Thursday, October 1, 2009
Politics Last Night at the Crocodile
Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 6:21 AM
Invigorated by a new poll that shows him in a dead tie, mayoral candidate Mike McGinn worked a $350-per-head VIP party with a pint of amber beer in hand before the Presidents of the United States of America took the stage. “Seeing an improvement in polling before the money drops—just based on debates and earned media—that's good for us,” he said. He credits running up to five phone banks a night as the “backbone of the campaign,” which relies overwhelmingly on volunteers. “Dollars don't equal votes,” he said. But dollars do matter to McGinn—and last night he was relying on dollars from a high-ticket fundraiser at the Crocodile for him and two other nightlife-friendly candidates.
In the main room (which was draped and covered in campaign swag), a mixed cast of political players, including candidates from other races and their operatives, mingled with folks there mostly to see bands.
“I paid for a ticket and I was like, oh shit, it's a political thing,” said Warren Andercon, from Leeds, England. “But it sounded like a good thing, and it is.” Lots of folks in the crowd, such as Boeing engineer Jeff Nelson, were there to support county executive candidate Dow Constantine and oppose Susan Hutchison. “I'm so anti-Republican right now,” Nelson says. But he added, “I came to see Krist Novoselic from Nirvana.”
Constantine, who was careful to thank everyone for attending the pricey fundraiser, capitalized on Hutchison’s right wing ties, saying voters have “a choice between a candidate who is 100 percent pro-choice and one who is not.” He added, “There will be a lot of money to coming to attack me at the last minute.”
Robert Sargent, a former Republican who lives in Newcastle, was there solely for Constantine. "Now is not the time to turn King County over to a neocon, a slash-and-burn conservative,” he said. “Susan Hutchison scares the shit out of me.”
City Attorney candidate Pete Holmes took a dig at incumbent Tom Carr’s for prosecuting bar employees caught in a dubious 2007 sting operation. “We need to make certain we can cultivate the music community,” he said. “Look down the ballot—the city attorney matters.”
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He's got great policy though.
I've seen McGinn look very kempt (tucked in shirt buttoned up all the way, tie, sport coat) at events where people are likely to care about that sort of thing. But he definitely goes for the casual look when he can get away with it, and he was going for the casual look at the Croc last night.
As for Dow, that guy's a pro. He had the "professional, but concert-appropriate" outfit down. He knows what he's doing. Then again, he's experienced with nightlife fundraisers, so I'd expect him to be a pro.
Holmes looked professorial as always, which is fine, because that's his style.
McGinn has great, creative policy. He has experience with government. And he actually cares enough to vote. Mallahan has no policy, and he doesn't care enough about our city to be involved prior to running for mayor or to even vote. He's running for mayor because he thinks it will be "fun".
I hope this debate starts to be about policies, not about clothes. But maybe Mallahan folks need to talk about anything but policy, cause, well, if it was about that they have nothing to talk about.
Smartass!
btw - you are boring.
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