The discussion of public-policy matters here should get a welcome boost with the Washington Policy Center adding its well-researched opinions to the mix more frequently, following its recent opening of an Eastern Washington office here.

The policy center says it also hopes to bring the unique policy concerns of Eastern Washington citizens and groups to the public debate on the more populous west side of the state, which is encouraging to hear.

What remains to be seen, as the independent, but conservative-leaning Seattle-based think tank seeks to expand its sphere of influence statewide following a successful $4.2 million fundraising campaign two years ago, is to what extent it can move beyond "preaching to the choir."

That was one of the goals mentioned by board Chairman Greg Porter at a well-attended open house the organization hosted last week at the Davenport Hotel to officially kick off the opening of its new office here and to introduce office director Chris Cargill.

The organization needs to "broaden the tent," Porter said, referring apparently to its desire to attract supporters across both a wider geographical area and political spectrum. Achieving that more diverse political mix won't be easy, though, judging just by what seemed a largely Republican assemblage of dignitaries who attended the event here.

One of the initial speakers, Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, appeared almost to have forgotten her venue when she spent more time taking partisan jabs at the Obama administration than welcoming the policy council to the east side of the Cascades.

Porter, who took the podium a few minutes later, got things back on track by re-emphasizing that the WPC is a nonpartisan research and education organization.

"We do believe, though, that free markets can solve a lot of our ills," he said, also noting the organization's focus on limited government.

More pointedly on the reason for the opening of the Eastern Washington office, Porter said, "We want to be the go-to shop for public policy research."

Now with primary offices in Seattle, Olympia, and Spokane, the policy center publishes studies, sponsors events, and regularly testifies before legislative committees.

It has 14 full-time employees, with the addition of Cargill, and a roughly $2 million annual budget, which it raises entirely from individuals, small businesses, corporations, and foundations.

Thanks to its capital campaign success, it also now has seven research centers, staffed by skilled analysts, focusing on education, the environment, budget reform, health care, small business, transportation, and its public service Web site, WashingtonVotes.org.

It seems likely that the positions the policy center takes will resonate with a larger percentage of voters here than on the more liberal West Side. One recent example of that involved Spokane's Proposition 4, or so-called community "bill of rights," which the policy center criticized in a paper published last September and which city voters rejected by a wide margin two months later.

One of its closely watched gauges of success here no doubt will be how well it's able to raise money through the Columbia Society, which it formed late last year to serve as a fundraising entity on this side of the state.

Statewide, with the capital campaign providing seed money covering just the first three years of operation of its seven research centers, it also has raised the fundraising bar that it needs to clear if it's to continue to grow in stature.

Given its performance to date, and the respect it has earned through its efforts to lift policy discussions to an intellectual level that transcends blatant partisanship, I'd say its odds of success look good.