Ouch.

Maybe if staff writers did not mix their political reporting with sexual double entendres, you wouldn't have this problem.

Better Ed than Steinbrueck. But maybe that's too easy.

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/…

McGinn isn't a good mayor. We've already had one term of his corporate ball licking, and that's quite enough.

You talk like McGinn is a scrappy challenger to the Mayoral position. He's not. He's a politician that we've grown weary of. McGinn needs to go. It's why I'm voting for Murray in the November elections.

@4 So you're sick of McGinn's "corporate ball licking" yet you're voting for the guy with all big business money behind him. Huh.

Would be cool to see a front cover this week saying the Stranger didn't endorse Murray, and maybe lots of negative coverage for him inside.

Really well written.

Ouch indeed.

Why were you so nice to Ed?

SLOG's hissy fit about the Murray flyer proves who's really "thin-skinned." Get a life you guys.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about this race, from, er, top to bottom.

Really Goldy? There's nothing else you can think of? How about almost single-handedly preserving funding for the Building for the Arts grants, or doubling the size of the Housing Trust Fund?

"It's a good thing for Ed Murray that we here at The Stranger... enthusiastically endorsed... Ed Murray.

... Mayor Murray... chooses to take the lead... I'll be there for Ed too, helping him... happily... get the job done.

We like Ed. He's a friend of The Stranger.

McGinn's... failings... are many.

He's inflexible. And he tends to... discipline... "road kill"... with the Republicans.

Hell... fucking... cut... McGinn... for... over... 18 years.

If there's something else Ed deserves particular credit for... it's... Ed's role in passing gay marriage... alone. And to be honest... I'm... casting my ballot for Murray in August... as a reward for... gay. I'm... going to hold... him."

-David "Goldy" Goldstein, The Stranger, 7/23/13

At the end of the day, it was the voters of Washington State who approved gay marriage. I know there was a lot of work that went into that victory, but it's worth remembering the folks.

If you take off your tin-foil hat long enough, you might have noticed that the incumbent mayor has managed to alienate nearly every possible ally along the way, including many of you at the Stranger. The only reason I can think of for you to continue to support him is that his vitriolic, bone-headed leadership style makes for good copy.

Blaming Murray for the dysfunctional Senate is like blaming Obama for the dysfunctional Congress. The real culprit for the Senate is Rodney Tom who mislead the voters of his district and his colleagues. Your blaming Murray just lets Tom off the hook.

I must say I'm personally offended at your assertion that Washington merely rode atop a national wave of marriage equality. As a founder of the collation, I can tell you first hand that if it wasn't for Murray's leadership the campaign for marriage would never have been formed. You only need to look south to Oregon and California to see the contrast. No marriage equality down there. The difference? They didn't have someone like Ed Murray to build the coalitions, either amongst their stake holders or within their legislative bodies. True, he didn't do it alone. But it took leadership to put it together. Ed's leadership. The marriage coalition included faith communities (including Catholics!), labor, businesses, and even many Republicans. Waves don't just happen. Waves are built. Do you really think a Mike McGinn could have pulled together that many supporters from all walks of life for something as game-changing as marriage equality?

So, throw all the hissy fits you like. Murray's leadership ability is real. The city faces many challenges and it will take a leader that knows the meaning of governing majority and building coalitions to get things done.

Lastly, Murray has never shown any interest in DC. To suggest that is grossly mischaracterization. But, apparently, you know mischaracterizations.

If one wasn't paying much attention, reading the Slog of late would seem to indicate it's a slow news week for all the digital ink that's been spilled bitching about a stupid mailer that's gonna get shit-canned for 99% of the people who receive it (how people like Christian Sinderman continue to make money telling candidates direct mail is effective is beyond me... but I guess the political machine is designed to like doing things the way it always has).

Count on the Stranger touting its credentials, too, come fall, after Ed wins, for having correctly predicted that their endorsement was going to lose to him. Talk about hedging your bets.

I blame Greg Nickels.

Two things to note:
- consultant Christian Sinderman? He's consulting for School Board candidate, Suzanne Estey
- I've heard this "Ed Murray doesn't want to take on Jim McDermott" thing before. McDermott could lose to the right person and a brave, right person could challenge him and win. Wonder why Murray doesn't do that?

