1. There were a lot of reports this week about how King County Council Member Dow Constantine is pulling ahead of the Democratic pack in the race for King County Executive.

Asterisk: He's stealing votes from fellow Seattle liberal King County Coucil Member Larry Phillips (whose been losing points) and not from the two Eastside Democrats in the race, Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) and Sen. Fred Jarrett (D-41, Mercer Island), who have remained static.

If Constantine makes it through, his contest with former KIRO-TV anchor and conservative Susan Hutchison will be on the Eastside.

Deep Thought (and editorializing this morning in line with our Ross Hunter endorsement ): Won't a popular Eastside Democrat like Rep. Hunter have a better chance against Hutchison? Hunter, a Democrat, will still get the Seattle vote, but he'll also be able to  grab enough votes on the Eastside (he was the first Democrat in a generation to get elected from the Microsoft suburbs back in 2002) to sink Hutchison. Constantine's numbers—siphoning votes from Phillips in a fixed universe of Seattle votes—do not indicate a similar path to victory.

20 percent of voters in the most recent KING 5 poll remained undecided.

2. Bill Samuels Jr., the president of Kentucky-based Maker's Mark Bourbon will be in Seattle next Tuesday hosting a whisky luncheon at Zig Zag Cafe in Pike Place Market.



Sigh, the "lively chat," as the invite bills it, is for members of the Washington State Bartenders Guild only.

3. U.S. Rep Jay Inslee is in town and will be speaking at the Bill Pierre Ford on Lake City Way today to support the "Cash for Clunkers" bill. The bill would re-start the program (which gives consumers rebates between $3500 and $4500 to trade in old cars for new ones) with $2 billion more in funding.

Inslee voted to pass the bill in the House last week and the Senate is expected to pass it today. While the numbers show most people are trading in for more fuel efficient cars, people are free to buy SUVs with the rebate.

The Wall Street Journal criticizes the economics of the program here .

4. Expenditure of the Day: The local firefighters PAC, Local 27, reported a $10,000 mailing on behalf of city council candidate Jessie Israel yesterday.

Israel was endorsed by the firefighters last month (and also has the Seattle Police Officers Guild endorsement) in her race against lefty city council incumbent Nick Licata.