Liberal Talk Radio

Local blog Seattlest blames the Viaduct impasse on one-party government, and specifically invokes the war:

But, with the Democrats in gridlock over the Viaduct issue, we feel vindicated. The internecine squabbling that’s led us to a point where we’re having a meaningless advisory vote between two ill-conceived projects, is a direct result of granting one political party all the power.

Look at Iraq. Only now, with the Democrats holding one branch of the government, are we finally seeing long overdue changes like Rumsfeld and Casey out, Republicans bucking the party line, etc.

Here, we’ve got a governor who’s too tied up in her relationships with fellow Democrats to make the executive decision she was elected to do. She can’t go against House leader Frank Chopp, she needs him to forward her agenda in the legislature. And she can’t alienate the Seattle establishment–many of whom are her main backers, many of whom want the tunnel.

Listening to Speaker Frank Chopp on KUOW this morning, I realized yet another parallel: both Iraq and the Viaduct have created an attention vortex in Olympia and D.C., preventing anything else from getting done. Chopp also alluded to his support for the surface/transit option.

Backfill: here and here.