Primary Voting Recommendations
The Primary Election is on the 20th. However, since I vote by absentee ballot (a habit I began while at school out-of-state), I usually do my research and make my decisions a week or so in advance. Today was that day. I will share my decisions and my reasons below.
I chose to vote Democrat this election. The reason for this is that is that Michael Nelson is running under that ticket as a “Libertarian Democrat” (he was at the last KCLP Liberty Forum) for the position of King County Executive. Having him instead of the tax-and-spend Ron Simms would be a great blessing for the county. Having David Irons would also be considerably better, but he is running unopposed so I chose to vote on the Democrat side this time. Furthermore, Republican District 9 King County Council candidates are both good candidates; I don’t mind if either one wins, so I don’t feel an overriding need to help either one in that race.
So, I voted for Michael Nelson for exacutive and thats all I did in the partisan races.
For King County Sherrif, I chose Greg Schmidt. Although I respect the long tenures of the other two candidates in the force they aim to lead (26 years for Sue Rahr and 32 years for Jim Fuda), this lengthy service has also focused them on the wrong areas of law enforcement. For Sue, its Meth, and the crimes it “causes,” including “auto theft, identity theft, and fraud.” I do not believe that Meth is responsible for any of those crimes. From my understanding, drug-related crimes are usually crimes of passion based on addictions. The people committing them are looking for immediate fixes, not long-term payment plans. They will walk by expensive laptops to find change in jars. Auto Theft takes selling the car. Fraud takes forethought and practice. Identity Theft takes meticulous planning and patience. In my opinion, none of these are drug-related crimes.
Furthermore, the whole war on drugs is a flawed concept. It simply artificially restricts the supply while drivign up demand by making it look taboo. The result is rich distributors, gang wars, and impovrished and desperate users. The best policy is freedom and education. When people truly understand what drugs do to them, then they can make informed decisions about their choices, instead of a bunch of misinformation aimed at scaring people away. Finally, the drug war makes drugs much more dangerous for consumption. In the end, everyone here get hurt, and groups like the Taliban get rich off of opium exports.
As for Jim Fuda, his top priorities are TRAFFIC enforcement and then narcotics, which doesn’t fly with someone like me who hates cops because they pull good people over for breaking dumb, trivial laws that don’t even accomplish their aims and everyone breaks.
Greg Schmidt, who has his experience from the Seattle Police Department, believes in taking the department in a different direction than its current thrust, led by Sue Rahr. He has shown his belief in personally making a difference as well by starting after-school mentoring programs and private non-profite groups. I value a government leader who doesn’t believe that government is the solution to everything.
For Port of Seattle Commissioner, the most important choice is staying away from the incumbents, who are out of touch with reality and need to be removed from office. In short, don’t vote for Lawrence Molloy o Patricia Davis. I also tend to, when possible, steer clear of those endorsed by labor unions, leftest leaders, and big busines that they will have authority over or share authority with. Those in these situations are in purely I’ll sratch your back and you’ll scratch mine arrangements. Instead, I found John Creighton, Christopher Cain, and Robert Walker (though my caveat is that his website doesn’t work) to be candidates worth voting for. Jack Jolley, Richard Berkowitz, and Wen Wu Lee would be my secon choices.
Finally, if you live in Kent, I suggest Bruce White for Mayor an Ted Nixon for council, though I can not vote for either, being that I am not from Kent.
Remember to vote on September 20th. Remember first to figure out what’s important to you, why, and to vote intelligently.