Within a few minutes of Richard Conlin conceding defeat last Friday, his socialist challenger, Kshama Sawant, issued a statement. First she politely acknowledged Conlin’s 16 years of service on the Seattle City Council, and then she twisted the knife: “These exciting results show a majority of voters are fed up with the corporate politicians.”
She’s right, of course.
Sawant’s refreshingly blunt rhetoric about “corporate politicians” (career incumbents backed by wealthy donors)—combined with specific proposals to raise wages, lower rents, and tax millionaires—was exactly what catapulted her to a surprising victory. Agitprop yard signs, communistic red T-shirts, and even her Twitter avatar all blazed with Sawant’s ubiquitous theme: Pass a $15-minimum-wage law now. She was also brash. When announcing her campaign in March, Sawant called Paul Allen’s Vulcan a “shark devouring real estate,” and her spokesperson recently wrote that Conlin is “a cancer on the council.” Then last week, as late vote tallies showed Sawant eking out a lead, she responded to mayor-elect Ed Murray’s support for a $15 minimum wage by saying, “We were calling for that before it became cool.”
She’s right again—sorta.
But the same cutting language a candidate uses on the campaign trail can come back and cut the candidate off at the knees once she’s elected. Those “corporate politicians” she’s talking about? They are Sawant’s future council colleagues. And uncool Murray? Sawant now needs him to sign that wage bill into law. As a lawmaker, Sawant’s statements don’t exactly scream, “Let’s work together.” Some of them actually seem kinda shitty. Especially when dealing with politicians in Seattle, whose egos bruise like pears.
A few offensive statements from Sawant may be enough for critics to brand her as divisive and ideological, the sort of tarring and feathering that helped sink Mayor Mike McGinn. And being painted with that reputation would not only burden her as a council member, it would be used by critics to sink wage-reform legislation.