From the Nov 2 – Nov 8, 2000 issue

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U.S. CONGRESS

District 1Vote forJAY INSLEE (Democrat)With the architects of nosy Big-Brother marketing (think Microsoft--Jay Inslee's top contributor--as well as Amazon and Wash-ington Mutual) located right in Inslee's backyard, it's admirable that he has made protecting consumer privacy one of his campaign themes. As a member of the Banking and Financial Services Committee, Inslee has introduced a bill that would prevent businesses from engaging in creepy "information sharing" practices. That stand--combined with Inslee's strong voting record on social services, civil rights, gun control, and the environment--wins Inslee our enthusiastic endorsement.

Inslee's Republican opponent, State Senator Dan McDonald (Olympia), is an infamous opponent of social-welfare spending. For example, year after year, McDonald has opposed providing any money to help the unemployed. And when McDonald was the Republican Senate majority leader in 1998, he got a lowly 13-percent approval rating from enviros. There are plenty of Dan McDonalds in the U.S. Congress, and we don't see any reason to send another one there.

District 7Vote for JOE

SZWAJA (Green Party)U.S. Representative Jim McDermott didn't give voters a chance to hear him publicly debate his challenger, Green Party candidate Joe Szwaja (pronounced Shh-why-ah). However, our primary endorsement of Szwaja must have spooked McDermott (the spitting image of our seventh president, Andrew Jackson), because the congressman agreed to debate Szwaja in front of the Stranger Election Death Squad in order to win back our support.

We were not impressed by McDermott's performance. While the six-term congressman has a lot going for him this year (for all intents and purposes, his face is on the $20 bill), McDermott's attempt to smirk, scoff, and eye-roll his way through the debate ("I'm getting 73 percent of the vote!" the congressman lectured) turned us off. Worse yet, McDermott's performance proved that Szwaja's right: McDermott has failed to represent the progressive ideals of Seattle's 7th District (which includes the U-District, Capitol Hill, and Rainier Valley). While McDermott has a decent record--fighting for a single-payer health-care system and increased spending on the homeless--the veteran legislator is as spent and out of touch as Szwaja paints him. Indeed, the congressman did little more last session than fight for his top corporate backer ($9,000 donor drug company Schering-Plough). At our offices, McDermott was unfamiliar with the ills of Sound Transit, dismissed WTO critics, and took a timid position on breaching dams. Clearly, McDermott hasn't been paying attention to his district.

Szwaja, by contrast, has given his attention to Tent City, called for breaching the Snake River dams, and supports the monorail. We're not naive enough to think Szwaja will be heading to D.C. in January (not unless someone buys him a bus ticket), but voting for this high school history teacher and former Madison, Wisconsin city council member will send a meaningful message to the rightward-drifting Democratic party. Unlike Nader, Szwaja actually has a chance of winning a sizable percentage of the vote, and chipping away at McDermott's 73 percent might prompt the congressman to pay a little more attention to his progressive district and a little less to Schering-Plough.

District 9Vote for ADAM SMITH (Democrat)Adam Smith may cast votes for bills that allow creepy banking industry consolidation and be a member of the centrist (and cloying) New Democrat Coalition, but that's not enough to replace him with his evil Republican challenger, King County Council Member Chris Vance. Vance has a reputation for fronting legislation on behalf of developers, and has proposed opening HOV lanes to single-occupant cars during non-peak hours. He recently voted to raise the campaign-contribution limits for King County Council races to $1,200 (from $650). Perhaps his most egregious plot, however, was pushing for amendments to the region's growth-management plan that would have allowed the construction of a 300,000-square-foot mega-church and religious school on off-limits rural land. Vance's church would have drawn tons of traffic, slapped down a massive parking lot, and increased the number of God-fearing Christians in Washington state.