Reply #9: Speaking of Mayoral Campaigns... [View All]

Our last mayoral campaign was a textbook example of Seattle politics. The candidates could be grouped into four categories:

THE THREE PIGS
Paul Schell
Greg Nickels
Mark Sidran

SEATTLE'S MOST FAMOUS ACTIVIST
Charlie Chong

THE SURPRISE
Bob Hegamin

THE FRINGE CANDIDATES
4 or 5 of them

Most Seattleites apparently believed that only one of the three pigs had a chance of winning, so they voted for the nice guy who said nothing but "The Seattle Way" - Greg Nickels.

Charlie Chong ran the most bizarre campaign of his career. That and several other revelations led me to believe that he's actually working for the other side.

Most people would argue that none of the fringe candidates were qualified. Well, so WHAT? If you have to choose between someone who isn't qualifed and a CAREER CRIMINAL (like Greg Nickels), is there any contest?

In fact, Bob Hegamin was the best candidate of the bunch. He retired from Seattle City Light and has been politically active for years, even making it past the primary in one City Council election. He even has a political website - an extreme rarity in Seattle. The media ignore Hegamin like the plague, more evidence that he's a winner. Yet Hegamin only got about 1% of the vote, and Nickels won and quickly morphed into the monster I knew he was!

Now, I'm not 100% certain that Hegamin is on the level. It's possible that he's another operative. But I'd rather take my chances with a possible operative than with some goon who lost $1.1 BILLION on Sound Transit and substitutes "The Seattle Way" for issues.

So how the Hell do we educate the public in this corporate village?