James Donaldson recommended by 46th LD Republicans

As reported by Mike Seely at the SeattleWeekly, James Donaldson is a big man with a big reach all the way to the 46th Legislative District Republicans (not that there's anything wrong with it).

So, why the power move to the Right?

Donaldson doesn't have the cash on hand to match his rivals' air games, which has his camp putting a good amount of faith in direct mail and turning out three oft-overlooked constituencies: (1) Republicans, (2) members of Save Our Sonics, which endorsed Donaldson last week and has 15,000 members, according to Donaldson campaign manager Cindi Laws, and (3) "20,000 WSU alums" who live in the area, according to Laws (Donaldson graduated from Wazzu). Will this be enough for Donaldson to make the finals? We'll soon find out.
SeattleWeekly: Republicans Dig Donaldson, And Hopefully Area Wazzu Alums Will Too

See the full list of recommendations from the 46th LD Republicans here: 46th LD Republicans (Seattle, WA) - Meetup.com

As I read mostly James Donaldson's 134 point plan I thought it had a "republican-ish" feel to it.
Read it here.
Hopefully Publicola did not exclude Donaldson from its "special series of Q&As this weekend with the four major candidates for Seattle mayor" because Donaldson was reaching out to Republicans.

At the time of their story Donaldson was 3rd in the polls, and yet he was excluded from being in their top 4.

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

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Seattle Times: Drago tries to distance herself from Nickels

Publicola had a live blog during the City Club's mayoral debate last night. It is an interesting look into journalistic preferences.

Here is mine: Jan Drago is Greg Nickels' runningmate. She can say whatever she wants, but she has been on the city council for 16 years, 8 of that was clasping hands with Greg Nickels.

Her only major endorsement — from the Alki Foundation — is shared with Nickels. Democratic districts have rejected her as an insider. The Stranger alternative newspaper featured a drawing of Nickels last week, and to capture Drago's likeness, the artist used the same drawing — with a bow in its hair.

Her opponents have seized on it.

"She brings some different dynamics and different elements into the race (in that) she's seen as being another longtime incumbent," said former Sonic James Donaldson, the candidate who in some polls is tied with Drago for third place.

Drago (pronounced DRAH-go) has been elected four times to the City Council, serving 16 years. She has been Nickels' ally on major initiatives. If the two disagreed in public, it was often over who should get credit for a project they worked on together.

Drago said she and the mayor worked together "because it takes a mayor and a council working together to make the big accomplishments on projects."
Read the rest of the story, Seattle Times: Drago tries to distance herself from Nickels

As for Donaldson . . .
The thinning of the pack has Nickels, Drago, and now Donaldson out of the running for my vote.

James Donaldson, the former Seattle Sonic, is the only candidate [for Mayor of Seattle] who is against using tax money to refurbish KeyArena to hopefully lure another NBA team to town. Also, Drago was the only candidate to say she was against electing City Council members by district instead of the current system of city-wide elections.
SeattlePI.com Seattle mayoral debate highlights

I kind of knew this, he said it about a year ago on KJR, and I had to guess he was either thinking that the entire time, or was awash in the loss of the franchise, now you know, and so do I.

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

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The Daily Weekly: Donaldson Rips Nickels Over Handling of Police, Roads, Fire Stations, City Light, Labor...In Other Words, Just About Everything

On Friday, James Donaldson had a free shot at Mayor Greg Nickels, courtesy of The SeattleWeekly's Mike Seely.
Maybe Mr. seely was too busy dreaming up his basketball analogy to provide other meaningful commentary, or reporting, or whatevere it is the Managing Editor of the SeattleWeekly does do (thanks, in advance).

Donaldson Rips Nickels Over Handling of Police, Roads, Fire Stations, City Light, Labor...In Other Words, Just About Everything

By Mike Seely in Campaign 2009, City of Seattle, Civics 101, Politics

Gargantuan mayoral candidate James Donaldson delivered a speech to the King County Labor Council's Endorsement Committee today, in which he backed Mayor Nickels down in the post and threw a bunch of elbows, the sharpest of which can be reviewed after the jump/below.
Read the rest of the story, "Donaldson Rips Nickels", here.

Mr. Seely then went on to provide a quote and a list of charges Mr. Donaldson levied against Mr. Nickels.

As much as I dislike Mr. Nickels' policies, and like Mr. Donaldson as a person, the public was not served well by Managing Editor Mike Seely giving Mr. Donaldson a free shot at scoring political points (a clear path to the basket).

Presenting problems without solutions is called complaining. In that light, I offer a question Mr. Seely might try next time he has a brush with greatness:
How would Mr. Donaldson pay for the things he is unhappy that Mr. Nickels cut?

Have a great day,
Mike Baker
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Today in Losing Propositions: "Drago exaggerates role in tunnel project"

This is from the Seattle Times Newspaper Editorial:

Mayoral candidate Jan Drago overstated her role in getting the downtown tunnel approved. If she wants to improve communication between Seattle and Olympia, she should be more accurate about what she actually accomplished.
Seattle Times Editorial: Mayoral candidate Drago exaggerates role in tunnel project

Ok, just so I have this right; the Seattle Times is chastising mayoral candidate Councilwoman Jan Drago for claiming too much credit for a viaduct replacement project the majority of Seattle did not vote for, that the state legislature chose to saddle Seattle for all of the cost overruns on. Umm, ok.

Last Spring she did testify in Olympia for the Tunnel project. I watched most of that on TVW.

Months before she stood next to Greg Nickels when the deal for the tunnel was announced, her contribution was committing Seattle to another Streetcar line to run from Alaskan Way on up the the empty KeyArena with no funding source to make it happen.

She stood next to Ron Sims, Sims' added bus service to add one million ridership hours was depending on car tab tax that never happened.

She stood with Governor Chris Gregoire who stripped away support for the added bus service hours after Ron Sims announced that he was leaving his position as King County Executive to become the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This Tunnel is, even by its supporters, a negative experience, 7 years in the making, following the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake.

Why anybody would think exaggerating their involvement in that mess is nuts. It says more about the fantasy one must live in to think this is an issue to campaign on than it does about mayoral attributes. She is a better communicator than Greg Nickels, and this pile of manure is her claim to fame, really?

It is no wonder a guy that looked to be a long shot, James Donaldson, is polling almost on par with Drago. Between Nickels and Drago's shared history, I guess James Donaldson should be seen as a potential mayor, and not as an "also ran".

A new KING 5 News poll has Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels leading challengers Jan Drago and James Donaldson, with the other candidates trailing the field.

The survey results:
Nickels: 24 percent.
Drago: 15 percent.
Donaldson: 14 percent.
The poll released Thursday showed that 26 percent of respondents were undecided.SeattlePI.com: Poll: Nickels leads Seattle mayor's race

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

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