originally published on Crosscut.com on November 6, 2007

Cocker Fennessy, a Seattle public-relations firm, hosted the premier “pre-poll” party, an Oscar-night analogue for the Northwest’s political class. It was a blast. (Disclosure: Cocker Fennessy wined me, fed me, and wined me again.) The election-night fete featured an impressive mix of politicos – a majority of the Seattle City Council as well as King County Council members Dow Constantine, Pete von Reichbauer, Julia Patterson, and Larry Phillips. These weary, cornered souls mingled with quasi-government honchos (Joni Earl, who runs Sound Transit, and David Dicks, the new director of the Puget Sound Partnership) as well as snack-grazing gadabouts (e.g., O. Casey Corr of Crosscut and me). Several diet-coke-swilling reps from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office attended. “Please note that I am not drinking alcohol,” said one self-righteous, non-drinking Gregoire-ite. So when did the abstemious wing of the Democratic Party become ascendant? Proposition 1 was the touchstone issue of the night. I mentioned to several folks that I’d voted for it but figured it was doomed. Most everyone responded in the same, Stepford-wife monotone: “Well, of course it will pass. I have no doubt about it.” (Insert jarring forearm squeeze here.) Stepford patina notwithstanding, the pre-result disappointment was palatable. Now, where do we go from here?