Friday, June 26, 2009

North Bend Candidate's Forum




I went to North Bend last night to see all the candidates for King County Executive including former KIRO news anchor Susan Hutchison and Alan Lodbell. Even though the race is non-partisan (for the first time after a vote last November) it was clear that this would wind up with a Democrat going against a Republican.

It was evidently Susan Hutchison's first appearance in a forum and it was really clear that it was a less than comfortable situation for her. She was the last candidate to show up and may have even caused the session to start late which lead it to finish late. The candidates did not take any questions from the audience. She did not go into detail on any particular issue, preferring to speak in generalities about smaller government and dissatisfaction with Ron Sims (now gone to DC), softball opinions that play well in any part of the county except for Seattle. She referred to opponent Ross Hunter as "Hunter" obviously meaning to say "Ross" and a quip about putting viewers to sleep in their bedrooms came over as awkward.
Alan Lobdell on the other hand was a different type of Republican. He was unpolished, but sincere, with some smart observations. If the Rs are ever going to get some footing in the political stage, they would be wise to start listening to his type.

The four Democrats, Larry, Ross, Dow, And Fred stuck to the styles illustrated in other postings on this blog.

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