As the race for mayor of Seattle heads into its final days, there are two competing messages that may inundate voters within the Emerald Metropolis.
The primary, coming from the marketing campaign of challenger Katie Wilson, will assert that incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell is simply too cozy with the wealthy enterprise pursuits which are pouring cash into his re-election effort.
The second, pitched by the Harrell marketing campaign, might be that Wilson has an embarrassingly quick resume and never almost sufficient expertise working any massive group, not to mention a serious American metropolis.
That is what has turn out to be a normal political battle in Seattle: On one facet, a liberal Democratic politician who strives to implement mildly progressive packages, however who is aware of these good efforts can’t be paid for with no wholesome city financial system and worthwhile companies; on the opposite facet, an rebel from the left, somebody raised up by the activist neighborhood, who distrusts native capitalists and has an idealistic plan to remodel our city right into a mannequin for social justice.
In different phrases, a pragmatist versus a dreamer, and, at the very least within the case of Harrell versus Wilson, a veteran versus a novice.
Wilson got here out of the first with a ten% lead over Harrell, a consequence that shocked the enterprise neighborhood into opening their financial institution accounts for the politically endangered mayor. Whether or not that might be sufficient we are going to quickly study. The smaller variety of people who vote in primaries are typically extra engaged and ideological, and that was a bonus for Wilson. Within the normal election, extra pragmatists could forged ballots, which could permit Harrell to shut the hole.
Seattle’s political pendulum swings from the middle to the left and again once more with maddening regularity, usually giving nobody in both camp sufficient time to hold out a coherent program. That pendulum is swinging once more, however which approach is it going?
See extra of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View different syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Editor’s observe: Seattle Instances Opinion now not appends remark threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many feedback violated our community policies and reviewing the handfuls that have been flagged as inappropriate required an excessive amount of of our restricted workers time. You possibly can remark through a Letter to the Editor. Please e-mail us at letters@seattletimes.com and embrace your full identify, deal with and phone quantity for verification solely. Letters are restricted to 200 phrases.
