Washington State Election Shit 2006

this is great to hear! when i was down for bumbershoot i stopped by a booth of folks opposing this, and they were kind enough to indulge my ardent curiosity even though i couldn't vote. this initiative sounded like crap - good work.

i'm glad about maria cantwell as well - i think she's a really fascinating politician.

I mean, we're not quite at the same level of even the minority Conservative government after all of last night, but we're much closer now than we were before... jesus, what an awful thing to aspire too for a best case scenario. Gotta celebrate when we can though, I guess.

With the core of Seattle, Bellingham, Tacoma, and Olympia, she already had half the state vote anyway. (And yes, the San Juans and Sequim and Native American reservations help too.) But she had a two-point solid over McGavick for a reason... she did a lot of politicking in Eastern WA... to the point where she's quite cozy with some Idaho GOP politicans, and not all of the issues are necessarily nonpartison, or at least some were not once upon a time.

Had it not been for this, WA would have been a "toss up tilting Dem" like many other states.. furthermore, I'm guessing in this scenario, Cantwell would have voted for torture.

Cantwell is a smart politician but mainly for the sake of being a re-electable politician. I don't think she's evil, but she's not a grass roots icon by any means. My vote for her was not 100% guilt free.

Had she voted for torture, my vote would have gone to ex-Black Panther Green candidate Aaron Dixon, despite his awful campaign.

The King Co. one is more of a solid win, unsurprisingly.

The Seattle one even passing is more surprising to me though, just because it's rare to have two tax initiatives to support the same thing pass in the same election, even if the areas don't fully intersect.

mcgavick really flamed out. when i was down in WA a couple of times this summer there was a lot of talk about how slick he was, how strong his campaign looked, etc. no one thought he would win, but many were expecting another close race a la 2000.

i agree about the batshit canadians - i hope this gives them a shot of perspective. i.e. people win elections and people lose elections. things change. bush for 6 yrs seemed to mean bush FOREVER for a lot of people, the same way that harper as PM is causing people to despair. the erroneous assumption is that everyone's making a decision on the same interests - people have all sorts of reasons for voting for harper, and only some of them are because "he's a right wing asshole."

http://i11.ebayimg.com/05/i/06/43/f2/42_1.JPG

I'll never forget the tough motorcycle dudes on Granville a year ago that proudly displayed their American flags on the backs of their cycles and had a "From REAL B.C., not SOVIET B.C." bumper sticker. Oh the rofls.

It would have prevented people at strip-clubs from getting within four foot strippers, not four feet FROM strippers.

i love the idea that NO ONE in the US is aware that the system is a little fucked. "dear america, did you know that the electoral college is a little archaic?" "dear canada, thanks for letting us know! we'll get right on that!"

further, for a canadian to complain about the US structure when we have a senate that would be a global laughingstock if anyone knew it existed... etc. etc.

revive for 2010, who wants to start a new thread when we've got this HISTORY right here

small lol: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/11/02/when-an-election-cheat-sheet-isnt-explicit-enough

Here is a conversation I had two minutes ago:

Hey, I need you to tell me how to vote.
Have you looked at our cheat sheet?
Yes. But you don't have anyone for Dan Satterberg.
That's because he's uncontested.
So who do I vote for if I think he's a fool?
Write someone in.
How?
You literally write their name on the line under Dan Satterberg's name.
And that counts?
Yes, it totally counts.
Oh. Can I vote for you?
No.
Oh. (Pause) Can I vote for me?
Yes.
Really? I can vote for myself?
Yep. You sound perfectly qualified for the position. Do it.
Okay then, I guess I'll vote for myself—hey, can I vote for myself on all of 'em?
Yep.
And it'll still count?
Sure—unless you're a felon or you don't get your ballot postmarked today.
Hey thanks.
You are very welcome, sir.

Mr. Jaq and I had a chat last night about those uncontested/write-ins, because I wasn't filling those circles in, even on people I wanted to win. Then he was all worst-case-scenario "no one fills any of the circles in, and just ONE PERSON writes in Tim Eyman, and BOOM! Tim Eyman wins". So I filled in all my circles.

haha me and a friend had nearly the same conversation today. i figured the candidate's family will all probably vote for him or her so not to worry? i left my circles blank and patted myself on the back for the time saved.

are we going to repeal a soda pop tax? i mean really?

Which saved time I am sure got put to good use elsewhere.

posting to this thread!

Keep the soda tax but give us booze in Costco and Trader Joes!

hear hear!

what is going on

ugh, so much for funding for basically anything.

lot of selfish people in this state

hell, i wouldn't have even minded the candy tax getting rolled back if people could have fucking voted in their own interest for the income tax.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3036/2929457307_7b19683420_o.jpg

not enough people vote with their brains in this state

can't believe it was two years ago this week i cried on my couch, thinking there had been a wakeup, let's be smart and prudent and let's invest in ourselves, and then it turns into this

school energy efficiency bonds going down 57-43, what the fuck

no let's be wasteful now and not fix things for the future just cuz we don't wanna pay a little.

gays, weed, gov. i'm feeling...fairly confident.

seawall! weird one that no one talks about, since it matters so much infrastructure-wise.

also i got to vote for someone i know. like this dude:
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s480x480/598875_10151199510678470_944176136_n.jpg

just finished my ballot. can't ever remember leaving so many blank.
mcginn is as good as gone huh

can sawant win, that is the question

I have to say I love / am horrified by seeing the "top five contributors" lists in the 522 tv ads

so much good news (state senate, mosqueda, mitzi) but man durkan is some bullshit

Fuck her now and for the next four years