Comments

1
This is a really good move. Kshama Sawant made her name running against Chopp in 2012, positioning her for a successful 2013 run for City Council. This could position Jess well for a 2015 Council run. Or who knows, maybe she actually beats Chopp and lights a fire under a lame, useless Seattle delegation in Olympia that refuses to fight or lead.

Whatever happens, this is great news. Jess is awesome and will be a strong candidate for the seat.
2
Jess Spear is a major engineer behind Sawant's victory. Victorious grassroots campaigns require more than a charismatic front person and Jess's efforts certainly paid off. Now she can put that expertise to great use for herself! Chopp, and Seattle, should watch out for the up and coming lefties!
3
Go Jess!
4
"Chop Chop" - best campaign slogan ever
5
Frank Chopp's One Washington effort died a few years ago. He is beatable. I don't know if this is the person that can do it, but, good luck.
6
Nice.
7

I tried to shake her hand once, but she kept talking about Wendy's new Ciabatta Bacon Cheese.
8
She is hot for a 30 year old.
9
Go Jess!
10
Not going to happen, and shouldn't happen.
11
Don't know if it'll happen, but should happen.

Drat, #10 and I probably cancelled each other's dream-wishes.
12
Can we also threaten repeal of the $9B Boeing tax break via initiative ala 15now?!? This needs to be challenged with more than one mere legislative seat...
13
Washington Democrats could easily make all of these challenges from the left unnecessary and untenable. Why won't they?
14
Chopp is one of the most useless pieces of shit in the WA legislature. For the life of me, I can't figure out why uber-liberal 43rd district keeps re-electing him.

I'm not in the 43rd, but if I was, I would vote for anyone but Chopp who isn't actually a republican.
15
If I lived in her district, I'd vote for her.

Hope this works out!
16
I doubt if I would vote for a socialist who was serious about nationalizing the Fortune 500 and don't think she can win on that basis, which is the basis upon which people will ask this time around.

Sawant caught people by surprise and so no one asked her about the means of production etc etc. Chopp won't forget.

But if she can redefine socialism intelligently (which is what actually has happened if you read The Stranger) she might run a good race if she likes retail politics.
17
@10 - why shouldn't it happen? Why shouldn't elected representatives be challenged? Why shouldn't Ms. Spear engage in democracy? Why shouldn't people who have views to the left of Chopp seek to have their voice heard? Why shouldn't people seek to move the Overton Window to the left?
18
really stupid. Lets run a totally out of touch leftist against the best speaker we have had and spend money and resources to have to protect him against such a challenge. Can she name where the 49 districts are? Can she name where ten districts are? Doe she know how the House and senate and Governor's office actually work? This challenge is childish, stupid, and unproductive.
19
@18

Hey I know that condescending tone! You're from the Richard Conlin campaign, aren't you?
20
Ugh. Am I the only person left who reads the Stranger who realizes how the Seattle socialist party is a parasitic organization that co-ops legitimate movements for their own gain?
21
@18- are you familiar with the concept of the Overton Window?
"The Overton Window is an approach to identifying which ideas define the domain of acceptability within a democratic republic's possible governmental policies. Proponents of policies outside the window seek to persuade or educate the public in order to move and/or expand the window. Proponents of current policies, or similar ones, within the window seek to convince people that policies outside it should be deemed unacceptable.

After Overton's death, others have examined the concept of adjusting the window by the deliberate promotion of ideas outside of it, or "outer fringe" ideas, with the intention of making less fringe ideas acceptable by comparison."

Kshama Sawant's campaign against Frank Chopp was not an electoral victory, but it did move the Overton Window to the left in this community. It changed the political conversation. We are now not just talking about a $15.00 / hr minimum wage, we are about to enact it in some form. This simply would not have been possible without her running against a high profile target.
As to Ms. Spear being "out of touch", she is in large part responsible for the successful messaging and organizing around the minimum wage campaign. You might want to check the polling on that before you call her "out of touch".
22
"the best speaker we have had" Hilarious.
23
@20 is right. How is it that most of you don't see the socialists as what they are- the tea party of the left. They could damage the liberal party badly at the same time the conservatives get their act back together. No one wins in that scenario.

