Good evening/middle of the night on the east coast. Been meaning to get on here earlier, but as it stands it was a late night at work and now here I am talking to all kinds of people from Washington State who are working on campaigns

Why? Today was the primary. Races like the King County Executive and Mayor of Seattle are obviously huge. But a friend of mine is running Laura Grant's campaign in the 16th and the first numbers have her at 46 percent. HUGE in a primary.

I know I said I would talk some about healthcare. Hopefully some of you care about that (because even if you aren't calling Obama or some member of Congress dirty names, waving signs, screaming about birth certificates, or in some other way "exercising your right to free speech" - it still matters). This fight could well determine what happens with energy and could also spell doom this November for some. So down at the bottom I'll add some videos/links and short commentary, to be followed up later.

For now, it's the primary. First, the results of the King County races can be found here.

The two most important races to those of you in the 206 are obviously for mayor and for King County Executive. No, I have a friend who does fundraising for Dow Constantine. Despite his willingness to "go to any length", or maybe because of it, Constantine seems the best choice here. I know one of Larry Phillips kids, and Larry himself a little. He is very good at what he does now. Don't expect him to do well as an executive. Out of respect for him as a person, we'll ignore Ross Hunter here. The surprise may be Fred Jarret sitting in third, but it might have something to do with most of the ballots counted being from his district. Right now Susan Hutchison, the former news anchor, is leading (she's the only legitimate Republican) and Constantine is second. Obviously things will shake out differently when only two are on the ballot.

Which leads us to the even more interesting race for mayor. While you can blame the Executive free-for-all on the President's raiding on Seattle African American delegation (Ron Sims is currently the deputy director of HUD), this one was going to be crazy from the beginning.

Greg Nickels needs to go. He has done some great things in Seattle, to be sure. He has strong ties to the environment, to labor, to business and to Democrats, making him a formidable foe. But that isn't why he has been successful. It has been, as the mother of my high school classmate wrote about this election, the lack of "A-listers" running against him. Instead, Nickels looks like Snow White to these seven dwarfs with no leadership experience, no credentials and no chance. He marginalizes everyone around him, leaving himself to mop it all up.

No longer.

With the state's new top-two primary system, finally this race will be a test. For the first time on a large scale two Democrats will most definitely run against each other in the general election. Susan Hutchison will have nothing on this race. It will be nasty and people that mostly agree will disagree, strongly. Nickels is the status quo, and in Seattle usually the status quo has to go. But he's had such strong support that there will be a fight. And finally, because he is only running against one person who will have standing on his level, this icon could fall.

Currently Nickels is actually third, behind Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan. Nickels will catch up when more of Seattle is counted. Looks like about half the ballots to go.

Biggest congrats to Meagan though, who has Laura Grant firmly entrenched in first place out in Walla Walla. And props to Benton County, which did big things. Damn Republicans.

Quickly on healthcare because it is 1 am and I still haven't set up the coffee pot for my 6:30 am waking from the dead.

Check out this video. I'll add more links tomorrow as I read more.

Politico

The way I see it is as one Republican Congressman put it. A public option is fine. Just don't force people to take it. All these people that are complaining so much can go with their private option. If they want to complain about tax hikes, someone can explain to them that the hikes are coming anyway. The Bush tax cuts are going to expire and all will be right with the world again. You remember Obama's world-fixing angels. But seriously, no one complains about the budget until someone tells them to. No one understands the budget. Pay your taxes and deal. Certainly don't burn a Congressman in effigy. Please.

Great political cartoon in the Miami Herald that I wish was still there. It was two guys with anti-Obama healthcare t-shirts and signs and such, clearly about to go to a rally. That is after their detour at the pharmacy to pick up their medicare-covered medication. The U.S. is the ONLY INDUSTRIALIZED NATION WITHOUT FEDERAL HEALTH CARE. And yes, we do very well with medical advancement. But private insurance companies aren't going anywhere. Some people who can't afford it are getting healthcare. Deal with it.

More later. Goodnight.

Stay Classy.