As the race for mayor of Seattle heads into its final days, there are two competing messages that will inundate voters in the Emerald City.
The first, coming from the campaign of challenger Katie Wilson, will assert that incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell is too cozy with the rich business interests that are pouring money into his re-election effort.
The second, pitched by the Harrell campaign, will be that Wilson has an embarrassingly short resume and not nearly enough experience running any big organization, let alone a major American city.
This is what has become a standard political battle in Seattle: On one side, a liberal Democratic politician who strives to implement mildly progressive programs, but who knows those good efforts cannot be paid for without a healthy urban economy and profitable businesses; on the other side, an insurgent from the left, someone raised up by the activist community, who distrusts local capitalists and has an idealistic plan to transform our town into a model for social justice.
In other words, a pragmatist versus a dreamer, and, at least in the case of Harrell versus Wilson, a veteran versus a novice.
Wilson came out of the primary with a 10% lead over Harrell, a result that shocked the business community into opening their bank accounts for the politically endangered mayor. Whether that will be enough we will soon learn. The smaller number of folks who vote in primaries tend to be more engaged and ideological, and that was an advantage for Wilson. In the general election, more pragmatists may cast ballots, which might allow Harrell to close the gap.
Seattle’s political pendulum swings from the center to the left and back again with maddening regularity, generally giving no one in either camp enough time to carry out a coherent program. That pendulum is swinging again, but which way is it going?
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