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It's not over until Hillary Clinton's cash runs out
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A city of scolds
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Greg Nickels' rebel yell
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Washington's million-dollar university president
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Mods versus snobs
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It's not over until Hillary Clinton's cash runs out
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The city's own series of tubes
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Seattle is a ghost town for ghost bikes?
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Parlez-vous a software language?
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Annals of Northwest secession
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Ted Van Dyk
Recent Stories
It's not over until Hillary Clinton's cash runs out
As Barack Obama takes North Carolina and Clinton narrowly wins in Indiana, it's time not for celebration or a victory concession but a look ahead at months of stalemate.
Washington's million-dollar university president
As Mark Emmert joins two local corporate boards, boosting his yearly income well into seven figures, it's worth asking if he's really earned it. He's a prominent public face for the institution, but he's no scholar and doesn't actually run the university.
Sound Transit did not hear us
Prop. 1 was soundly defeated, but the leadership of Sound Transit plans to deliver Son of Prop. 1 to the voters this fall. The agency better get used to rejection.
After Pennsylvania, still a close race
Sen. Hillary Clinton won decisively, but she's still trailing Sen. Barack Obama in delegates. Next: North Carolina and Indiana.
Pennsylvania could be a bellwether primary
With significant percentages of both Democratic candidates' supporters considering a shift to John McCain if their choice doesn't make it, the Pennsylvania contest's import couldn't be clearer. Whether or not McCain can overcome his obstacles, however, remains to be seen.
Kudos to journalists and Cantwell, caution to Lama lovers and trolley lines
Crosscut readers no doubt by now are ready to cry "uncle" regarding our absorption with The Seattle Times' financial problems and the perilous state of our city's daily newspapers.
Journeymen journalists out to pasture
Third of a series: The decline of newspapers is putting talented mid-career news people on the sidelines.
Jim McDermott's wake-up call
A court says he owes more than $1 million in a phone-eavesdropping case, and it turns out an agent of Saddam Hussein paid for his infamous 2002 trip to Baghdad. The Seattle congressman-for-life has lost his way and should be chastened by those recent events. But it's not too late for a talented politician to right himself.
Cheers not jeers to Speaker Chopp on the Microsoft tax concession
The Columbia Basin Herald this past week characterized House Speaker Frank Chopp as being a Forrest Gump, "stupid is as stupid does" villain for opposing big proposed tax breaks for Microsoft and Yahoo. The tax concession, those companies said, were necessary to keep them from fleeing Grant County, where they have huge server farms. The requests were similar to the $3.2 billion in breaks Boeing Co. got from Governor Gary Locke and the Legislature when it threatened to take some of its assembly operations elsewhere.
Was McDermott a 'useful idiot' on his Baghdad trip?
Local media featured this past week the story of how Rep. Jim McDermott's 2002 pre-Iraq War journey to Baghdad took place and was financed. The account does not smell right.
Why Hillary can and should stay the course
An Obama supporter and scarred veteran of many Democratic nominating contests outlines the political calculations that keep Clinton's hopes alive.
Politics not as usual
A seminal campaign speech and a crisis on Wall Street mark a turning point in the national conversation, with implications far and near.
This marginal economy
Historic action by the Fed last week showed just how badly the home-loan crisis has affected broader financial markets. At ground zero is Seattle-based Washington Mutual, but it's far bigger than that now that the likes of Bear Stearns is teetering.
After Wyoming: a reality check on the campaigns
Barack Obama won Saturday's Wyoming caucuses handily and should win Tuesday's Mississipi primary as well. Depending on which tally you believe, that will leave Obama somewhere between 110 and 125 delegates ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential nominating contest, with only a few more state contests to go. Cutting through the spin, here is what you should and should not believe about the Obama-Clinton race as it enters its next phase, beginning with the April 22 Pennsylvania primary in which Clinton is favored.
