Senn vs. Sidran

The upcoming primary here in Washington has a few tough choices to consider. On the Governors race, I’m pretty much set on Sims. I don’t think he’ll win, and Gregoire may well be the best chance of beating the rather formidable Dino Rossi we’ve got (and yes, I am very worried about Rossi winning). But it’s unclear that Gregoire is that much more electable, and she’s running a pretty lame campaign. More importantly, I’m voting for Sims to voice my wholehearted approval of his tax overhaul plan, which is something all sensible Washingtonians ought to be working very hard to force onto the legislative agenda.

The AG race presents a tough choice as well–perhaps a tougher one. Like all good lefty Seattlites, I’ve spent the better part of the last decade beleiving Mark Sidran was quite evil. As city attorney, his attitude toward free speech was breathtakingly casual, and his signature car impound laws were pretty damn racist, and he was completely uninterested in populist concerns about these matters as long as he could get elected without addressing them. Deborah Senn was an impressive insurance commissioner, taking on the insurance industry more directly than just about anyone else whose held that job.

But…..Senn ran a completely incompetent campaign for Senate. I was fully prepared to support her against Cantwell, but by the time the primary rolled around I had been convinced otherwise. That campaign indicated a political tone-deafness I hadn’t expected from here. And Sidran is nothing if not competent, and in fairness, as the Stranger notes, he’s always been strong on gay rights and domestic violence issues.

I’m willing to bet that by 5:00 today when this “shadowy 527″ reveals it’s funding sources, we’ll find some of the insurance industry/tort “reform” crowd Senn pissed off as IC (in fact, the ad highlights what I consider one of Senn’s more impressive accomplishments). I’d love to fight these people, but we might need a more competent candidate to do it. And if they’re spending money here now, they’ll probably do it a whole lot more in the general. Rob McCenna is a lot less scary than most Repubs, but he’s still one of them and the best and most important thing we can hope for in this election is for the current GOP to be discredited and suffer as many losses as possible. I’m not convinced, like the Stranger is, that Senn would necessarily lose badly to McKenna, but it is a possibility. And I think Sidran could take him.

Should I cast a vote against someone I admire and in favor of someone I despise? Any thoughts? I’ve got four days to decide….