I don't know about this "going to win" stuff. What's Ed really for?

I would frown upon any candidate that couldn't throw a few elbows around in order to win. Either you're in it to win it, or you're just wasting your supporters' time and money.

This mailer thing is so much ado about SQUAT. Goldy, you sound so naive, petty, and a bit narcissistic to whine about it so. BooFuckingHoo.

You have better things to write about it.
Get to it already.

Come on. No one who doesn't read The Stranger is going to read an endorsement from The Stranger as a POSITIVE thing. You guys are the foul-mouted gay weed magazine with ads for hookers.

David, I remember having a kind of sinking feeling when I first learned the Stranger had hired you — as if a promising chain of alternative news reporters at the paper had been broken. Feit, Barnett, Kaushik, Sanders, even Holden: all unabashed "advocacy journalists", approaching each story with a point of view rather than a blank slate, unbound by outmoded notions of journalistic objectivity, but yet, at their core, able to report in a way that both furthered their agenda while simultaneously providing actual enlightenment to their readers about opposing perspectives, too (even if only to further eviscerate them). Then, along came you: the Horse's Ass guy, who came into public view on the strength of a potty-mouthed vanity initiative campaign, never a working journalist until the advent of RSS, blogs, your ex-wife's *actual* involvement in the political process, and a bit of informal access to electeds at your (deathly boring) weekly Montlake Ale House drinking binge combined to somehow land you a paying gig in these pages (which mercifully stalled your interminable online whining about your own poverty). And so, the Stranger's readers are left with nothing more than intemperate rants like this one, in which a man who's accomplished nothing in his life aside from a single act of procreation casually and artlessly tries to diminish the lifetime of service put forth by one of the few local electeds who can genuinely be labeled a national leader on an issue of utmost importance to so many in this city and state. How very sad.

@14

Blaming Murray for the dysfunctional Senate is like blaming Obama for the dysfunctional Congress.

Murray is in the Senate. Obama isn't in the current Congress. You're making this out to be some kind of immaculate doucheception where Rodney Tom magically appeared in the leadership role. He didn't. It required something external to himself and his allies for him to take a minority position and turn it into a majority.

Do you really think a Mike McGinn could have pulled together that many supporters from all walks of life for something as game-changing as marriage equality?

Sure, that's how he won the first time around: young voters, the middle and lower class and POC -- groups that are still polling in his favor. As far as bringing people together through leadership, look at a group like the Leadership Alliance Against Coal which involves an extremely diverse cross-section of groups across the region, including tribal governments.

Also, popcorn.gif. 80 comments by noon tomorrow.

I get it, you folks are peeved about the flyer. And it could be a big middle finger to the Stranger from the Murray campaign. But it's the same digit that you guys give out daily in ad hominem attacks on a fairly regular basis.

If your endorsements begin with "Four years ago, some car-hating, pot-smoking cocksuckers at a foulmouthed alt-weekly thought it would be funny to endorse a fat bike-riding sociopath for Seattle mayor, and because you didn't vote, he won!" you've lost the moral high ground on playing games with endorsements.

The Stranger has been been playing in the sandbox when it comes to news for too long now. It's gotten tired. The Murray joke actually made me laugh. And that' something the of your political coverage hasn't done for a while.

Again with this? You are truly ridiculous, Goldy. Making this much fuss over a mailer.

And if you don't mean to diminish Ed's role in passing gay marriage, then why do you go on to do just that? Ed Murray worked tirelessly for years on this issue, and its one that's pretty fucking important to your readers. There are no "buts" about it. But you have to find a way to neutralize his role, because you know it's a winner for Murray among gay voters and young voters.

Why I'm Not Voting for Ed Murray

I figured it was because you don't want to get fired.

I've heard rumors that Ed Murray is gay too!

Ed Murray makes stupid moves because Ed Murray is a stupid man. Way too stupid to be the executive in charge of a city the size of Seattle. His mayorship would be a disaster.