21st century comeback kid
In winning Ohio and Texas, Sen. Hillary Clinton ensures another seven weeks of likely harsh campaigning for the Democrats.
Report from spring training: The grass is very, very green
The Mariners are 0-0 in the Cactus League, where hard-core fans await today's opening game of the short but sweet spring season.
National politics update: No knockout blow in the last debate before Ohio and Texas
Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton left the Tuesday, Feb. 26, televised debate in Cleveland just about where they entered it: with Obama riding a double-digit lead over Clinton nationally among Democratic voters as the favorite for the presidential nomination and with both candidates running neck and neck in the vital Ohio and Texas primaries next Tuesday, March 4, when Rhode Island and Vermont also hold contests.
Clinton desperately needs an Obama blunder or mistake between now and then to climb back into the race. It did not come in yesterday's debate.
Highlights:
Obama and Clinton shift the debate to free trade
Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ended their televised Austin, Texas, debate last week on a high note. But, since then, their campaigns have been outrightly confrontational. The tone is likely to carry over into their Cleveland, Ohio, debate late this week and into March 4 voting in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Clinton, facing elimination from the race, has adopted an angry campaign persona and Obama is not turning the other cheek. Ironically, the hottest debate has been over an issue where both candidates have been trimming and grandstanding: the North American Free Trade Agreement and international trade (see below).
National politics update: An eventful day
Yesterday, Feb. 21, was quite a day in presidential campaigning. First, Arizona Sen. John McCain took on The New York Times head-on following front-page publication of a story implying that he had an irregular relationship with a young female lobbyist and that he may have shown favoritism to her and other lobbyist clients. Then, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, in Austin, Texas, engaged in what was probably the best televised debate of the season.
National politics update: The media bear down on the frontrunners
The presidential nominating campaigns are moving prematurely to their demolition phases.
Michelle Obama yesterday "corrected" her Monday, Feb. 18, statement about lack of pride in her country and, for now, appears to have gotten past it. It was an equivocal clarification, however, and the issue no doubt will arise again in the general campaign season. Washington Post economic columnist Bob Samuelson wrote a strong piece yesterday criticizing Sen. Barack Obama for alleged surrenders to interest-group agendas — and there was truth in it. As his campaign has proceeded, Obama has indeed bought into union and other agendas to get their endorsement. Now that Obama is on the verge of nomination, further such critical pieces can be anticipated.
A statement by Michelle jeopardizes the Barack Obama campaign
For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country ... —Michelle Obama
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama rolled up two more one-sided victories, in Wisconsin and Hawaii, last night and can drive Sen. Hillary Clinton from the field with wins in Ohio and Texas March 4. But over the past couple days, a flap has arisen over a statement by the candidate's wife, Michelle Obama, which must be set right immediately or the national media, Republicans, and the Clinton campaign will chew on it ceaselessly in the two weeks before March 4.
The Michelle Obama statement Monday was taken out of context. But it was not an ad lib. It was part of a prepared text which had been delivered more than once. And unless Obama and his wife set it right immediately, it has the potential to be a campaign wrecker — if not now, certainly in the fall general election contest.
National perspective: Shifting campaign pledges, cold local transpo politics
Back from a cold and snowy week in Minnesota, still hustling my new book, Seattle seems downright tropical. My first act on return was to turn down my thermostat; it seemed unseasonably warm here.
Several weeks in other towns have given me a chance to observe other places and, also, to see my home place in better perspective. Here are observations for this long weekend.
McCain and Clinton both have serious problems
National update: Hillary Clinton must figure out a way to slow Barack Obama's surge of momentum, and Wisconsin may be a key state. John McCain's big drawback is having no real base in the party. Our campaign veteran also marvels at all the energy at a Labor Temple caucus.
A spirited campaign with no end in sight
It seemed like a general election last night as we followed state-by-state results, east to west, in the Democratic and Republican nominating contests.
