Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Democratic Candidate Maureen Judge

Okay, here it is in black and white about what Maureen Judge supporters think about the supposedly non-partisan City Council election:

The Democrats are building a deep, deep bench with candidates like Maureen Judge in Mercer Island and Keri Andrews in Bellevue.

[from horsesass.org]

I have no doubt that Maureen is intelligent, caring, and laser-focused on the politics of winning an election. But how interested, really, is she in local affairs?  I bet she couldn't care less about the traffic on my street (not enough voters), or about issues that matter to my school (too local). 

Why doesn't she run for state legislature, or Congress?  I might vote for her.  But if she wins the City Council election, who's going to represent me on zoning issues or traffic or parks? 

The Internet is changing everything, including politics, to be hyper-individualized and hyper-local. Maureen is taking a logical step -- use non-local money and national issues to convince voters they can trust her.  In the long, long run, that won't work, as online tools like Facebook make it ultra-easy for local/individual issues to trump national ones.  In a few years, a newcomer supported mostly by outside interests will be ignored.

Meanwhile this election will be an interesting test.  Can Mike Cero, with his close personal connections to Islanders, trump somebody whose only relationship to voters is their party affiliation?

Bonus question: what would happen if Maureen campaigned openly as a Democrat?  Would she gain or lose more votes overall? 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You choose to not post my previous comment on Mike Cero's campaign piece. And your postings are clearly favoring Cero.

Why not just come out and endorse him and stop pretending to be an indepedent voice in the process?

(By the way, what about how all the big donors to Cero are huge *regional* GOP fund suppliers)....

Anonymous said...

Check out Cero's latest donation page...more than HALF from off Mercer Island? Can't wait for your attack Cero piece to be written!

Richard Sprague said...

Dear anonymuous, as always, thanks for the comment. I'm not sure what you mean -- I post pretty much every comment, except those that use naughty words (since I try to keep this a family blog).

As for the other anonymous (are you the same person?) I'll look into Cero's money when I get a chance and skewer him too if you're right. Better yet, why don't YOU post the breakdown. Don't make me do all the work around here!

Anonymous said...

Richard, don't believe anything from somebody named "anonymous".

Anonymous said...

Um, Richard... Maureen is campaigning openly as a Democrat; she sought and received the endorsement of the 41st LD Dems, and the King County Dems. There's no secret about it. It's Cero who is being deceptive, receiving support from Republicans, while refusing to admit his party identification. Why is that? (Hint: it's a 60-40 Dem district.)

And while you're at it, how about this interesting test? Why is it, what with Cero having all those "close personal connections to Islanders," Maureen gets ALL the endorsements? The Firefighters, all three legislators (including Republican Fred Jarrett,) all those former mayors and council members, the Seattle Times?

And why is it that while Cero touts his PTA presidency and school advocacy, the Teachers Association AND three school board members (to Cero's one,) have chosen to endorse Maureen? It sure does seem like a lot of folks who know Cero well, refuse to endorse him.

Hmm. I suppose length of residency isn't the primary qualification for office after all.

Richard Sprague said...

Thanks, Goldy, you raise extremely good questions. What are the answers?

I'm just a normal guy, probably fairly representative of your average unaffiliated Mercer Island voter -- the kind that Maureen has to win. Like many people, I tend to vote based on endorsements, but in this case I feel like Mike Cero is (for better or worse) a real, approachable human being whereas Maureen is just some name I read about in the paper.

I wish I knew more about the whole endorsement process. Like, do these people conduct exhaustive interviews of both candidates before lending their name? Or is it just first-come-first-served? If I'm a Democrat and I don't endorse Maureen, do I get in trouble?

Unknown said...

Richard,

I took the suggestion of "anonymous 2" and checked out Mike Cero's PDC report. Anonymous 2 states "more than half from off Mercer Island". I'm the first to admit that math isn't my specialty but the numbers just don't add up. Mr. Cero only has 11 contributors that are off-island totaling 7% of his contributions, Mercer Island contributions 93%, 0% Special Interests. Ms. Judge's contributions: 79% off island (and 16% of this is Special Interest money), 21% Mercer Island.

It shouldn't be a big surprise that unions are throwing their endorsements to a candidate that is a Democrat. I still have yet to figure out what a City Council member can do for the unions. I thought their job was to represent local citizens on local issues. Maybe Ms. Judge is running for the wrong position?

Anonymous said...

Mike Cero's ad today talks about democrats, republicans, independents. Too bad his donors don't reflect that at all...virtually all very politically republicans.

Richard Sprague said...

Wait a second, if Maureen is the official Democratic candidate, no Democrat would be allowed to endorse Mike (or give him money). So by definition, Mike's supporters would be non-Democrats, mostly Republicans. Right?

Anonymous said...

peter...read the post..it says his LATEST donation page...and if you do go through the postings, why not google all the donors who have given $500 or more to Cero and you'll find a total and absolute republican control.

It's clear this is a very partisan race. No matter how non-partisan the office, there will be a partisan in the seat one way or another.

Unknown said...

"anonymous"

I am one of those donors who gave $500 or more, guess what...I'm a democrat (sign waving for Gore / Kerry democrat). Not only that, I'm an active supporter of Mike's campaign. Mike has assembled a non-partisan team to help him with his campaign. I think if you check your list again you will find republicans, democrats, and independents.