Like Liberal, I'll stick with actual democrats.
24
Sybil @ 20, 23 - it must be nice when your sock puppets agree with each other.
25
She won't beat Chopp because she has absolutely no relevant experience. And it shouldn't happen because (see preceding sentence). It's one thing for someone to get elected to a City Council, and I voted for Sawant and think she's been great so far. But @18's right; Chopp's been a good Speaker, has saved human services as much as they possibly can be considering there are all too many heartless Republicans in both houses (have you actually watched what's happened over the last 4 years?), and there's no reason to throw his experience and heart in the trash pile.
26
@21, Ms. Spear is a vessel that expectorates talking points as if they were intelligent facts. I normally vote for underdogs, but no....
27
@26 Gun nut, concern troll, whatever. The only thing you would ever do for an underdog is go out of your way to kick em' in the ribs if you saw one lying in the gutter after a mugging.
28
@25 the reason why Chopp has to keep saving human services is he keeps getting in the way of them being properly funded. He allowed (or told) his caucus to implement Eyman's I-695 and I-747 initiatives even after the courts threw them out, starving the state of badly needed revenue. Why give him credit for barely cleaning up a mess he made?
29
@25- how much relevant experience did Mr. Chopp have when he was first elected? (Honest question).
Ms Spear has been instrumental in working within the system to create change - both in the Sawant campaign and the campaign for an increased minimum wage . How is this not relevant experience?
I think Chopp is a pretty good guy, with his heart in the right place. But I also think he and McDermott have become dinosaurs, somewhat ossified in both their thinking and tactics. Neither do much of anything to change the conversation or advance progressive goals. They're both pretty good at maintaining the status quo, and there is a pragmatic need for that. The pressing need at this point, IMHO, is electing some people who are good at changing the conversation. This is also pragmatic. We can no longer afford to fight a strictly defensive war. We need offense as well.
30
@27
Gary Johnson was an underdog...what would you do for him?
31
I would call her a rampaging psychopath, but that would be an insult to America's favorite psychopath Dexter Morgan. She has no experience and has no idea what the hell she's talking about and her entire vocabulary is taken from dorm-room slogans...and I hope she wins.
Give Seattle the idiot it deserves. In a year I'll be sipping sweet tea in Texas or North Carolina and watching this city burn while laughing at your asses.

I've had enough of these Pabst Blue Ribbon drinking, vegan brownie eating, free-speech hating, porn banning, gun grabbing, bra burning, tax raising, large soda banning, housing zoning, small business hating, white privileged trust fund socialists for one life time.

...and for once I would love one socialist to tell me what the chances of one of them getting elected in Texas are?
32
More hilarity from the Stranger. Chopp is "vulnerable"? In what sense? Is there any evidence? No?

Dom, you have to choose. Either you're a journalist, meaning you have respect for the truth, or you're a polemicist, meaning you'll spew bullshit if you think it's a good story and will advance your cause. Guess which this post is.

And for the moron who doesn't know what Frank Chopp did before he was elected to the House: my elementary school daughter can out-Google you. That makes you pretty damn lame.
33
Go Jess!
34
Whatever kk. I'm perfectly capable of googling. Other than that Frank was ten years older than Jess when first elected, I don't see much different in their early resumes. He ran Solid Ground. She has successfully organized around social justice issues.
I love that the old guard, such as yourself, confer a sense of papal infallibility on old school dems. But, you know, every now and then a new pope gets elected.
35
Democrats have controlled Washington's state government for most of the past 30 years and we still have the most regressive state and local tax system in the country. Last time I checked, Chopp's number-one contributers were the for-profit health sector ("Big Health") -- health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, interventional specialist MD groups, et al. Chopp and his fellow pseudo-progressive state rep, K&L Gates corporate lawyer Jamie Pedersen, both voted to give Microsoft amnesty on over a billion dollars in evaded software license royalty taxes at the height of the state budget crisis, then followed it up by voting to have the taxes of Washington's little people subsidize public university tuition for the families of Microsoft's and Amazon's H1-B and other non-immigrant alien workers -- imported scab "guest workers" -- at a time when Washington's little people can no longer afford to go on to higher education themselves. You can be damn sure Jess Spear will get my vote against Chopp, and if Socialist Alternative can drum up a candidate to run against Pedersen, that candidate will get my vote as well.

