David Brewster

So far the Republicans are eagerly playing their assigned bad-guy roles. Pelosi probably knows that McConnell is more than ready to suit up as a villain.

Imagine this scenario. Trump loses and Mayor Durkan gets a nice federal judicial offer, so she resigns. The new mayor is automatically the council president, pretty much lined up for Lorena Gonzalez.

There's a lively network of Bloomberg-grateful mayors who swap tips and apply for more grants. Gratitude flows, as you might expect.

The Seattle region has long been, as with Los Angeles, virtually immune to regional governance. Accordingly, these baby steps have been fraught.

Obvious factors: a glut of restaurants, too much easy money, nervous lenders who pull the plug too soon, soaring rental rates, unsafe downtown streets, shortage of quality chefs.

When cities invest in the visitor market (hotels, convention centers, festivals) they are ordinarily playing a final, desperate card in economic development.

The Trump-led change in the law made tax filing easier for many middle-income filers, but it also suddenly eliminated a major incentive to give to charity.

Seattle, which has the resources and institutions to help the poor, is pushing these residents outward, thanks to high costs of housing. They move to tax-starved and taxpayer-hostile districts that can't or won't fund these services.

The whole story makes it clear what a huge lift the public option will be in Congress, or in individual states, and the extremely long odds for Medicare-for-all.

His guiding wisdom was that you need to level with the people, inform the people, and then trust them.