I've been around this city for 45 years now, and Sawant sounds exactly like socialist activists we used to see shouting Marxist rhetoric on U. District street corners.
Appears to me that they've learned nothing about how to communicate effectively in real-world politics. She'll get about the same percentage of the vote that similar fringe candidates did back in the day -- single digits.
@1 don't be silly, just because nationalizing Boeing amazon Starbucks Microsoft etc is the central plank of her party's platform, she doesn't really mean it! But all that other crazy shit, that she believes. She swears.
@4, no, she means it. But she realizes
1) It's not going to happen with a legislature full of non-comunists.
2) It doesn't help to talk about what she really wants; ideological purity often has to take a back seat to practicality.
I'm voting for her because whenever someone like "paid sick leave" comes up that has a snowball's chance in hell of passing, she'll reliably vote for it. The Legislature as a whole isn't going to create laws that are significantly more progressive as a result of Sawant's presence, but the progressive laws that it *does* create will have a better chance of passing.
I am actually very excited to have a chance to vote for someone that is not just carrying water for the same set of corporate interests that are so heavily represented now on the city council.
@8 Ideological purity takes a back seat to practicality? Good to know the mass killings of counter revolutionaries, capitalists and internal party enemies will wait until after she fixes pot-holed streets.
I voted for her. Why should my choices be limited to milquetoast Democrats? She's not going to spark a worker's revolution as a freshman city councilmember, but she would be a reliably progressive vote. How many of the other council members can you say that about? Let's go for it.
"Take into public ownership the top 500 corporations and banks that dominate the U.S. economy and run them under the democratic management of elected representatives of the workers and the broader public. Compensation to be paid on the basis of proven need to small investors, not millionaires."
That's her belief, as much as she wants to deny and hide it.
Nationalizing Amazon and Boeing? Those are idiot ideas. I'm sorry, but she's not serving the cause of social justice, she's marginalizing it. No freaking way.
She supports rent control. Short of strategic bombing it's the most effective way to cause the quality of housing to go down (for those in the rent controlled buildings) and the price (for most everyone) to go up.
Hey guys, I passionately support a state income tax and universal single-payer health care. Elect me to the city council and that ain't gonna happen either!
Even though she'd be a great vote on the actual issues that would come before the council, you're going to vote against her because you don't like what she might do should she be elected dictator? Sheesh.
The Sawant v Conlin race is to me the most difficult on the whole ballot. Yes Conlin displays a frustrating lack of urgency about the big issues facing this city, but he is right on the most important question before the council: density. He has consistently and quietly supported dense, in-fill development. The fact that he is in general such a stalwart on this issue is enough to make me pinch my nose and vote for him. If Kshama didn't support such an idiotic idea as rent control I would be much more likely to vote for her.
@21: I agree rent control has exactly 0% likelihood of becoming a reality in this town. But if that is how she responds to the question of affordable housing policy, then she is also adding precisely nothing to the conversation on this crucial issue. Not inspiring.
I think she could be an amazing candidate next cycle if she gets just a little savvier in how she talks about housing and development issues.
Electing Sawant wouldn't just give progressives breathing room on the left. It would be a wake up call to the centrists and the conservatives to get their shit together and make just one coherent point, and maybe even build a clear agenda. Instead of all this Frank Blethen caterwauling and Sarah Palin 'kiss my grits' time wasting.
How many Socialists are there in Seattle, much less WA State? Chuckling aloud! Last year, Sawant picked-up about 30% of the vote against House Speaker Frank Chopp. Democrats must like her. Seattle has 9 City Council seats. There's Incumbent Bozo Conlin, and unknown weirdo running against her for a single seat. Vote for the lady. I'm bored and need to see some action.
Rent control is a very reasonable idea. However, since developers and real estate management organizations have the power in this area, it's not going to happen. Just remember that ideas that don't fly in a particular place at a particular time aren't necessarily bad ideas.
David, obviously you are voting for her because she is filthy lying freedom hating socialist scum who has no clue about how reality works and continues to peddle juvenile college sophomore "radical" politics. Kinda like you.
Appears to me that they've learned nothing about how to communicate effectively in real-world politics. She'll get about the same percentage of the vote that similar fringe candidates did back in the day -- single digits.
@3 Is that you, Richard Conlin?
1) It's not going to happen with a legislature full of non-comunists.
2) It doesn't help to talk about what she really wants; ideological purity often has to take a back seat to practicality.
I'm voting for her because whenever someone like "paid sick leave" comes up that has a snowball's chance in hell of passing, she'll reliably vote for it. The Legislature as a whole isn't going to create laws that are significantly more progressive as a result of Sawant's presence, but the progressive laws that it *does* create will have a better chance of passing.
That's her belief, as much as she wants to deny and hide it.
If you hate affordable housing, vote Sawant.
Another dumb, failed idea. But hey, I'm sure she'll be great running Amazon.com, after all, she's a teacher at a community college.
Even though she'd be a great vote on the actual issues that would come before the council, you're going to vote against her because you don't like what she might do should she be elected dictator? Sheesh.
I think she could be an amazing candidate next cycle if she gets just a little savvier in how she talks about housing and development issues.
Rent control is a very reasonable idea. However, since developers and real estate management organizations have the power in this area, it's not going to happen. Just remember that ideas that don't fly in a particular place at a particular time aren't necessarily bad ideas.
dump Conlin.
(Goldy, Sawant would fuck your arena deal so hard, you'd blush)
http://www.sonicsrising.com/2013/7/18/45…
Sawant will try to kill McGinn's arena deal.
Plus Carver is pushing for city wide preschool!