The Seattle Times editorial board has endorsed self-proclaimed socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s opponent in the race for City Council District No. 3. The editorial board writes,
“A slate of strong candidates are eager to guide District 3 through this period of transformation, but the best choice is Pamela Banks. A longtime resident of the district, Banks made a career of advocating for underserved residents before she was named president and chief executive of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle in 2012.”
The editorial board goes on to bitingly conclude of that the job for representing District 3 does not call for an ideologue, which Sawant has proven herself to be. Rather, the district needs a “collaborative leader to work with other districts and balance resources and investment.” The Seattle Times,
“The District 3 seat is more than a podium. It must be filled by an effective, experienced representative who would primarily serve the district — all of its residents and businesses — while working constructively to lead the entire city.”
Shift has reported on how, for Sawant, the City Council position is about much more than representing the district. It’s become clear that Sawant craves attention. And, she gets the attention she seeks through outrageous publicity stunts meant to drum-up media coverage—from her strange outbursts to her provocative statements—and raise her profile as a public figure.
For Sawant, it really is all about Sawant.
On a side note, the Seattle Times editorial board chose not to endorse any candidate for Seattle City Council District No. 6. The Times writes that three “flawed candidates are challenging incumbent Mike O’Brien, who has his own set of problems as a council member.” And, they could not endorse any of them.
O’Brien’s “set of problems” are similar to those of Sawant. The far-left councilmember pulls ridiculous stunts—including joining the “kayaktivists” protesting Royal Dutch Shell’s deep-sea oil drilling rig headed for Alaska’s Chukchi Sea… on city time. According to the editorial board, O’Brien has “chosen to represent only the farthest-left corner of the electorate.” That invalidates him as a councilmember.
Are you sure this is the Seattle Times saying this? They would normally endorse crackpots like this. The entire political electorate in Seattle needs to be fired.
Are you sure this is the Seattle Times saying this?
The Times has a very long history of endorsing right-wing candidates, even though such candidates never receive much support from voters in Seattle. In 2006, they endorsed Sen. Cantwell’s Republican opponent, who she then trounced in the election.
They would normally endorse crackpots like this.
In 2012, they endorsed Republican John Koster to replace Jay Inslee in Washington State’s First Congressional District. After his career-ending defeat, Koster showed just how far out of touch he was with the voters:
In his email to supporters, Koster said he was stunned by Barack Obama’s re-election and by the legalization of same-sex marriage and marijuana possession in Washington state.
The entire political electorate in Seattle needs to be fired.
Maybe the Times will write an editorial agreeing with you! 🙂
Doesn’t Sawant have eyes on the governor’s mansion anyway?
No way in hell.
She must really think she was elected to a podium instead of a seat. And O’Brien? How bad do you have to suck when the liberal Seattle Times won’t endorse ANY candidate in your race?
The Seattle Times editorial board has endorsed… Kshama Sawant’s opponent…
It’s not the first time:
Conlin’s challenger, Kshama Sawant, is an Occupy activist and socialist who advocates a $15 minimum wage and “taxing the rich.” She has accused Conlin of supporting corporate interests over the working class, a charge that has not convinced most of the unions, more of which back Conlin.
The Times’ editorial positions are set by the majority owner, a Republican who lives on Mercer Island — thus making the Times’ endorsements doubly irrelevant to us voters here in Seattle. This is why we call the Times’ editorial page “the city’s most widely-read right-wing blog.”
We ignored the Times’ previous endorsement of Sawant’s opponent, and we may very well do so again.
O’Brien has “chosen to represent only the farthest-left corner of the electorate.” That invalidates him as a councilmember.
That’s for us Seattle voters — not Republicans from Mercer Island — to decide.
Of course they have, they want to sell papers. If they do not endorse this clown their readership in this town would go down.
Well all I can say is I’m glad I live outside Seattle city limits, It seems like every one running the city is some kind of a duffas clown from her majesty the mayor some of the city counsel, but mostly these two nuts. One is K. Sawant and the other is the idiot who wants to tax guns and bullets. What doesn’t he think that you can buy these out of the city limits with NO TAX. Then we have to the idiot in charge of Seattle’s roads and traffic, you know who I mean the bicycle man / street fish monger who couldn’t clear a truck full of fish for almost 9 hours. The more I hear and see what is going on within Seattle limits it better than the Circus kinda like rainbows painted on the streets on capital hill. Better yet you people in the city are paying these clowns running the Ed Murray Circus…No I take that back, Seattle you are OVERPAYING these clowns. Too bad that Seattle doesn’t have their elephants any more to complete the circus.