Follow Up on Editorial: Should We Take Susan Hutchison Seriously
For those who missed it, KUOW today broadcast an interview with, King County Executive, Susan Hutchison. You can find the interview at KUOW Weekday. In a prior post I had made the following observation which sparked a fair amount of discussion:
Ms. Hutchison has never held public office. She has never had to struggle with the political realities of governing a complex political entity whose ambits include not only roads and sewers but social services, neighborhoods and law enforcement. It is difficult to see how her experience on the board of the Seattle Symphony prepared her, in the slightest way, for such a weighty role.
If anyone had any doubt about Ms. Hutchison’s lack of specificity on issues, policies or even advisors, it is worth a listen (available on podcast). Pressed by the moderator to name a single advisor who she consults, or who she would bring to her administration, she flatly resisted naming anyone, except to say bus drivers. Her conclusion was “trust me” they will be great people. I have nothing against bus drivers, but maybe she could have named a couple of the guys that she intends to bring to the Hutchison administration that will “bring people together.” I’m sorry but calling Hutchison a “lightweight” does not begin to describe the chasm that is her lack of qualification to hold such an important post. Listen for yourself.
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September 28th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
“I am sorry but ‘lightweight’ doesn’t begin the measure the chasm” that is missing from the president of the united states resume. How can you hypocrites be so critical of a new direction for change when we voted into office someone with minimal experience last november. get your stuff straight. I dont even like hutchison im just a realist and see how hypocritical you are.
September 28th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Thanks for the heads up on this. I trust KUOW and this should be an enlightening listen!
September 28th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Don’t really understand what you dislike of President Obama have to do with whether Hutchison is qualified for King County Executive. She’s never held public office.
September 28th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Obama served three terms in the Illinois State Senate and one term in the U.S. Senate. That’s not “minimal” experience by any definition of the word.
These right-wingers are grabbing at straws because they know their candidate Hutchison is an empty suit and NOT QUALIFIED.
September 28th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I’m not a right winger, and what sparked me and obviously a few others, were the smear comments made, which have now been removed. Just because you don’t agree with someone or think they are unqualified does not mean they should be smeared in the mud. I see that any one that disagrees with your views is treated the same. Did Susan ever respond to questions asked?
September 28th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Sara,
I have removed nothing from my original post or the present post. The only smears I saw came from Hutchison’s supporters who attacked me, rather than my observations. Honestly, if this is any indication of how Hutchison plans to govern, we are in for mini-GWBush replay in King County. My disdain for Hutchison has only grown with every vacuous pronouncement that escapes her coiffed face. And no, Hutchison has answered not a single question, but assures us that the wisdom of bus drivers is profound. Not my experience.
September 28th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Ivan,
Thank god our president had he had 2.5 terms of non-executive experience, but with all do respect he is the most powerful man in the world. Susan on the other hand is a political new-comer running for a hometown position and all this hate is making me lean toward giving her my vote. Did obama catch slack when he ran for state senate because he had no previous political experience except being a lawyer/activist?
September 29th, 2009 at 6:22 am
Ok the comment you made that Susan directs Law Enforcement to shoot dogs was removed.
Let me know if you here back from Susan and get the answers you asked for.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:30 am
We don’t hate her. So stop your nonsense. We’re pointing out — correctly — that she is not qualified for this position.
September 29th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Yah this is nonsense, why would anyone want to jump off of carousel politics anyway? A fresh point of view would be too scary for the same old round and round we go way, huh! Yikes.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Give it up Sara. Any of your neighbors might have a “fresh point of view.” Any wino off the street might have a “fresh point of view.” And Susan Hutchison might have a “fresh point of view.” But that doesn’t mean they are QUALIFIED to run the county government.
Go ahead and vote for her. She’s a Republican and so are you. She’s a conservative and so are you. Go ahead and vote for her, because she’s one of your tribe. That’s your right and I support it.
But don’t try to make a case for her to people who are not in your tribe, because there is no case. She doesn’t know a bloody thing about county government, and if she does, YOU can’t tell us what it is because SHE can’t tell us what it is, much less why we should vote for her.
Dow Constantine is far and away the best, most qualified, and most competent candidate for this position, and he will be a GREAT County Executive. Your candidate is not qualified for the position.
September 30th, 2009 at 9:41 am
The media should interview some of the grantees of the Simonyi Foundaiton to see what kind of a nut case she is.
September 30th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Give up what Ivan, the fact that if anyone doesn’t agree with you they are suddenly a republican or in a tribe?
Apparently you weren’t reading the comment threads regarding my comments. I said I was going to vote for her, so what. I also commented on the rude remarks made about her, so what.
Since when did I join a tribe or become a republican? It’s breaking news to me.
Anyhow, since I’m pretty much done with your nonsense of accusations. The point was just because you think some one is not qualified doesn’t mean they should be judged so harshly in my view or smeared, and then again look whose judging.
It clearly shows that if you vote for any one but Dow in your opinion, they are assumed and labeled to be all sorts of things they are not, making an ass out of you and not me, Bravo.
I couldn’t care less.
September 30th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
For those of you who consider temperament to be an important consideration in choosing the King County Executive, I suggest you read the article in the Seattle Times, that suggests Susan Hutchison acted vindictively and irrationally when fired as the KIRO anchor. Here is the link:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009621555_hutchison08m.html
Also, Hutchison was on the Board of Directors for the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think-tank. They are proponents of Intelligent Design, as opposed to evolution and natural selection in explaining the origin of life. Intelligent Design has no scientific basis in fact, but is instead a religious theory.
I want my King County Executive to be grounded in facts, not fantasy.
October 1st, 2009 at 10:48 am
That’s great, Sara, but this isn’t between you and me. This is about whether your candidate is qualified to be County Executive, and playing gotcha games with me on a blog will not make her qualified.
October 1st, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Marlene I find it ironic that you say you want your origin of life based on fact and then you base it on The THEORY of evolution. There are so many scientists that say Darwin’s Theory was flawed. Kind of like walking in the woods and finding a pocket watch and trying to explain how nature created the pocket watch.
If you want your King County Exec grounded on fact, Dow is not your man. He thinks he is a good candidate and that is total fantasy.
October 1st, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Excuse me Grover, but I didn’t mention Darwin’s Theory. You did. All religious fundamentalists reject sound science such as carbon dating and mitochondrial DNA. If it doesn’t fit your religious doctrine, you reject it. Why would people visit doctors (men and women of science) and take medications conceived by research scientists, but dismiss irrefutable evidence such as DNA to determine genetic traits from thousands of years ago?
Intelligent Design isn’t science, it’s science fiction.
By the way, did you know that Susan Hutchison has missed voting in local elections 8 times, and Dow Constantine has a perfect voting record? I want someone who has a record of interest in concern in local issues, and cares enough to vote consistently.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Marlene, you are an angel of reason. Thank you for your contributions to this discussion.
October 14th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Why would you want someone who lied to their employer, about being ill, and then going on vacation to Mexico, as your County executive?
I believe that anyone who gets into politics should “at least” start out honest.