Regrettably, the final and big contest of the night, in California, was fouled somewhat by the fact that millions of early absentee ballots had been cast well ahead of Tuesday and that former Sen. John Edwards and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, already withdrawn from the race, thus drew percentages of the total vote that might otherwise have fallen to the real contenders.
But the people spoke, in large numbers, and they clearly are energized by this year's national election. And to the surprise of most analysts, including myself, neither party's nominee was decided in the Super Tuesday contests. Our Washington caucuses will mean something this Saturday.
Watching the debates and watching the numbers
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, having lost a tight contest in Florida to Arizona Sen. John McCain, could not have arrived for last night's GOP debate, at the Reagan Library in southern California, under worse circumstances. Just before the debate, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed McCain. Then, immediately after, it was made known that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would endorse McCain today. The Gubernator sat next to Nancy Reagan at the debate — the implication hanging that she, and the Gipper, too, if he were there would be with McCain.
Countdown to Super Tuesday
I am still in Arizona and witnessing the buildup here to the Democratic and Republican contests next Tuesday, Feb. 5, when both parties' presidential nominees could be determined by primaries and caucuses in some 20 states.
A big day on the presidential campaign trail
A showdown in Florida for Republicans and the endorsement by Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy could be tipping points. Has Bill Clinton killed his wife's chance to be president?
National politics update: The careless NYT; the demise of Rudy
I am continuing my Johnny Appleseed book tour while absorbing national and regional vibrations. I have found an intense interest not only in the presidential nominating campaigns and candidates but also the major international and domestic issues on our table. With no incumbent on the ballot for the first time since 1952, Americans are paying close attention. Paying less-close attention, it would appear, is The New York Times.
The weekend in presidential politics
Saturday, Jan. 19, found me housebound in Raleigh, N.C.. While a rare snow-sleet-storm took place outside, I periodically checked in on political developments nationally and in the Nevada presidential caucuses and Republican South Carolina primary. I talked on Friday with North Carolinians long active in the Democratic Party. They all were indifferent to former Sen. John Edwards' presidential candidacy and wondered why he kept it going.
Shaping up as a fine old, big-issues presidential race
Sen. John McCain's bid for a breakout in the Michigan Republican Presidential primary fell short Tuesday night and reset the GOP nominating campaign as a three-way race among McCain, Michigan winner Mitt Romney, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. There were also important developments last night for the Democrats.
The Veepstakes: an early look
Because neither Clinton nor Obama has broad or deep foreign policy experience, it seems clear that either as Presidential nominee would choose a running mate who would reassure voters that a future terrorist or national security threat could be handled well in the White House. That would seem to favor some senior, respected figure such as former Rep. Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the 9/11 Commission, as Democratic Vice Presidential nominee. Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd and Arkansas Gov. Bill Richardson all have stronger foreign-policy credentials than Clinton or Obama and might be possibilities. Without a running mate strong on foreign policy, either Clinton or Obama could be vulnerable in the general election, especially if McCain were the Republican nominee.
Washington, still on the presidential-primary sidelines
There is only a small chance that Washington state's Feb. 9 caucuses will have any effect whatever on either party's nominating processes. The odds still point to decisions on Super Tuesday, four days before. The early Super Tuesday decisions came as a result of many states moving up their primary and caucus dates so as to have a voice in the outcome. Big states such as New York, California, and Illinois -- whose voters all go to the polls Feb. 5 -- had tired of seeing the Presidential nominations being decided before the contests even reached their states.
