If you want to understand Councilmember Reagan Dunn’s ridiculous grandstanding and stonewalling over public safety cuts in the King County budget, it can all be summed up with one word: 2012.
(Okay… that’s more of a number than a word, but I’m still kinda dazed from Michael Vick’s performance last night on MNF, so just roll with me.)
See, as I explained yesterday on HA, the 2012 campaign season is well underway, and the game of musical chairs at the top of the ticket is already having an impact on council politics. It’s no secret that Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna plans to run for governor in 2012 (hell, he’s essentially been running for years), but what’s less well known is that the two main candidates vying to replace him as our state’s top law enforcement officer are none other than Dunn and… wait for it… King County Council President Bob Ferguson.
So what really played out this week between Dunn, King County Sheriff Sue Rahr and the Democrats on the council was the makings of a very effective TV ad. I can almost see it now: Sheriff Rahr talking about the terrible cuts her department suffered under “Ferguson’s budget,” and how Dunn was the only one fighting for public safety. There will be an unflattering photo or slo-mo video of Ferguson looking stoned or something, behind bullet points outlining his “soft on crime” policies, followed by a Hollywood headshot of Dunn and a list of his many law enforcement endorsements. Perhaps even a mention of some terrible crime that was committed on “Ferguson’s watch.” Scary.
And if you’re having trouble visualizing the ad, be patient: it’ll be running in heavy rotation in another 22 months or so.
A too cynical assessment of a legitimate policy dispute? Don’t be stupid. Politics is a blood sport, and what we just witnessed was round one of Dunn v. Ferguson. So grab yourself a beer and enjoy the fight.
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Michael Vick in 2012.
Bank on it.
Or they can just do what I said yesterday and paint Dunn as an anti-child anti-health care monster after that silly debacle to fund cops by taking money from public health. If our side has the balls to do it, they can make him look a step removed from Goebbels and terminate his entire political career. That is, if the state Dems were out for blood, which they should be.
Once local electeds start winning races and skirmishes by pandering to fear it’s a slippery slope. It seemed so innocuous when McGinn kicked it off with such panache…
Can’t I just grab a Four Loko?
Please, everyone, stop using “…wait for it…”
I thought this geezer was gonna disappear after the election.
Politics in this state makes anarchy look appealing.
Ferguson will mop the floor with him. Bob Ferguson is a very canny politician (and, not incidentally, a very decent guy), and he campaigns HARD.
Dunn, on the other hand … has a really big ornate house. And a name appealing to some sectors of the population.
Dunn is bright and articulate. He is very popular with right and moderate folks. Ferguson better not be seeing him as a lightweight and acting dismissive (as he sometimes can) because Dunn is a real and serious threat he’d better take just that–seriously–or he will loose.