On the final day of the Washington state Legislature’s first special session Tuesday, State Rep. Marko Liias (D-Bothell) was a pervasive presence on Twitter, repeatedly calling the work done this year by the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus – a gathering of 2 maverick Democrats and 23 Republicans – “Tea Party politics.”

But on Thursday, a two vote cross-over to his position equals “bipartisanship,” a double standard that should cause some to wonder if Liias’ litmus test for legitimate compromise begins and ends with total agreement to his point of view.

Liias’ end-of-session bomb-throwing harmonized with Gov. Jay Inslee’s suggestion that the Senate majority had put an “ideological wish list” ahead of real leadership. The vitriol caught the attention of Washington State Republican Party Communications Director Keith Schipper, who called the lawmaker on his bombastic tone.

 

Today, an unnecessary two-vote crossover by House Republican state Reps. Gary Alexander (R-Olympia) and Chad Magendanz (R-Issaquah) on the latest estate tax measure gets a condescending atta boy from Liias.

 

What didn’t Liias tweet about? The lone defector from Democratic ranks – state Rep. Monica Stonier (D-Vancouver).

Stonier was the only Democrat to vote against the estate tax measure, adding to a long list of occasions in her freshman session that she has been set free by party leaders to vote against her caucus.

One has to presume that Stonier – an attractive and fairly well-spoken minority female – is being protected for a potential run at higher office, maybe even a statewide or federal position.

It seems that when it comes to real-world electoral politics, even Democratic partisans recognize the having a record of supporting the regulatory overreaches and tax and spend policies that have been promoted by Democrats in the state Legislature.