[I was forbidden to blog during the 2008 campaign, so this is less timely than I would like it to have been… Oh well.]
The Municipal League of King County has a really noble mission. They rate candidates for political office, giving voters more information while subjecting the political process to a modicum of quality control. They do a pretty good job of it, too. Candidates gripe about their ratings (“Good” isn’t as good as “Very Good,” while “Outstanding” is the very best), but all in all, they seem to be doing their homework.
Which is what makes their endorsement of King County Charter Amendment Eight all the more confusing.
Charter Amendment 8, passed by King County voters this November, makes pretty much every elected office in King County non-partisan. The City of Seattle has had non-partisan elections for years; the only other county with non-partisan elections is Whatcom County.
But non-partisan elections don’t make our politicians any less partisan. The Seattle City Council may be non-partisan, but all nine members are Democrats. Same goes for Mayor Nickels. Does anyone think that stripping Kathy Lambert of the Republican label will make her any less of a Republican? Is Larry Gossett any less of a Democrat without that “D” next to his name? Hardly.
Voters use partisan labels to help make decisions on election day. Taking away this information ultimately makes it harder for the public to make an informed choice.
Why did the Municipal League, an organization that gives the public more information about candidates for office, endorse a charter amendment that would give voters less information?
The Municipal League gave telecom billionaire John Stanton a big award last year for his work on transportation governance reform. Some folks say Stanton is serious considering running for King County Executive. Removing the Republican label from John Stanton gives him a better chance, but it doesn’t make him any less of a Republican.
Dan Savage said it best: “If sex offenders have to register with the county, so should Republicans.”
“Dan Savage said it best: “If sex offenders have to register with the county, so should Republicans.””
Sorry, Dan, but sex offenders registering is one and the same as Republicans registering. Register one and you’ve registered the other.
I still think this is a good thing.
Removing the D or R next to someone’s name creates incentive for the voter to go out and find actual information about candidates. This way, they end up voting on policies and issues instead of Ds and Rs.
If you don’t feel like taking the time to get informed, it really shouldn’t matter to you which candidate takes office.
Who knows, maybe a Republican will offer a good policy that people can get behind. It’s more likely now that the GOP is in a complete rebuilding mode.
Let’s pass a county ordinance requiring Republican candidates to have an “R” branded on their foreheads.* That’ll prevent voter confusion when they go doorbelling.
* Hey, just kidding! I’m practicing Ann Coulter satire so I can make money like her.
Well hopefully, anyway.
There was a drive to turn Pierce County NP a few year back, it never got off the ground. Maybe it’s time to try again.
More likely you have to wade through wishy-washy bullcrap about supporting ‘education’ and ‘solutions’ for traffic issues, as well as ‘prioritizing emergency preparedness’. Meanwhile there’s less seats, so the price will be higher to run and the candidates won’t even beholden to the bare minimum political standards that a D or R implies. That leaves the one standard they all have in common: elect me and keep me in office forever.
@1: Oh man, you beat me to it.
Sex offenders and republicans are redundant words.
@2:
Name one good idea to come from Washington state republicans in the last four years.
Now name all the times you heard whining about taxes, bad transportation proposals, blaming democrats for the bad national economy (that is worse elsewhere) and palin ignorance.
Now tell me what independent republicans have had some good ideas in Washington state since Dan Evans?
Will:
Getting a quote from your sperm-burping gutterslut boyfriend Dan Savage really isn’t serious blogging. Try some other quotable source from the bathhouse next time….well besides the usual clientele (roll call of names can be found in the above posts 1-7).
So Rick D. @ 8: You go to the bathhouse every day to take role? Teacher’s pet? My, my, my.
A Republican is anyone who Rick D. supports. That should it make it easy to vote against any such candidate.
Poor little baby Ricky D. is in a foul mood – maybe because we just kicked your sorry right wing butts in the election?
Here little Ricky – keep repeating this: President Obama, respect the President
What a little twerp that Ricky is…still supporting those convicted felon republicans Ricky? How is Mr. Foley and Mr. Craig – yup, they were YOUR buddies. I notice the lovely send-off Uncle Teddy got from the republicans.
Republicans: Sexual perverts and crooks (and juveniles like little Ricky D.)
I disagree that non partisan candidates make our choices harder on the city level. We effectively have two kinds of candidates. The ones backed by the developer firms, architecture firms, the consultant industry, the construction trades, and the Old Money (see the SEEC website and you’ll see two “new” candidates with Old Money last names). They are the ones in charge, and are responsible for a socially liberal and economic neo-liberal Seattle. Then there are the real progressives, who are effectively underfunded, and when adequately funded, smeared by our two dailys.
The way the mayors office works is they pit two similar candidates against each other, but one is good cop and one is bad cop. What we got to vote on is mostly temperment.
We have one party rule in Seattle, and having a D and an R designation would fool people into thinking we had more then one. Our system is more honest because it actually forces thinking people to look beyond the D or R label–revealing that the spectrum of choice in this city is limited…
“If sex offenders have to register with the county, so should Republicans.”
Oh yes. Especially Republicans.
http://republicansexoffenders.com/