Look, having 2 first district elections (one for the old seat from certification until the new seat is filled and one for the new) is a bit strange. But people can figure it out. Or as The Seattle Times implies: the dummies who vote will get all confused.
U.S. REP. Jay Inslee already has confounded 1st Congressional District voters by quitting his job, leaving constituents unrepresented in the months ahead. The Bainbridge Island Democrat leaves Congress this week to devote more time to running for governor.
Hey, remember when I said I thought the legacy media types who were always asking for Inslee to talk more about local issues would like that move? Whoops!
1st District residents would vote to fill the seat for December. Voters in the new 1st District would pick the two-year representative.
Bad idea. Too confusing for everyone.
You know how when an initiative that The Seattle Times agrees with passes they’re all about the will of the people will of the people will of the people? Those people will apparently be too confused by one election with Goodspaceguy and some people looking to get their name in the paper and one with the actual candidates. People on Bainbridge will apparently think they get two members of Congress now. Really, who cares?
Clearly election coverage is too confusing for The ST.
I thought goldy said print media was dead and that nobody at HA read the Seattle Times anymore.
For a bunch of people who refuse to read the ST, it sure seems like you read the ST.
too funny.
Why shouldn’t Bainbridge Island get two congress critters? The small-population states have been grossly over-represented for 200+ years — none more so than the slave states prior to secession — so why is this suddenly a problem? And if it’s a problem, isn’t the solution to give everybody population-based proportional representation, not just the affluent liberals residing on Bainbridge Island? So, if we’re going to talk about this, let’s start the discussion with the idea of giving New York, California, Ohio, Illinois, and other urban states more U.S. senators to level the playing field with states like Alaska, Mississippi, and Wyoming. I can’t think of any reason why someone in Alaska should have 30 times the representation in the Senate as someone in California.
@2 The Stranger has professional readers (procured through an independent contractor) who produce summaries for Stranger staff because Michael Savage got tired of mopping up barf from The Stranger’s office floors.
As for us here at HA, we’re used to wading around in cesspools. Cleaning up after Republicans is a dirty, but somebody’s gotta do it.
@4 I think you meant Dan Savage. Michael Savage (no relation, since it’s not his real name) is the bomb-throwing, homophobic, racist right-wing shock jock.
Inslee would have caught flak from the Times if he’d stayed in Congress but came home to campaign a bunch: “part-time Congressman” etc etc etc. I could argue the case either way. Now: how ’bout we concentrate on the gubernatorial race’s real issues?
Bruce @ 2,
“I thought goldy said print media was dead…”
Naaaa…Goldy has not declared the print media dead. For sure, he has written about the decline of print media. Saying it is dying, isn’t saying it is dead (or to steal a line from Monte Python, it’s not quite dead yet.)
“…and that nobody at HA read the Seattle Times anymore.”
What the fuck are you babbling about? Carl has regularly written in response to the Seattle Times editorials.
I have stated that I am not a reader of ST editorials, which is true in that I don’t go to the site or paper to read the editorials. Occasionally I end up reading one via a link through a news aggregator or a blog post. Aside from ignoring their editorials I don’t particularly ignore their reporting, and link to them not infrequently.
“For a bunch of people who refuse to read the ST, it sure seems like you read the ST.”
Sorry…your misunderstanding. Man…for someone who uses the word “read” a lot, you sure seem to have comprehension issues!
@5 What the hell, some of our guys in Afghanistan have this problem, too — they can’t tell a sleeping 2-year-old child from a Taliban. At least I’m not that myopic. I only screwed up a name.
@6 Of course it’s a case of a partisan editorial board fixing the argument to an ideology they wish to promote. That’s what you get from a partisan newspaper. Why can’t politicians try to climb a career ladder? Everyone else does. When was the last time the STEB criticized a shiny new CEO for leaving a vice-president or CFO job vacant? How come the STEB has different rules for congress critters and companies?
Short version of Seattle Times article: Elections are hard. They are beyond your comprehension. Don’t even try to understand the issues. Just vote the way we tell you to vote.
A story in the Everett Herald askes if Eyeman will sit out this election.
It makes sense for him to do so. Sure, he might get involved in state or national campaigns, but it doesn’t make any sense for him to try his initiative campaigns this year. He succeeds only when turnout is low in off-year elections. Turnout will be very high in this year’s elections.
Why can’t they change existing state laws to allow for a quick special election from the current 1st, instead of waiting until November? Isn’t the state legislature currently in a special session, so why not pass a quick bill to this effect?
Newspapers continue to lose ground in the ad wars.
http://www.economist.com/node/21550617