My only question is, now that marriage equality has been mandated by a right-wing US Supreme Court as a matter of federal equal protection, what social-wedge issue will Washington's pseudo-progressive big-business Democrats use to distinguish themselves from their corporatist colleagues across the aisle?
36
@18: Thanks for mansplaining that for us.
37
hey! come on! enough of this talk about whether she's qualified or not...she's pretty cute, right?
38
Unless I'm missing something (and I'm running off to work, so maybe I am), Ms. Spear hasn't filed...
https://wei.sos.wa.gov/agency/osos/en/Pa…
Are you sure she is running against Chopp, Stranger?
39
Remener that time when voters were asked to pass an income tax for only the wealthiest citizens and nearly 60% of you said no? Yeah that's the dems fault. Blame everyone but yourselves.

And you know what @20, you're not alone.
40
Run a slate of socialists. Give ALL of the politicians pause. Just don't become co-opted politicians down the line.
41
Pol Pot endorses Jesse Spear. Loses Seattle's Cambodian vote.
42
Democrats are "not advancing the issues that working people care about"? Oh, yeah? I got my 43rd District legislative report in the mail this week. Senator Jamie Pederson's three featured accomplishments for this session are:

* New license plate for Seattle University
* Protecting on-water dwellings
* Streamlining business conversion

Representative Frank Chopp's:

* DREAM Act becomes a reality
* Mental health
43
Seattle's delegation in Olympia should be all-Socialist. That would dramatically shift the balance of power. As it stands now, our votes are used to support center-right policies that wouldn't get 40% on a ballot here in the Emerald City. Go Jess!
45
#ChopChopp #Sonicsgate
46
Junipero @43:

Why don't YOU run for something? You're such a fucking expert on politics around here, why don't YOU put your blowhard ass out there?
47
The 43rd District is not Olympia's most liberal. Jamie Pederson is one of the most reliable corporatists in Olympia; I would think that most residents would get extremely upset with their representatives if they ever bothered to check out their votes on economic issues and their obstruction of useful ideas.
48
@44

Are you making fun of people who would say that, or are you making a joke? It's not a particularly imaginative comment, but it's definitely striking to me, given how angrily you respond when someone (me, for one) chastises you for sexist remarks.

(Please don't bother to repeat how much of a feminist you are because of how much you volunteer for women's causes. If you don't mind, just explain why you think that's an appropriate joke or, if you've reconsidered, then say so. Thanks.)
49
@48
I can't stand the GOP. I'm a libertarian man, and I hate most of them...but Paul Ryan is fucking hot. I'd vote for him if he promised to come over my place and let me pound his VP gavel...

Now, are you equally going to condemn me for being a pig who makes sexist remarks about men being nothing but collections of cocks and asses for my amusement, or are you going to be like the rest of the feminazis and be a hypocrite?

Honestly, why do straight guys get all the hate? What about us? Gay porn is still porn and hence ugly, harry feminists should be just as up in arms about it. Come on, you vegan short haired buffoons, we gay pigs need some hate too, just like the straight pigs.

I mean, you aren't ignoring us just because we are degrading men and you only care about women and don't really care about equality. No, that couldn't be the case...
50
I have met the enemy. And it is us.
51
@18: "Can she name where the 49 districts are? Can she name where ten districts are?"

Since she's not running for Speaker of the House, only to be representative out of her district, what you're asking is completely irrelevant.
52
@51 - your comment is the epitome of the Seattle centric type that makes everybody else in the state hate big cities.

State legislators make state law. State law impacts the whole state, so you'd damn well better know more than just your own district.
53
Don't defile my beloved Liberalism by associating Socialism to it.
54
@ 51
I invite everyone to notice he supports Jess Spear and google the man in his profile picture...then google the guy in my profile pic (Lysander Spooner)
Who has less blood on their hands, the father of Leninism (Jess Spear's ideology) or the father of Libertarianism (my ideology)? Nough said.
55
@52, exactly.