Ed's role in gay marriage is so, so overrated. Many organizations put more time into it over the years than he ever did. He's just the most famous political face of it, because he's a leader in Olympia and he's gay. Gay marriage would have turned around without him. He's simply the lucky beneficiary of the momentum. He got to pick up the laurels.

McGinn's the best choice because he's the most progressive and Seattle did well under him during a difficult time. If the guy has done a good job, why throw him out.

The ones complaining about his "management style" (what?) are the ones who never liked him in the first place. And who are the people criticizing him? The conservatives, the business leaders, the establishment, the status quo. What does that tell you? These are the people who always hated McGinn even before he won last time. Joe "The Mallahan Plan" Mallahan (god, what a bozo) was their guy. He was the guy who was going to sell the city to the highest bidder. Instead, an actual grassroots movement of liberals and college kids got McGinn elected and they've been tearing at him ever since. They have media power and they've created an image of the guy as being an incompetent major - in spite of the results. The guy can't do anything right in their eyes.

So now they've got Murray, Mr. Vanity, to carry the establishment's water. Murray's name is very recognizable and everybody's yelling, "Gay marriage! Gay marriage!" because they have nothing else to say for him.

Eddie Murray fought for gay marriage and what else again?...

Oh, and he singlehandedly led the movement for gay marriage? If it wasn't for Eddie Murray we wouldn't gay marriage? Please. All he's good at is looking distinguished when he's giving serious victory speeches about gay marriage. Like Goldy pointed out, he's actually made a mess of things at Olympia on issues *other* than gay marriage. That's why his supporters keep screaming "Gay marriage!" They don't want you to focus on anthing else.

Meanwhile the Seattle led by McGinn is building up and creating jobs. And you want to get rid of this guy? Really? Why? Because the newspaper and the local television - the establishment - tell you you should? Since when does the establishment care about workers, poor people, and students?

Oh, that's right. "Gay marriage!" So you're saying that McGinn didn't support gay marriage?

BTW gay marriage already won, and we still need to focus on our economy, transportation, and social services - issues Murray has done squat about and for which McGinn has a solid record.

But then again, the Seattle Times and the local money insists that McGinn is incompetent, so they must be right.

Also, what this campaign flyer shows you is that Murray is a cheater. That's not "throwing elbows". That's Murray doing whatever's necessary to get his way. That's him showing lack of ethics and scruples. That's a politician thinking only for himself, liable to be corrupted. One thing is "politics", as we call it. It's quite another being a devious liar. We all say we want clean, self-sacrificing politicians who will always hold themselves to the higher standard. Well, that's nice, but if you want to vote for the candidate who's shown himself willing to lie on a friggin' campaign mailer, go ahead. Call me naive, but I prefer the politician who doesn't act like a scumbag.

Finally, before we start digging McGinn's grave, remember that everybody said that he would lose last time. We were supposed to get the business leader (business leaders know everything), Joe "The Plan" Mallahan. Granted, Murray is not as odious as that corporate schmuck, but there are a lot more solid liberals in Seattle than the establishment would like to admit. If you don't believe me, just look at the last few election results. I wouldn't count a handful of Murray lackeys on a comment thread as incontrovertible proof that he will win. Don't bet the house, in other words.

LOL 29: the only thing you left out is "and gay marriage sucks anyway!!!"

Hey, look on the bright side. McGinn can join the Stranger staff soon. New unpaid intern perhaps?

My issue with this, is that the most support people have to offer McGinn is an attack on Murray. That doesn't bode well for McGinn.

The Mayor's chair as consolation prize... or stepping stool? The last Governor to come out of the legislature was Dan Evans back in *1964*. That old saw about "all the votes you need to win Washington, you can see from the Space Needle," gets truer every year, and while former Mayors haven't gone anywhere in the past, that could change for a candidate with the ability to tap existing statewide organizations and infrastructure. Murray can play hizzoner for as long as Inslee is in the Governor's office, riding out what is probably going to be another several years of futile bickering and deadlock, then mount a fait accompli campaign for the Democratic nomination four or eight years from now (before you say he'll be too old, Jay Inslee is 62 now, Murray would only be 66).

