Kshama Sawant talks of the ?historic victory? when she took 29 percent of the vote against state House Speaker Frank Chopp last year, and the ?socialist alternative? firebrand announced Wednesday she is running against four-term Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin.
In a city where local politicians often get criticized for being too liberal, Sawant has staked out ground in deep left field and is taking swings at Seattle?s political class.
?Indeed the city itself? is controlled by the Democratic elite, which is in the pocket of big business, the construction industry and particularly Paul Allen?s Vulcan,? she charged.? Sawant is a teacher at Seattle Central Community College, and was an outspoken supporter of the Occupy Seattle movement.
It was hard to see Wednesday which local issues she will emphasize.? Supporters carried banners saying ?Hands off Social Security and Medicare? and ?Bail out Workers, not Wall Street.?? If elected, said Sawant, she will accept only an average worker?s salary, adding:? ?All the rest of the money will be used to build mass movements.?
She did fault Conlin on one specific issue, saying:? ?He killed the Monorail.?? (Many attribute the death of ?Rise Above It All? to a voter uprising after the price tag rose to $11 billion.)
Sawant is likely to get support from longtime critics of Conlin,? notably The Stranger.? A profile of Sawant by Dominic Holden, posted Wednesday on The Stranger?s website Slog, was so uplifting as to suggest there is but one problem with the candidate:? The city might lose her at Easter.
Sawant is also promising to campaign against the proposed coal port at Cherry Point north of Bellingham, saying:? ?We need mass occupations, mass blockades.?? A big crowd of environmentalists recently staged a mass demonstration at Shilshole Bay against the passing of coal trains.
They may be agents of big business, but Seattle City Council members have put on their walking shoes and taken to mass marches in recent weeks.? Councilwoman Jean Godden was up front in a march to the Seattle Center against gun violence.? Councilman Tim Burgess marched from St. Mark?s Cathedral to St. James Cathedral in an anti-violence vigil.? Mayor Mike McGinn led anti-coal port marchers at Shilshole.
Sawant argues, however, that it is the Occupy Seattle movement ? which seemed to dissolve in a messy encampment at Seattle Central Community College ? which has transformed political dialogue in the Emerald City.? ?It has totally shifted debate in a way that hasn?t happened in 40 years,? she said.
How will Sawant be different from incumbents on the council?? ?I am not a big shot like the other City Council members.? I am not going to be sitting in the rarified halls of the rich and wealthy.?
Source: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/03/13/outspoken-socialist-to-challenge-conlin/
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