue to harrass Dicks because despite his late conversion in November 2005 to an anti-war position, he has continued to vote for funding of the occupation of Iraq. -- In addition, in 2002 "he worked quietly and behind the scenes to build Democratic support for the Iraq war resolution [HJRes 114, which passed on Oct. 10, 2002, by a vote of 293-133 (D: 81-126; R: 215-6; I: 0-1] even as his 7th District neighbor Jim McDermott went to Baghdad to try to stop military action" (ibid., p. 1698). -- In the Aug. 19 primary, Dicks faces two challengers taking antiwar positions,
Paul Richmond and
Gary Murrell....
1.
Peace activists and a local politician bug Congressman Norm Dicks at the dedication ceremony of the Port Townsend Marine Center.