@30: I'm well aware of how big Seattle is. Murray would also be a crappy mayor in Fort Worth, El Paso, Jacksonville and Memphis.

Well written piece, Goldy. The amount of negative comments from the pro-murray camp show that you may have hit a nerve. It's just sad to see people arguing that Murray would be a better leader because he's more competative and sneaky. What about the issues, huh?

Ed is thin skinned. He's inflexible.

Really? Compared to McGinn? You've got to be fucking kidding me.

And he tends to view Seattle's problems from a distinctly Olympia perspective.

Again, WTF? The only time you're actually making sense is when you realize that it is OLYMPIA that is fucking over Seattle, with its anti-tax, gun-law preemption, bullshit.

And to be honest, his reputation as an accomplished and effective legislator isn't really all that.

I've read your endorsement of McGinn and searched in vain for a SINGLE fucking accomplishment, other than the fact that he occupied office while the President and what's left of our Congress struggled mightily to restore our economy. McGinn hasn't done a goddamned thing. Murray has been hugely effective in keeping our state from becoming like every other Republican shithole in the country, given the group he has to deal with. And speaking of which . . . .

Indeed, for all the abuse we've thrown at House Speaker Frank Chopp for refusing to spend the political capital necessary to pass a sustainable progressive economic agenda, at least Chopp knows how to build, maintain, and discipline his caucus, whereas Murray has displayed the opposite talents.

Goldy, you can count, yes? In your era, the public schools taught at least that much? Have you noticed the difference in the majority between the House and the Senate? Do you think it's Ed Murray's fault that he has a razor-thin so-called-majority, and that the so-called majority included Tom, Hargrove and Sheldon?

It was during Murray's tenure as the Senate Dems' chief budget writer that we passed a series of all-cuts budgets that slashed funding for education. It was when Murray chaired the Senate Ways & Means Committee that "road kill" Dems fled across the aisle, giving Republicans control in a rare "Ninth Order" parliamentary maneuver. And it was when Murray was briefly elected Majority Leader late last year that Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon chose to officially caucus with the Republicans, giving the GOP complete Senate control. Hell, Murray couldn't even get King County the fucking MVET authority we asked for, a failure that could force Metro to cut bus service by up to 17 percent.

Do you honestly believe that Mike FUCK-YOU McGinn would have been more successful in any single one of these matters? The mayor who doesn't have a single friend on the City Council other than his ball-licking pall O'Brien? What a fucking joke.

Murray actually won over Republicans to pass civil rights, then domestic partnership, then marriage for gays. And yes, the struggle was in the State Senate, not the House.

Show me a single example of McGinn having to persuade sworn political enemies to enact legislatiion. The man is so reviled that 8 out of 9 council members -- all of whom are liberal Democrats -- loathe him.

Sorry, but this post is just a complete piece of shit.

Well, maybe it shouldn't surprise me that you would favor a belligerent, ineffective jerk like McGinn over an effective statesman who has been delivering results for decades.

Hmm, I also question Gold's critique of Murray's caucus leadership abilities. A few years ago the legislature passed taxes for soda, candy, bottled water, and closed a number of tax loopholes. During the following election, some who voted in favor of the not-all-cuts budgets lost their seats in the senate. Plus, their work was repealed by the voters. The new fragile balance of power set the stage for the coup, Goldy described. The fact that people voted this way is as much Goldy's failure, as one who works to inform the public, as it is the failing of the Democratic leadership.

Being that the senate doesn't have the same surplus of Dems as the House, comparing the two chambers doesn't really work. Murray, or whoever leads the senate Ds, would have to offer the Roadkill members some leeway to keep them in the caucus (Sheldon & Tom I'm not sure are negotiable). Just look at the districts they represent and consider Mary Margaret Haugen, who took a lot of shit in her district for supporting the marriage bill, and look where she is.
Considering what legislators have had to work with the past few years in Olympia and across the state, some of the lines the Dems have held is quite noteworthy.

or *are quite noteworthy

And BTW, Goldy, you may have forgotten that Ed Murray actually used to work in City Hall (for City Councilmember Martha Choe, one of our brightest and most effective, who is now Chief Administrative Officer of the Gates Foundation), so he knows quite a bit about the City, unlike the shithead who decided he could manage the entire city without ever having set foot in City Hall or having managed a single employee, let alone 10 thousand of them. You know, the guy you think is such a great mayor.

