No one ever voted for Tim Eyman.

That fact seems to have been overlooked by local politicians and newspapers in the rush to crucify Eyman for lying about paying himself $45,000 last year. The money came from campaign donations from supporters of his tax-cutting initiatives, and Eyman doesn't appear to have done anything illegal. Now Eyman says, "I want to continue advocating issues and I want to make a lot of money doing it." Well, why shouldn't he?

The way the media and local and state politicians are pumping this story, you'd think Gary Locke's dead body was found in the trunk of Eyman's car. But what does this story really tell us about Eyman? That he was motivated by greed and self-interest? This is news? Anyone who thinks this revelation will bring Eyman's reign of terror to an end is deeply deluded. Yes, Tim Eyman was motivated by greed and self-interest--but guess what? So is everyone who has ever gathered signatures for him, sent a check to his organization, or voted for one of his initiatives.

Call off the celebrations in Olympia and at the editorial offices of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Eyman isn't an elected official, and he can't be thrown out of office. One more time: He's done nothing illegal. More important, Eyman's initiative campaigns are not about Tim Eyman. His populist crusades give frustrated voters a chance to lash out at an unresponsive political/media class that refuses to acknowledge that, yes, our car tabs were too expensive and our property taxes are too high. The solution to regressive car tabs and property taxes is a fair state income tax. Unfortunately, our gutless state and local politicians have refused to act on a state income tax, leaving an opening for a demagogue like Eyman.

The same people who are calling for Eyman's head now--the politicians and op-ed writers, and KUOW's resident harpies, Seattle Weekly's George Howland Jr. and The Seattle Times' Joni Balter--have been calling for Eyman's head for years. Voters have ignored them all along, and will go on ignoring them.

And that's because no one ever voted for Eyman. People vote for his ideas--and his ideas, in case you haven't noticed, have wide appeal. Voters who may have been offended by Eyman's lies still want cheaper car tabs and lower property taxes, and they're going to keep voting for greed and self-interest.

Sorry, folks, this story didn't kill Tim Eyman. It didn't even nick him.

savage@thestranger.com