Brendan, your horse Noel Frame is a stooge of the unions, especially the teamsters. She employs Lisa MacLean of Moxie Media as her consultant, a confirmed shady character. Lisa MacLean was heavily penalized by the WA PDC for shady actions.

So nice to see some real reporting. Thank you Brendan.

We have some dysfunctional public institutions in this state but the Port really takes the cake. How telling that the person proclaiming herself its reformer is one of its biggest enablers.

All of this makes me wonder what sort of legislator Gael would be. Just what we don't need is more Dems backstabbing Dems in Oly (we already have enough of them in the Roadkill Caucus - wonder if Gael would join up with Hobbs and his ilk?).

Was it intentional to make Tarleton look like a battered wife in the photo, or just an accident? Pretty fucking tasteless either way. Shows the great lengths of "ends justify the means" hypocrisy from the Stranger.

Ouch. Just more evidence we can't trust Gael Tarleton.

May I offer one motive for Port Commissioner John Creighton's denunciation of Port Commission President Gael Tarleton? Creighton, who has a history of angry emails to (and about) colleagues, still holds a grudge after Creighton finished out of the running in the 2011 primary for Jane Hague's King County Council seat. Creighton was beaten by Richard Mitchell, whose campaign consultant in that race was Bennett. Bennett produced a mailer highlighting Creighton's intemperate outbursts against colleagues and a former girlfriend's move to obtain a restraining order against him after he bombarded her with dozens of messages a day. Creighton is still seething about Bennett's role in frustrating his political ambitions; he also has deep animosity for Tarleton because she has a good chance of doing what he failed to accomplish last year: move on from the Port Commission to higher office.

Creighton is an unprincipled political shape-shifter, as his financial support of Republicans over the years shows. (Remember George W. Bush?) Creighton's current alignment with Port Commissioner Rob Holland (a progressive darling who hardly is in a position to criticize anyone for the rest of his short political life) allows him to score a few cheap political points at Commissioner Tarleton's expense now and then and to exact a measure of revenge against Jason Bennett, Tarleton's campaign consultant. Bennett doesn't always play nice, but he has never been the target of a lawsuit by the state's Attorney General, unlike Lisa MacLean of Moxie Media, who is handling Noel Frame in the 36th District race. MacLean incurred a huge fine in 2011 after Moxie Media's successful dirty tricks to take out State Senator Jean Berkey in the 38th District primary in 2010. (I wonder if Noel Frame knew of MacLean's CIA-style black propaganda operation when she hired MacLean to help promote Frame's "progressive values" in the current campaign? Perhaps some enterprising reporter could ask Frame and let us know what she says after she finishes sputtering.)

By the way, this is not Jason Bennett. I'm just an interested (and disgusted) observer of this latest progressive jihad against a local Democrat and elected official.

@5: The imagery was intended to convey the idea from the headline of the article of the two faces of Tarleton—one good, one distinctly otherwise. I made the call to use it, but we're replacing it online with one that does the job better.

I hear Jason Bennett killed a man.

@7 Say what you will about Creighton, but it's clear Gael manipulated her fellow commissioners on votes to make herself look clean. That's not leadership, and it goes against the narrative she's trying to build.

Noel Frame says what she means and does the work. She doesn't play both sides of the issue. She works with progressive allies and doesn't throw them under the bus. That's why she has my vote.

@10 Don't make this about Jason - that's a distraction from the race at hand. I know the guy and he has helped a lot of great candidates.

He happens to like and trust Gael. I used to like and trust her and now I don't.

Well, all of that certainly makes me think much more highly of the Port Commission.

Jason's the battered wife here, standing up for his abusive client even after all his friends tell him to DTMF already. We should be offering Jason counseling and a steak for his political black eye, not blaming the victim.

Brendan -

Actually, there's something else you "forgot" to quote or correct: your description in the original story of the money race between Frame and Tarleton. You got that wrong, and it's still wrong.

See, there's an agency in this state called the Public Disclosure Commission. That's where candidates are supposed to report the money they're raising. That's also where those horrid independent expenditures are reported. With a mere two clicks on your digital thingy, you'll find that Frame's colluding cronies have dropped oh, $87,000 in dark money on this race. Where's it coming from? Who knows?

The Times reported it. The Ballard-News-Tribune reported it. Your pals at Publicola (who retain a semblance of dignity) reported it 10 days ago:

http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profi…

I know, I know - when you commit to six months of Tarleton-bashing, these little details don't matter. At a certain point, however, acts of omission turn into deliberate misrepresentation. Defensive claims of irrelevance become excuses for intellectual dishonesty. Doubtless you knew that already.

Fortunately, there's a remedy. Go ask Noel a tough question, maybe something like, "Could you tell us again why you're so awesome?" Minions always feel better when they snuggle.

Oh, and one more thing - your Bennett-bashing is bullshit. You're unloading on an openly gay campaign consultant who worked his guts out for R-71. Now he's off the island?
That's one smug little club you're running.

I appreciate the kind words in the comments threads (and I think I know who you are) but it would be great if both sides could tone it down a bit. I don't this is moving the ball down the field for either side, quite honestly. And it's distracting from what really matters. I personally think folks should be more focused on the Gov's race, Ref 74, Suzan Delbene, the State Senate, etc etc etc.

We have two progressives - one is midnight blue and the other is navy blue. I like Noel - a lot. She and I have worked together and I have a ton of respect for her. Gael is my client and my friend. She is backed by 11 labor unions, so the argument against her on that doesn't stick for me. I even like the people in the original article who are opposed to Gael. They are wrong about Gael, in my opinion. But we've been on the same side of campaigns in the past and we will again in the future.

I will say I don't have a lot of time to orchestrate comments threads. I wish I did. I can barely tivo my Dancing with the Stars. I would also say that I try to keep my enemies list to a minimum, sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. I can get pretty wrapped up in the win and lose sight. I think we all can. But people SCARED of me? Well, that is just kind of absurd.

Gael is an extraordinarily skilled liar, but still a liar. Must be that Pentagon intelligence background. These candidates are not two shades of the same color Jason. Liarton called unions "special interests." Did you advise her to use this tactic, the standard attack line of every right wing republican? The 36th deserves better.

Dave Charles - Let me get this straight, just so I can understand the ground rules for the story I'm preparing about you, tentatively titled, "People who don't like Dave Charles."

I don't have to talk to you, since naturally you'll lie about yourself. I don't have to talk to your friends, since they'll lie about you, too. Only the accusations that opponents level at you qualify as truth. Nothing else is even worth discussing. Is that about right? Presumably you also favor military tribunals and indefinite detention, which function along similar lines. Now go back to your cell.

@21, my my my, you are one upset puppy! Indefinite detention would be an accurate description of where Gael would like to put the truth, and the simple truth is she is a two faced, cynical liar. The article was a well reported account of highly respected leaders ( including former supporters of hers) who say she says one thing and does another. That is Gael. You are clearly more upset about the Jason comment references than the article itself. Let yourself out of the Jason cell! This is not about him, it is about Liarton.