Goldy's love of McGinn's ball-handling buddies is strong. Steinbrueck will take care of that pesky MOU threat Seattle citizens have held over them.

@29: Murray is a cheater

The only reason McGinn was able to beat the lamest mayoral candidate in Seattle history was that he lied about not obstructing the tunnel, which was by far the biggest issue of the race. McGinn didn't even finesse it - he just fucking lied.

Anyway, sorry to interrupt, you were saying something about "doing whatever's necessary to get his way" and "being a devious liar" and how you'd never vote for someone like that.

I am curious how The Stranger comes to endorsing McGinn when city polling shows 50% disapproval with how he's been as mayor (up from 43% in March). There's counterculture stance for the Stranger... sure... but this is an incumbent who people have been watching for 4 years.

@41 No... My recollection was that he won the primary by being the one voice against the tunnel. Later he said that his options were limited when it came to the tunnel, as indeed they were. I don't see the lie here. I actually wish he'd obstructed the tunnel more but, again, there was little he could do.

But Murray lying in a campaign flyer about his endorsements is totally different - it's petty cheating and dishonesty. It's willfully deceaving, and it displays an easy willingness to lie about even the smallest things. It's not a big thing in and of itself, but it's very reflective of character. Being ambitious is one thing, but wanting to win so much that you're willing to break the (ethical, if not legal) rules is aggravating.

@42 It's the issues, man. McGinn has kept the ship steady throughout his watch and (mostly) made decent decisions. If he was a student he'd get a B. It's not an A, but it's no reason to throw him out, particularly when the opposition seems more troubling.

Ooooooooooh I bet Ed is going to be sooooooooo pissed when he reads this. Watch your back Goldy.

Goldy, you arrogant whore, would you at least please spit out McGinn's spluge before you type your love letters to him?

God. Someone shut everyone up at the stranger. This paper is bought and paid for by useless McGone. Glad we wont have to hear their bullshit after the primary.

Murray for the Win

Oh, that's okay. I remember a time when Dan Savage and some others at the Stranger were supporting the U.S. sponsored carnage in the Middle East, and your writers were forgiven for that little piece of blind fuckery. Once a publication or its writers have taken their first dive into real political filth, they ought not to complain about the stink some of their friends occasionally wear.

The Murray campaign sockpuppets are out in force. I love blogs during election season. (Quick, who will be the first person to tell me to shut up because this is a "Seattle blog"?)

I guess it's a good thing you've never run for any public office then, Goldy. And If you never do, then you've got a nice safe comfortable position where you're at. You can throw stones at the people who do real work trying to improve things without having to risk anything yourself.

That must be nice.

49,

I support Ed Murray. Do you think that makes me a sockpuppet, even though I've been posting here long before Ed ran for Mayor?

Is anyone a sockpuppet just because they disagree with you?

@49: My thoughts exactly.

I wouldn't necessarily comment on most of Goldy's post, but this hit home for me:

McGinn's not perfect either. We just thought he'd make the better mayor. It was nothing personal. We like Ed. He's my second choice. And considering that the consensus here in the office is that he is likely going to win in November, I sure hope Ed doesn't hold this post against me.

@floater: Let me jog your memory. When McGinn realized that his stance against the tunnel would cost him the election (remember, the tunnel was supported by a majority of voters), he said "It will be my job to uphold and execute the agreement" This was 2 weeks before the election.

6 months later, he decided not to uphold and execute the agreement by refusing to sign the tunnel environment impact statement. Then he screamed a bunch of pathetic bullshit about the city charter when Conlin signed in his place.

@51: So you think Matt is referring to Sloggers who have been here for a long time and post about things other than this election, and not the several posters who have just joined the Stranger in the last week and have only posted about Murray?

The posting histories are all there for your inspection. Johnfb @47 is a good example.

Well. You've convinced me! I'm voting for Ed now.

Calling Ed thin-skinned? I believe this is known as "projection."

