
	Chris Mulick has worked for the Herald since 1998 and has served as the statehouse correspondent covering state government and politics since 2000. He works year-round out of the Herald's Olympia bureau on the state Capitol campus. Have a question? Send Chris an e-mail and he'll answer the best questions regularly.

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Friday, Jul. 18, 2008

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UPDATE: Gramm speaks in Pasco, resigns from McCain campaign

Paul T. Erickson

Phil Gramm chats with TRIDEC President Carl Adrian, Richland's Patty Heasler and TRIDEC Chairman Mike Schwenk backstage.

John McCain campaign co-chair Phil Gramm is scheduled to speak to the Tri-City Development Council at about 12:30 and, as you can see from one of the photos at right, they've got the press about as far away as possible, behind the red rope and everything.

There are something on the order of 150 seats in here and it sounds as though they all will be filled.

It also sounds as though Gramm, here in his capacity as vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank, will be talking more about economic issues than anything related to the presidential race.

Gramm made news earlier this month with his "nation of whiners" remarks that led McCain to distance himself from the Texas Republican, who spent 24 years in Congress and ran for president in 1996.

I'll update this post once we hear from Gramm, who is heading to Seattle straight from here.

12:36 UPDATE: Gramm has taken the stage and it sounds like he's going to talk about the subprime mortgage crisis.

12:45 UPDATE: "My guess is we have a good chance of avoiding a technical recession," Gramm said. "That doesn't mean there aren't people hurting."

12:55 UPDATE: Gramm didn't say anything in his speech relating to the presidential campaign, or any other campaign for that matter. Gramm is now taking questions. The first regards manufacturing in the U.S. He finished his speech by saying he doesn't expect any economy to overtake the U.S. economy "unless we stop doing the things that made us successful to begin with."

He's now making a pitch for lowering the corporate tax rate.

12:59 UPDATE: Gramm just had a good line about political correctness and how it dictates speech. He said make the wrong observation "you get blasted. I could give a lecture," he said to laughter.

1:03 UPDATE: "We've got to come to grips with things like nuclear power," Gramm just said. That will play well with this audience.

1:04 UPDATE: "I need to get out and get on a plane. Thank you very much," Gramm just said before skeedadling right quick. And that ends the program.

UPDATE: At some point this afternoon (I was driving back to the west side) Gramm announced he is resigning as McCain's campaign co-chair. Maybe this is why he wouldn't talk with reporters this afternoon.

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