Mike Bikes

When mayoral candidate Michael McGinn showed up at the King County Municipal League Awards ceremony last Wednesday night at the Seattle Art Museum, he strolled in lugging two big, bright yellow bike panniers.  The fact that he was slated to address a room packed with Seattle’s most prominent players and politicos did not stop McGinn from riding his bike to the event in his city clothes.  And it wasn’t just a stunt — it’s well known that McGinn rides his electric-assist bike everywhere.  It says a lot.

Yesterday the McGinn campaign released a critique of Mayor Nickels’ environmental record — Publicola has a good summary here.  Nickels has a relatively solid green reputation, which will no doubt be tricky for McGinn successfully challenge and not be perceived by some as a fringe environmental wacko. 

One thing that struck me about the official Nickels campaign response is the strategy to play on people’s anxiety over the economy.  Spokesman Sandeep Kaushik told Publicola that “[McGinn] seems to be out of touch with the people of Seattle who are worried about jobs.”  This is not the message of a visionary leader.  The kind of leader we need now is one who recognizes our current challenges as opportunities.  Now is not the time to go backwards and neglect progress toward creating a sustainable culture in which everyone will thrive over the long term.  Now is the time to be bold.

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