Someone up above said she's a well-known organizer for social justice issues. I keep a pretty close eye on that stuff and I've never heard of her. She's also lived in Seattle for 3 years. Perhaps she hopes by running against Chopp (as Sawant did) that she'll gain attention and can then run for a local office. Perhaps her Party thinks that's a good strategy. She's certainly free to try. But the fact that she's essentially being a copy-cat doesn't make her inexperience any more appealing.

@29, Chopp has nothing to do with Jim McDermott, who's in Congress and who's been a dinosaur for about 20 years and has a resume of about one inch as far as having any effect at all. If you think there should be an age- or longevity-restricted law, then work for it, but don't conflate two entirely different people.
56


@54 right that guy, Lysander, who back in the 19th century wanted to do what Wells Fargo and American Express were already doing. But Lysander thought he was crafty and instead of actually running a business tried to sue the Federal Government over the US Post Office. An Office mandated by the Constitution.

Yeah Lysander I'm impressed with him.

57
@56
Actually, Spooner was opposed to most banks and understood how evil they were and favored credit unions, and created a cheaper alternative to the post office as opposed to the government-mandated monopoly. At no point did he say the post office shouldn't exist, only that there was no reason to stop someone from creating a voluntary alternative (the 19th century Fedex) He was also a radical abolitionist. Next time try doing some actual research.

And you never answered the question: compare Spooner, Gustave Molinari, Thomas Paine and Henry Georg to Lenin, Trosky and Che. Which side has more blood in its hands: the libertarian side (my side) or the Leninist side? (Jess Spear's side)

58
Spear's progressive policy suggestions are going to do her a lot of good when the Republicans steamroll over her like a bug in the road. Chopp is arguably the best legislator this state has ever seen, and you're going to find out why if he leaves. A vote for Spear is a vote for twenty years of Republican everything.
59
@58 Fnarf speaks truth. Washington is far more conservative than most commenters here recognize. Without Chopp, the left gets steamrolled in Olympia.
60
@58
Wow, I actually agree with you. Running a hardcore liberal or socialist line may work in Seattle, but most Stranger readers just don't understand how the rest of the state works. Outside of King and Pierce counties, Washington is moderate with a lot of libertarian influences. Even right over the water on the East Side there is a lot of conservatism and libertarianism. People can hate on Chop, but at least he understands how to negotiate to get somewhere with people he disagrees with. Even fans of Sawant and now Spear have to admit they aren't exactly the poster children of realpolitik.
61
I think it's good for Frank Chopp to get pushed (pulled?) from the left. On the other hand, Jess Spear and S.A. (and Kshama Sawant) don't seem to understand politics around here, starting from the fact that it was Seattle Democrats who helped Sawant get elected. They forget that Richard Conlin had increasing trouble getting endorsed at the Dem districts, and many Democrats crossed the 'party line' to the left to support her.

Going after Chopp (again) is doomed and will not help Sawant stay in office after November 2015. The self-defined socialists should go after more conservative local politicians; there are many. Trying to take out the most liberal Speaker of the House we could hope for in this state is a truly destructive strategy.

S.A. should be working with and within the Ds at the local level. Very disappointing.
62
I like that she throws a bunch of word salad out there about making the tax code more progressive as a criticism of Chopp. Everybody knows what that really means -- a state income tax. Look, I voted for 1098, but it got absolutely slaughtered. If you think the legislature is going to come close to imposing an income tax after it lost 65-35 statewide, and 54-46 in *King County*, you're insane. And if you think it's somehow Chopp's fault that the house hasn't passed an income tax, you're even more insane.

It'll also be spectacular when she argues for collectivizing Amazon, which is probably her district's biggest employer.
63
@57 Hi :)

Yes of course I was dismissive and flippant with regard to L. Spooner. So what at best he's a historical footnote. Good for him, doubt I'll be one or you.

As for your question, yes, there will be blood. There will always be blood. By definition Government is a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence.

Bounce back and forth between the two extremes you struggle with, Collectivism vs. Collectivism_Sucks. Or should I say Marxism vs. what was it mini anarchy or something.

Believe it or not I actually think I could agree with you on a number of things. But dude it is hard, very hard to take you seriously when your stated belief is, "If big government would just get out of the way we'd all just work it out". End fake quote. Although that pretty much sums it up. So I'll say this part slow.