Geez, Goldy, you sure are touchy about what you say was the misleading layout of that flyer. Were you expecting The Stranger's quotes to appear inside a special box titled "They actually endorsed someone else, but see the nice stuff The Stranger said about us anyway", and preferrably on a separate page?

Grow up.

@55: What is the difference between the "sockpuppets" who recently joined Slog and the "sockpuppets" who write for the Stranger?

Keep in mind - Stranger writers are not allowed to post their own endorsements. Goldy would face repercussions if he wrote that he was voting for Murray. Apparently, Tim Keck thinks this policy adds more weight to their endorsements as opposed to making them seem like a mindless cult. Christ, even the Seattle Times allows its writers to post opinions that dissent from the paper's official endorsements.

At the end of the day, I'll likely be voting for Ed Murray, but I'm still conflicted between him (he's the only candidate talking about parks, one of my big issues), Bruce (the commitment to social justice, accountability, and bringing and maintaining essential services for youth in SE Seattle) and Mike (transportation infrastructure and density).

But I will say that I'm glad to see someone pointing out that, as much as he is to beat up on, Speaker Chopp has done quite a bit to advance good bills through the legislature, protecting social services, health care for poor folks, and the environment. All that was missing was the work of the House members (Rep. Jamie Pedersen comes to mind) on marriage equality (along with the great ground game of Equal Rights Washington).

It's unfortunate that Sen. Tom and Sen. Sheldon didn't feel they could be part of a team led by Sen. Murray - I think it would have given us a better idea of his leadership style and budgeting style. But this is where we are, and there is a stark choice.

Murray has implied a lot in his mailers, without actually saying it. It's smart politics, as deceptive as some would call it. We'll find out how well it works soon.

Maybe all of this could have been avoided if Holden hadn't meant to refer to anal sex pejoratively.

@ 51, feeling a bit touchy, aren't we? @ 55 says what I would have said.

@ 59 (and @ 51, you should read this too), you're using the wrong word. What you're accusing The Stranger writers of doing is known as shilling. Ergo, they are shills. (Esp. if Goldy really is doing this at Keck's or Dan's instigation; but I don't believe he's speaking anything but his own mind, myself. Also, I'm unaware of any such gag rule on the Stranger staff and would appreciate knowing how you learned about it.)

The term sockpuppets originally referred to individuals who posted on the same thread under several different names in the hopes of making their arguments appear to be popular, or to express meaner things than the "established" identity feels safe, lest someone think that person is really an asshole. But it's evolved to include campaign staffers, supporters, or others with an interest to flood blogs like this in support of their chosen candidate. As @55 observes, they appear during new campaigns and disappear, never to be heard from again once it's all over. Remember "Gay Dude for Romney"?

Of course, these sockpuppets are also shills. But they qualify for the former epithet because the individuals behind them only use them at campaign time, and comment only on relevant threads, never chiming in on any other topic. If the same people are around for the next campaign, a new account is created.

@Matt from Denver: but I don't believe he's speaking anything but his own mind

Maybe, maybe not, impossible to say given The Stranger's endorsement policy, which someone (Frizzelle?) discussed in a SLOG post several years ago in response to someone else (Erica Barnett, I'm pretty sure) violating that policy. This wasn't long before dear Erica left the Stranger - no idea if these events were linked.

If things have changed, I'm sure Goldy would have corrected the record. In any case, go back through every election and with the exception of the above case (and Dan's support of the Commons), you won't see a single Stranger writer advocate for an unendorsed candidate or position. I suppose it could just be that Stranger writers always happen to agree with each other, but that would actually speak worse of the paper, in my opinion, than if they had a united front policy.

P.S. The "sockpuppet" metaphor works for Goldy, too, if you imagine Tim Keck's hand stuffed up his ass.

P.S. As much as I'd love to see this as Ed Murray giving the Stranger, or Dom specifically, the finger, if you look at the ad design, the quotes a very clearly separated from the endorsement list. There's no suggestion, implied or otherwise, that Ed has The Stranger's official endorsement.

If Dom didn't want his copy appearing on Ed's ads, he shouldn't have said anything nice about him.

