Craig Mason announces run for Congress

Professor hopes to unseat Hastings in second bid

Craig Mason is at it again.

A Tri-Cities professor, who lost to U.S. Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings in the 2002 elections by a margin of 66.8 percent to 33.1 percent, has announced he is running again, and has said that this time he had started his campaign earlier than before, in order to get his message out.

The message Mason hopes to spread is that of civil libertarianism mixed with what he sees as "New Deal, Scoop-Jackson-and-Warren-Magnuson" Democratic values, such as government involvement to help business and labor create high-wage jobs.

For Mason, such values catching on in this part of the state is an attainable goal, given the fact that he sees eastern Washington as an economically Democratic region.

"We have benefited," the Spokane-born Mason said, "from government investment in Grand Coulee Dam, the irrigation systems, armed services bases, highway systems, and the Hanford site."

Moreover, he said the people of eastern Washington are working people who need help with wages and jobs, as well as with their retirement. "Social Security may be the only pension plan many of them have," he said.

Conversely, Mason said he is aware of the fact that nowadays eastern Washington is perceived as a Republican stronghold, which he sees as a mistake. "As long as the right kind of Democrat is running, this is not a GOP stronghold," he said.

For Mason, the right kind of Democrat has to be one that understands civil liberties on social issues and that does not run an extremist program.

"We are freedom fanatics," Mason said. "We don't like people telling us what to do or think or own any more than necessary for the public good"

Mason said the Democrats alienated a lot of people "by attacking gun rights and preaching to people on what came to be known as political correctness." However, he believes that once "we get civil liberties protected across the board," his party will retake eastern Washington.

"People don't want (U.S. Attorney General John) Ashcroft running through their gun cabinet," he said, "any more than they want an urban liberal going through it."

Aiding the Democratic cause, Mason said, is what he views as the disaster the Republican administration led by President George W. Bush has made of "the two most important functions of the federal government: world order and the domestic economy."

On the domestic side, Mason lambasted what he dubbed the President's tax cuts "for the super-rich," as well as the administration's handling of civil liberties.

To Mason, a sociology professor at Columbia Basin College, the tax cuts were wrong, given that they should have gone to the working people to stimulate mass consumption.

"There has never been investment when there is a recession," he said. "The rich don't build factories when no one is buying anything."

Regarding civil liberties, Mason said that with Ashcroft making Republicans more of a threat to them "than the Democrats have ever been," the time is ripe for the Party of Jefferson to retain control of the area.

On the international front, Mason said the President should have pursued Al-Qaeda rather than attack Iraq. Subsequently, he said that instead of seeking a deeper understanding of the suffering and oppression that cause "the anger that recruits the terrorist," the current policy ended up involving more of the Mideast against the U.S.

On both matters, Mason pointed his finger in the direction of the incumbent congressman from Pasco.

Internationally, Mason said Hastings has been there "all the way" with President Bush's foreign policies.

"In 2002, the CIA and the FBI had all but taken out public announcements (saying) that they were telling Bush that there were no weapons of mass destruction," Mason said. "Doc insisted that he had seen secret intelligence that said Iraq had WMDs. He has been a yes-man for the Republican leadership ever since he got (to Congress)"

Domestically, Mason accused Hastings of voting to cut work force training dollars at a time "when we need huge investments in education to keep our workers competitive."

He added that the lawmaker and other Republicans had voted against expanding funding for education, and endangered Social Security by supporting plans to privatize it as well as tax cuts while the program was, in Mason's eyes, still salvageable.

"Doc's anti-government philosophy will keep him from supporting an approach of investment in infrastructure and people," Mason said. "This approach is crucial for being able to maintain a decent living standard where everyone has health care and a family-wage job."

As far as issues that concern the 4th District, Mason said that its residents are worried about a number of issues, among them, the Hanford site clean-up. "We have to keep it funded," he said. "(The U.S.) senators have done a better job of defending the money than Hastings has."

Standing between a Hastings-Mason rematch are two other Democratic candidates, Sandy Matheson and Richard Wright.

Mason called his Democratic rivals "moderate" and noted that what sets him apart from them is his understanding of civil liberties.

Nevertheless, he said he is "glad they are in the race, because in case that I am wrong, it's important we have a Democrat that can beat Hastings."