One of these things…

…is not like the other. Goldy...

Now that the race for King County Executive is long over, it’s interesting to compare this:

[Susan] Hutchison said she solved a significant budget shortfall as chairwoman of the Seattle Symphony board of directors. “I solve problems and I fix things,” she said, “and King County needs a fix.”

With this:

The Seattle Symphony, already beset by immense challenges, including a $4 million debt and vacancies in its two top positions, still has not reached a new contract agreement with its musicians union and could potentially face a musicians strike.

She lied. It figures. She's a Republican, even if she lied about that, too.

Goldy's right, though. She got a free pass on that lie throughout the campaign. Nice as it would be to think we've seen the last of Ms. Hutchison politically, it would be foolhardy. Never too early to stock up the oppo file.

The people have spoken.

Or written. Or filled in the blanks. Whatever you want to call what we did since ballots started appearing in mailboxes, we've had an election. King County has counted all the votes they're going to count today, and those early returns appear decisive in several races.

Dow Constantine is sitting on 57% of the vote and about a 35,000 vote lead over Susan Hutchison for King County Executive. I don't know if Hutchison has conceded, but Constantine has declared victory and he seens to be on safe ground doing so. This is a big Democratic win in a "non-partisan" election.

For King County Assessor, my old friend and mentor Gene Lux is holding 5.11% of the vote. I'm part of the .11, I guess. It's hardly a surprise - I'm not sure Gene's campaign extended beyond a voter's pamphlet statement. At any rate, it looks like former Seattle City Treasurer and Port Commissioner Lloyd Hara will get the nod, with a little over a third of the votes in a crowded field. That's fine.

For Port Commission Position 3, Rob Holland has nearly 55% of the votes counted and should handily, and happily, defeat David Doud. Max Vekich didn't fare so well, drawing little over 42% of the first day's vote count. Tom Albro, the apparent winner, wasn't my choice, but he was the choice of a lot of folks I respect and, frankly, he's not as bad a choice as Doud would have been in Position 3. I wish it was Max and Rob, but the Holland win is still one to savor and celebrate.

So far so good.

Well, when you put it that way…

…no, we don't.

These litmus-test issues need to be put aside, just as we don't ask our dentist their political views before they work on our teeth.

Yep, that's Susan Hutchison doing her standard duck and cover. As Kathleen says, though...

I think I would ask my dentist a lot of questions if she oversaw my local jails and sheriffs, health and environmental services and public transit. Wouldn’t you?

Yes, I would.

Dow. Now.

Exercising the Franchise, Part 3.

Next up is the first race affected by King County's new "non-partisan" ballot. Of course, a non-partisan ballot doesn't mean that the candidates are not partisans. Dow Constantine wears his Democratic partisanship on his sleeve, understandable given the typically Democratic local electorate and, frankly, unavoidable give his history as a Democratic Party official and legislator at the state and county levels.

Susan Hutchison, on the other hand, is less forthright. She bobs and weaves, dissembles and lies like, well, like a Republican. That, despite her constant protestations, is exactly what she is, of course. No, she's not a registered Republican, but I'm not a registered Democrat, either. Not having partisan registration in our state, though, doesn't mean we don't have parties. Party identification in Washington is demonstrated in other ways. Financial contributions, for instance, like the thousands of dollars she's contributed exclusively to Republican candidates and causes, are one way to signal partisanship. Running for partisan political office, something Hutchison has considered and explored, is another. She certainly left no question about her partisanship in the minds of the Republican activists and financiers that she courted when she contemplated challenging Maria Cantwell.

Her obfuscation now, along with her lingering celebrity from her days as a TV news reader, an anticipated light off-year turnout and her abject refusal to answer any question that might reveal her partisan stripes have combined to make this race much closer than it should be here in Clinton/Gore/Kerry/Obama country.

Vote for Dow. Do it now.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Susan Hutchison is a liar.

...and a Republican.

But I repeat myself.