This election season, Seattle voters will elect a mayor. It’s a crowded field for the primary, and while I can’t speak to every candidate on all of the issues, in general they’re all good liberals. So I’d like to make a plea for even when you disagree with people over who to chose for mayor, don’t think it’s because the person picking a candidate is a bad person.
The specifics matter, of course. And the abilities of the candidates to do what they run on matters. We should debate them. And we should pick sides. And we should be partisan and passionate about that.
But the people supporting a different candidate care about Seattle. And they have similar values to most of the rest of the city. So by all means highlight the differences in candidates with whatever level of vitriol against the candidates you want. If you want to question if Ed Murray’s experience in the legislature translates to the mayor’s office, go for it. If you think whatever candidate doesn’t have a broad base, mention it here, by all means. If there’s some issue that’s a deal breaker, let the deal be broken in whatever way you like. If you think Mike McGinn is a dumbass, great! Let the world know your opposition to any candidate however you want.
But I’m going to try to assume most people who support a candidate are doing it in good faith. That’s different, of course, from pointing out that a person’s supporters might be problematic. The bottom line is we’re all going to have live in the city no matter what 2 people get through the primary and no matter who is mayor net year.
