The critique of Oliver is honest, fair, and necessary. It's a shame Erica's reward for such a rational and well-researched piece will be accusations of racism and privilege.

Well written argument for Farrell, strong case to be made.

Vote McGinn!

Go Erica! Why Jessyn lost endorsements for less experienced, less known entities like Oliver and Moon is baffling.

OH MY GOD DAN WE GET IT YOU DO NOT WANT NIKKITA OLIVER FOR MAYOR JESUS

Nikkita Oliver is Dan's new Jill Stein object of obsession

Dan Savage with the underhanded hit piece again. This time just sharing another journalist's article instead of having the balls to write one himself. Erica was pretty equal in her dissent for all candidates, she didn't zero in on Oliver. Savage really has lost all journalistic integrity. The question is, did he have any in the first place?

I remember the good old days, when writers like Barnett wrote very insightful, fearless editorials like this one in this very paper. I think the highlight was when you had the balls to endorse Mark Sidran over Deborah Senn in the primary. Sidran was a dick, but Senn was a wacko, and you knew it, and said we should hold our nose and vote for the sane one. Now the staff is torn over which of the unqualified candidates it should endorse (good job picking the better one -- at least you got that right). Meanwhile, of course, Dan Savage probably can't be bothered too much with local political bullshit, because he is busy fighting the great civil rights battle of our time (and winning -- good job, Dan -- keep kicking ass!). Which I guess means that those really weren't the good old days. Yes, this paper was a lot better, but I certainly wouldn't want to go back to the days when Don't Ask Don't Tell was considered progress.

oliver has consistently improved her understandings and rhetoric, she's had to because her knowledge was/is lacking. she acknowleged this early on (and is a good point or bad depending on who you already decided to vote for), but why no one else can point it out, it gushes my bell.

@7 -- Did you read the editorial? Barnett barely talked about the other candidates. She barely said anything about Moon, other than making a critique that applies equally well to Oliver:

... never served in public office or worked in government.

She basically repeated that statement elsewhere, without applying it to any specific candidate (even though it only applies to Moon and Oliver):

Experience, a quality that’s frequently belittled in national politics, is crucially important in a mayor. Mayor of Seattle is not an entry-level job.

She spent half a paragraph on McGinn, Durkan and Hasegawa (each), but she wrote three paragraphs about Oliver, essentially calling bullshit on some of the things she has said. For Dan to quote information about both Oliver and Durkan was an apt summary of the editorial, since Barnett spent most of her time talking about those two candidates.

@8 -- Holy shit, you have no concept of history, do you? Erica Barnett is one of the best writers in the city, and she used to work for the fucking Stranger. Of course The Stranger mentions her editorial.

@10: Acknowledged her lack of knowledge early on? Wtf are you talking about? She accused Erica of misquoting her, and she envoked her race and gender when accused of being flakey about voting. She's clearly not cut out for the gig.

@10 -- Well, that's nice. I've greatly improved my knowledge of football lately, so I guess I'm qualified to be coach of the Seahawks. I respect and admire her honesty, but damn, it takes a lot of fucking hubris to run for mayor when even she admits that she has a lot to learn. It is that same arrogance that got us McGinn. Both people have their heart in the right place, but both have no idea what to do if elected.

Besides, she would be crushed in the general election. Might as well ask Durkan to take over immediately. Most voters won't give a shit that one candidate is only slightly more to the left than the other; instead they will notice that one candidate is qualified, and the other isn't. Or they will notice that one candidate not only knows about the issues, but actually voted on them, while the other makes bullshit excuses for failing to take even the smallest exercise in civic responsibility. Holy shit, woman, it is an absentee ballot! I moved several times -- with little kids in tow -- and was broke as shit at the time -- but I still managed to fill out a change of address form for voting, along with the one for my mail. She got a fucking JD and she couldn't do that??! Or maybe she couldn't find five minutes to fill out the ballot. Either way it shows a lack of civic engagement or lack of competence, either one of which will make voters flock to Durkan.

@12 I have a concept of what a newspapers like the Stranger should be and it isn’t one that cherry picks other blogs in order to forward a biased agenda. In the game of political endorsements by newspapers there should be a high level of clarity and integrity. Already the subject of a Letter to the Editor today, the stranger is muddying and delegitimizing it’s endorsements with split decisions, dissents, and pseudo dissents. Most aggregious is Dan Savages’s behavior with Walkinshaw and now Ferrel/Nikkita. Savage obviously owns all the power at The Stranger now and has possibly irreparably tarnished its image as a go-to source of honest alt news.

Cogent, compelling, well-constructed arguments. Erica C. Barnett, it's 2017 for God's sake. Get with the times!

Here's what I'm talking about: "Three candidates in the race for mayor—Jessyn Farrell, Cary Moon, and Mike McGinn—like to be considered urbanists. But only one, ... Farrell, has a record of translating pro-transit, pro-housing urbanist values into policy."

To me, this should be ball game, end of discussion--why are any of us greens even considering Cary Moon and Mike McGinn when Jessyn Farrell is in the race? And yet, even with The Stranger and its endorsement, an actual record of success at the job doesn't make the difference when applying for a similar job. It's like it doesn't cut through the noise.

Plus, it's refreshing to see somebody who calls herself a Seattle progressive with the courage to diplomatically call out the dangerous demagoguery of Nikkita Oliver. BTW, Sheley Secrest, an African-American woman with an actual, impressive resume who is running for City Council, has endorsed Jessyn Farrell for mayor.

I want to vote for Farrell in the general, but if it's Oliver vs. Durkan I'm fucking phone banking for Gregoire 2.0 through my non-stop dry heaving.

Amen. I moved five times in the first 8 years I lived here, and even though I was dead broke and working 2 jobs, I still somehow was able to get my shit together enough to vote. There is no reason for a college-educated person of any race to not vote. If Oliver couldn't figure out that simple task, how is she remotely qualified to manage a city of 700,000 people?

Someone should have waited for the Mayoral Debate that was broadcast on King 5 and KUOW tonight.

A few times a year, Barnett rolls over and burps out a cogent essay. Otherwise, her opinion blog is opinioning, and usually for the wrong things.

I remember when that kind of smart, practical, skeptical thinking prevailed on the SECB.

@21 I love how this will never ever die

@24 I can't believe it took 21 comments. The old days, where have they gone...

@21/24/25- The thing is (for me at least) not that Ms. Barnett got caught shoplifting some wine, but that she issued the most weaselly statement about it. Nixon would have been proud.