@ 63, hmm. Put that way, it's possible they have some kind of united front thing, or an agreement to go along with the boardroom decision.

Regarding the flier, that separation is a technicality, the kind of thing that demonstrates it's not an endorsement. But it wouldn't be used and prominently placed if they weren't counting on it having the effect of an endorsement. It's a measure of The Stranger's perceived clout with Seattle voters.

Yes, VOTE MCGINN!

Vote for the guy who is backed by 1% developers that are increasingly making Seattle too expensive to live for anyone thats not upper class or upper middel class!

Vote for the guy who (with the city council) has been shutting down low income housing in favor of 'mixed use' housing that serves primarily to house the wealthy and their *poor on paper* college aged hipster children.!

Vote for the guy who backed the corruption and abuse scandals of the SPD, including OPEN racism towards blacks, indians and natives!

Vote for the guy who appointed Kathryn Olsen to the head of the Office of Professional Conduct- civilian complaint board, a woman who would then use the position to retaliate against individuals who made complaints against the SPD (particularly individuals of color).

Vote for the guy who backed SPD policies and presumptions that there is nothing wrong with racial profiling and backed enacting 'targed policing'(otherwise known as racial policing, targeting blacks latinos and natives, presuming skin color = guilt).

Vote for the guy whos developer backers artificialized a cgi vid of 'what would happen if an earthquake hit the viaduct' that had NO input from structural engineers, and was purely to ensure McGinns win so that greedy developers could buy waterfront land on the cheap and develop it for the rich.

Vote for the guy whos reputation in non-wealthy parts of Seattle is so bad he gets booed out of ethnic cultural events in south seattle and central district.

Vote for the guy with THE MOST MONEY from corporate interests!

Most of all, VOTE FOR THE GUY WHOS PAC BACKERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED THE MOST AD $$$ to the Stranger...because after all, its America, and if you cant fool people into supporting you, you may as well buy support from them!

@63) You're wrong again. A couple recent examples: The SECB endorsed "no" on I-1183 but I voted yes. The SECB endorsed Bobby Forch but Cienna voted for Michael Taylor Judd.

@59

Keep in mind - Stranger writers are not allowed to post their own endorsements. Goldy would face repercussions if he wrote that he was voting for Murray.

That's not true. There are only three things my editors have expressly prohibited me from doing: libel, copyright infringement, and writing that... well.. I can't specify, because I'm prohibited from writing about it for perfectly legitimate reasons. Nobody has ever told me I can't use Slog to voice my disagreement with an SECB endorsement. In fact, when I first started freelance Slogging I savaged the SECB for its support of liquor privatization, and that didn't stop them from hiring me.

I'm free to express whatever opinion I want. And if I weren't, I'd still express my contrary opinion, the consequences be damned.

That said, while the opinions voiced in this post are my own, I didn't voice anything that others in the office hadn't already quietly said behind Ed's back.

@23. Didn't quite make it, Baconcat...

Starting to think that araucania is performance art. There's no other explanation.

@Goldy: Thanks for the clarification, although as I said, the fact that everyone over there seems to agree 99% of the time isn't exactly something to be proud of.

God, I forgot all about the liquor initiative endorsement. Goldy spent so much time ranting, railing, and lamenting it that it seemed like it was also the official Stranger position.

What about all of his work for farmworkers? For immigration reform in the Senate? The work that he's done for Police reform? Among all the other things he's done for social justice in the state legislature? Gosh, I like you all but seriously. By the way, that 'endorsement' was done before the official endorsements were sent out by y'all.

@71:

Hey, I gave sources in the last comment. Some of which were right here from the stranger I believe (the SPD scandal with racism and McGinn backing them). McGinn supporters seem to slink away when speaking to people of color about the issue of the SPD. Gee I wonder why?

As mayor, McGinn has consistently stood up for immigrants, low-wage workers, and communities of color AS WELL as LGBTQ folks. Beat that, Murray.

Goldy, I fucking love you. Thank you for representing true journalistic integrity. Ed Murray's campaign consultants' comments in this thread disparage the independent honest voice that is The Stranger. Ed Murray is a purely political creature...and not a good one at that...