"It's the wrong question."

That's what Mike said to me.

There is a slice of the Seattle electorate who likes McGinn, but maybe aren't so anti-tunnel, who have been wondering exactly what the former Sierra Club leader would actually do, if elected, to put the brakes on the the deep-bore tunnel project.

"There are going to be cost overruns."

McGinn says that, if we push ahead without the costs of a tunnel figured out, we could find ourselves in a "Big Dig" type situation. We could have a project that's underway without the finds to finish it.

"The city has to come up with a billion dollars through parking and property taxes. The Pike Place Market levy was $89 milliion, and we voted on that. There should be public vote to raise those taxes."

What if the state pushed ahead, and the city refused to fund it's portion on the cost? Wouldn't that result in a rebuilt viaduct?

"Then, you'd have the downtown interests fighting that, too."

It's pretty clear that Mike is trying to change the narrative from "how will you stop this?" to "how will they build it?" That's a smart, smart move considering the candidates are so close in the polls and there's litiagtion underway to stop the tunnel if it is, in fact, being designed in violation of state law. If voters feel it is okay to reassess the tunnel, Mike seems ready to close the deal.