Dick Muri for Congress - Washington's 9th District

This video released by Dick Muri’s campaign, with the incumbent, Adam Smith, and Republican challenger, Dick Muri, agreeing to a clean contest in a face-to-face conversation.

The exchange was recorded outside of a town hall in Steilacoom where over 100 Dick Muri supporters waved signs in support of electing Dick Muri for Congress. During the conversation, Muri and Smith shook hands while Muri asserted his goals for the congressional race.

The entire transcript is below the video.

DICK MURI: Adam! Welcome to the town of Steilacoom

ADAM SMITH: Yeah, talked to the mayor before hand, lots of good issues going on.

DICK MURI: Well this is gonna be a good race, we’re gonna have some fun here!

ADAM SMITH: Yeah! A bit of “representative democracy” working.

DICK MURI: That’s right! Well I look forward to the debates and I look forward to having a clean contest. I tell people, it’s all about not me and you, it’s about the different visions, different voting records, ways we’re gonna do stuff. I keep telling people, “keep it clean!”

ADAM SMITH: Absolutely

DICK MURI: You know, I’m a retired Lt Colonel in the Air Force, I want to keep things honorable.

ADAM SMITH: As do I.

DICK MURI: You’ve been a very honorable congressman.

ADAM SMITH: Thank you.

DICK MURI: Our votes would be a little different as you know.

ADAM SMITH: I understand. That’s how the system works. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

DICK MURI: Well again, welcome! Good luck in there! I think most of my people are just gonna, ya know, we’re just gonna go have a beer!

ADAM SMITH: Yeah… that’s fine… A lot of folks show up

DICK MURI: We’re going to go down to the pub and grill, you can have the meeting.

ADAM SMITH: You’re not gonna listen?!

DICK MURI: Naw, it’ll be taped, I’ll watch it afterwards

ADAM SMITH: Ahh, no. Okay. Sounds good. If I can do anything to help the county, too, let me know. I know times are tough… [inaudible]

DICK MURI: I will do that. Well you saw our last budget… [inaudible]… We cut another five and a half million dollars out of the budget, and it’s going to get worse in 2011, as we’ve got increased costs, flat revenues… new health care requirements we’re gonna have to put on. And Olympia, we’re not sure what Olympia is going to do to us yet, we’re still waiting.

ADAM SMITH: Yeah, well they aren’t sure either. They have a budget problem too.

DICK MURI: But we know that some of the budget grants we get are going to be cut, and rightfully so, they’ve run out of money too. I keep telling everybody, we can’t count on the federal government for more grants because we need to tighten up.

ADAM SMITH: Oddly, we agree on that. I think we needed them in the first place, but we certainly now need to start moving towards, ya know, more fiscal responsibility. It’s scary the number of people who are of the opinion that the deficit is [inaudible] the problem, and they’ve got an argument by the way. They’ve sent me a lot of literature explaining why it’s not really the problem, and their arguments make no sense whatsoever, but they’ve got them.

DICK MURI: Ya know, you and I, one of us faces the next crisis, is going to be rising interest rates because the interest on the debt is now becoming more expensive. Some of that debt we’re financing real cheap.

ADAM SMITH: Well, we’re financing it cheap because of a global recession. Which won’t be around, ya know, forever.

DICK MURI: Because when interest rates rise, that’s when we’re all gonna be done.

ADAM SMITH: No question. So it’s good to see ya.

DICK MURI: Good to see ya ,thanks Adam.

ADAM SMITH: See ya around, without question.