P E O P L E A R E A S S H O L E S.
64
Rent control is fucking stupid, and you're not guaranteed a place in your favorite neighborhood. Boohoo you moved to Eastlake to save some money and now you might have to take a bus to go clubbing.
65
I would totally vote for her in the Hump festival.
66
@43: Yes, a slate of Seattle Socialists would dramatically shift the balance of power in Olympia. To the Republicans.

Given her platform of issues she would be unable to get passed, Spear comes off as a low-wattage Sawant wannabe. Voting for Frank!
67
Oh, Lordy. That's ALL we need. Another reflexive with more talking points and discourse by parroted placard-logic.
68
Spear's blaming Chopp and Democrats for regressive taxes hardly shows clarity on the issue of reforming our tax system. In 1993 statewide voters enacted I-601 to require a 2/3 vote to raise taxes in both houses. In the last 20 years there have only been several years when the legislature was able to remove the 2/3 vote. There is no mention in this thread of Tim Eyman who ran 3 different initiatives which statewide voters approved to reinstate the 2/3 requirement -starting with Initiative 960 in 2007, Initiative 1053 in 2010, and Initiative 1185 in 2012. This year the Washington State Supreme Court ruled the 2/3 requirement unconstitutional. Democrats were behind the Supreme Court challenge, not Republicans or socialists. How is Chopp to blame for this 20 year love affair of the voters hampering the ability of the Legislature to raise taxes with a simple majority? He certainly didn't support it. Also I-1098 was already mentioned, an attempt by initiative to put in place an income tax on high earners that the voters by a wide margin rejected. As to the paucity of legislation passed the last two years by Democrats, it is no different than in the US Congrss. Republicans adopted a strategy of no compromise and no legislation and then blamde the Democrats for doing nothing. Socialists make a big mistake blaming Democrats for inaction. It takes 50 votes in the House and 25 votes in the Senate to pass a bill in the state legislature. Socialists would make more friends if they took on some Republicans rather than challenging Frank Chopp who despite the limitations placed on raising revenue by the voters and obstructionist Republicans has a lot of positive accomplishments during his time in office.
69
@61
I completely agree. If she was running against someone very conservative she could win and I'd probably vote for her. It would be a bad idea to lose Chopp as the Speaker of the House.

@62
I also agree with that. We need to play some ball with big businesses. But I think we need to make it easier for small businesses to thrive alongside the big businesses.

@31 and @48 collectivism_sucks
"I've had enough of these Pabst Blue Ribbon drinking, vegan brownie eating, free-speech hating, porn banning, gun grabbing, bra burning, tax raising, large soda banning, housing zoning, small business hating, white privileged trust fund socialists for one life time. "

I went to Evergreen State College and I've lived in Western Washington my whole life. There are some people like that though I have never met any small business hating people here. And very few of the people I meet have trust funds or are socialists even if they agree with some socialist policies. But I meet plenty of people who are pro-porn, love free-speech, and believe in guns within reason. I even meet some people who want no gun regulations but only like one or two people. I highly doubt most of the people you meet are like that. If they are you should stop hanging out where you usually go because there are places in Seattle where people are not like that as much. Most of the people I know love meat for one. I view myself as very liberal in some aspects and moderate and conservative in others. I agree with most of the democrats policies, I agree with some socialist ones, and some libertarian ones. I encourage my husband to watch or look at porn if he wants to. I'm also fine with him sleeping with other women if he wanted to though not having a romantically emotional relationship with anyone else. I feel that state and city governments do better with more power and I feel the Federal government should have less power in certain areas. I believe we should have a health care system like Canada's or the UK's. I believe in public schooling and in taxes being used to benefit everyone. I believe in guns being available but with very thorough background checks. I myself would love to get a gun someday when I have the time to devote to using it correctly. I believe in free speech and I believe in the rights of small businesses. Above all I believe in local. Local government should always have the most power, local businesses should always be given the most support, eat locally and spend locally.

Also collectivism_sucks if you don't like Washington but love the PNW consider moving to Idaho. People there tend to vote more along libertarians lines even if the party doesn't have much representation. If you don't care about being in the PNW I would consider moving to New Hampshire the most libertarian state of all.

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