Eye on Congress

No telling who is going to be in the Nov. 3rd general election with Susan Hutchison for county executive. Hutchison & Reagan Dunn (the Hutchison slate), and Mark Greene are the three most likely King County government candidates (in contested elections) to come out of the primary, but whoever the 4th candidate will be is a puzzle. We believe Dow Constantine made a strategic error by making too big of a deal of contrasting himself with Hutchison on social issues that have nothing to do with county government. Fred Jarrett and Ross Hunter are average politicians, but their drawbacks, besides being average, are a little eyebrow raising. Larry Phillips looks like the best of the lot most likely to make it into the "top two." Alan Lobdell is a capable individual for the post of county executive, although through no fault of his own, he is not getting much press attention. Lippmann and Nelson should try for lower positions, such as boards or councils, before putting their hat

In the major league sports world, it is considered unsportsmanlike to run up the score against an opponent to some outlandish degree. That's why in football, when the score is something like 50 - 3, the coach that is ahead puts in substitutes. Reagan Dunn's campaign apparently has no such compunction, in fact he is bringing out the first team to pile up the score (although, he'll need 90% of the primary vote to claim a "win"). Two county councilmembers, Kathy Lambert and Bob Ferguson, both of whom have free passes to their own re-elections (uncontested districts), are effectively helping Dunn. Lambert assisted with and her likeness appeared in a ubiquitous taxpayer-funded county brochure with Dunn. Ferguson and Dunn co-authored an article that appeared in the newspaper of record for Dunn supporters, the "Sound Publishing/Reporter" publications. With the county in a financial crisis and in the midst of a morass, Lambert & Ferguson have nothing better