Everyone in the room is voting for Obama. It’s the other
races—those eight mysterious county charter amendments,
initiatives with maybe-misleading names like Death with Dignity
and Quality Care for
Seniors, and three local tax
increases—that people are here to learn about.
A crowd of uniformly attractive young people has gathered in a tidy,
warm house for the Sixth Annual Election Potluck. The event, which
changes location every year, is a chance for people to discuss the
election over mac and cheese, couscous salad, and gallons and
gallons of red wine. Knowledge of each race is measured by
“five-finger consensus”—the better you understand an issue, the
more fingers you raise.
First up: Proposition 1, the mass-transit expansion measure. One
woman argues it’s cheaper to build light rail now than wait until
later; another is worried that, like the monorail, light rail will fall
victim to “Seattle process.” Within minutes, our host and timekeeper
shifts the conversation to the King County Charter amendments, the
parks levy, and Pike Place Market. Somebody frets that the parks levy
is “too focused on playgrounds“; someone else worries that if we
subsidize a private entity like Pike Place Market, we might as well
fund sports stadiums, too. A heated debate erupts over the death with
dignity proposals.
As a bit of a savant when it comes to local elections, I tend to
assume there’s not much for me to learn. After about three hours of
drinking and debate, however, I’m pleasantly surprised to find I’m
wrong. In a roomful of folks with a wide range of political
backgrounds, everyone has something smart to contribute. 
Want The Stranger to demonstrate our brand-new One Finger
Consensus
Technique at your house party? E-mail
the
date, place, and party details to
partycrasher@thestranger.com.