There is endless chatter about the wide political divide in the country between red states and blue states, but in deep blue Democratic Seattle, the division appears to be about age, more than anything else.
This is true, at least, in the race for mayor between incumbent Bruce Harrell and challenger Katie Wilson. In a poll conducted for the Northwest Progressive Institute by Change Research, Wilson was the overwhelming choice of young voters, while Harrell was the strong favorite of those in the upper age brackets.
According to the poll, voters aged 18 to 34 picked Wilson by a whopping 75%, with Harrell taking just 17%. In the 35 to 49 group, Wilson was far ahead, 54% to 31%. There is a sudden shift to Harrell in the 50 to 64 cohort, where he leads with 56% to Wilson’s 24%. And among voters 65 and older, Harrell is the choice of 59%, while Wilson lags at 24%.
There is an adage that anyone who is young and conservative does not have a heart, while a person who is old and liberal does not have a brain. That aphorism may not actually apply here because, being denizens of Seattle, those older people are mostly solid Democrats – plus, supporting a veteran liberal like Harrell is hardly a sign of right-wing tendencies.
What is true is that younger citizens of the Emerald City tend to be unmarried renters with lower incomes, while the older ones are more likely to be homeowners with kids and a higher net worth. And it is not the renters, but the homeowners – and, even more, the businesses – who pay the taxes that fund the progressive policies and programs that get broad support from almost everyone in this town. It is not surprising, then, that those who get hit with the cost of civic good works lean toward a more prudent, stolid candidate, rather than a firebrand pledging to boldly fix every societal ill – the type of candidate who inspires the impatient younger voter.
Young people engaged in politics tend to be impassioned and indignant, filled with idealism untempered by experience. That is why, throughout history, the young have filled the ranks of soldiers, revolutionaries, utopians and suicide bombers. With age comes wisdom, pragmatism and cynicism. Older people understand utopias are unobtainable and, in the effort to make everything perfect, great crimes can be justified. They tend to be incrementalists willing to settle for any leader who can just make things a little better and hold the line against calamity.
Demographically, Seattle is a very young city and that boosts activist candidates like Katie Wilson. It also works against an incumbent like Bruce Harrell who is not moving fast enough to please the restless idealists.
Plus, he is an old guy. All his seasoning and experience counts for little to a young generation of Seattleites insistent on so much more.
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