Among the insiders, vetting the presidential races
I've been on the eastern seaboard promoting my book and talking with politically active people, in particular, in New York and Washington, D.C. The summary of reactions would be: McCain on verge of breakout; Hillary-Obama race tightening. If Sen. John McCain wins Tuesday night's Michigan Republican primary decisively over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (Romney currently leads in the polls), he could be on the way to his party's nomination. McCain, it is true, did little in Iowa and won by only a modest margin over Romney in the New Hampshire primary. But, since then, big money has flowed into his campaign. Much of the money has been raised on the basis that McCain was the only viable mainstream alternative to populist preacher and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Forget an independent bid for the presidency
Last night's Democratic caucuses result lessened the likelihood of a third-force movement led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Barack Obama's strong showing, cutting across all demographics, and Hillary Clinton's third-place finish (running strongly only among over-60 women), made it extremely likely that Obama will be nominated — unless someone in Hillary's corner turns dirty and tries to stop him with a smear campaign.
Five weeks: The sprint to the presidential nominations
Between now and Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, and before Washingtonians caucus, the presidential nominees will be determined. The national campaign then will last a withering nine months, during which the parties will pray nothing scandalous arises. Here's what to watch for in coming weeks as folks in other states decide who will enter that uncharted territory.
Beyond Proposition 1: A new consensus is emerging
A group headed by Norm Rice and John Stanton is gathering allies for a more rational and practical approach to the region's transit needs. Both supporters and opponents of the failed Proposition 1 are part of the effort.
On returning to an unrecognizable home state
A veteran political insider writes a discerning book about being witness to an eventful history. His return to Seattle and his native state brings a shock at discovering how a once-exceptional political climate had soured into something depressingly like that of the rest of the nation, where the people's real needs are not addressed with forthright leadership.
Ballot measures: a Western anachronism and lazy democracy
Conceived a century ago as a check on government power and corporate cronyism, initiatives and referenda have more often than not been co-opted by those in power. It's also an easy out for elected officials who are unable or unwilling to legislate.
57 states — and the Soviet of Washington?
Sen. Barack Obama must be drinking some of the same Seattle water as secessionist Mayor Greg Nickels. In Beaverton, Ore., he told the crowd that he'd visited "57 states" with "one left to go." He goes on to say that the only states he hasn't been to during his presidential bid are Alaska and Hawaii, which means Obama thinks the U.S. has 58 states, though by his own count there should be 59.
A Seattle software exec makes sure that the buffalo don't roam
The Northwest's real fairy tales
An Eastside community where craftsmanship defines the homes
Melinda Bargreen: Goodbye to the Seattle Times music critic post
Columbus Symphony, deadlocked with musicians, shuts down
A Seattle software exec makes sure that the buffalo don't roam
In the 19th century, tourists used to slaughter bison herds from passing trains, blasting the big beasts into near extinction just for fun. That ugly tradition is echoed in the recent massacre of buffalo in Colorado, which has also touched off a classic confrontation over rights between two ranchers. The Northwest connection: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's John Cook points out that the man behind the recent massacre is the chairman and CEO of one of Seattle's top software companies, Jeff Hawn of Attachmate. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Life after Yahoo: Microsoft moves on — to Asia
Steve Ballmer's about-face explained
Saving our communal storm sewer, Puget Sound
A stealth Ron Paul campaign makes the GOP nervous in Idaho
Just 15 years old, the state Department of Ecology building is cracking dangerously
In the International District, an interesting approach to restaurant reviewing
Yours for free: a guidebook to farm-fresh food
A city of scolds
Grandmother, mother, and daughter — on the same soccer team
An Eastside community where craftsmanship defines the homes
Priced out, but still somehow living in Seattle
Mount Rainier's Paradise Inn is ready to reopen after years of renovation
Northwest Airlines plans to compete on the Seattle-to-Beijing route
The 787 program is 15 months behind, but some deliveries could be 30 months late
Hillary Clinton will you please go now!
An alternative reality show
John Moe: Sorry, Seattle, I'm moving away
Perhaps Oklahoma City would also be interested in a baseball team
Grandmother, mother, and daughter — on the same soccer team
Fast times and loads of fun, despite expensive gas
Grandmother, mother, and daughter — on the same soccer team
Mount Rainier's Paradise Inn is ready to reopen after years of renovation
A spring drought: Reservoirs are dry
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