The differences between the four Democratic candidates running for King County Executive became clear after the first two questions at last night's debate at the Carpenter's Hall in Renton.

Let me restate that: The differences between the two contingents—Seattle's duo, King County Council Members Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips vs. the two statehouse  legislators from eastside, Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) and Sen. Fred Jarrett (D-41, Mercer Island)—became clear.

Asked first about the budget crisis, the eastsiders talked about efficiency and cutting overhead and the Seattleites (or Constantine, in this instance) talked about a switch to liberal values ("invest in alternatives to expensive programs, alternatives to incarceration." he said, busting on the idea of spending local dollars on a $200 million jail.)

Asked next about improving bus service, the eastsiders talked about efficiency again—Jarrett said we "need to make sure Metro works, make sure buses show up," and Hunter talked about the redundancy of having different transit agencies.

The Seattleites, again, talked about a change in thinking—Constantine talked about redesigning the system around housing and employment centers, linking his transit thinking to land use and Green politics and Phillips talked about a "mobility revolution" stressing a commitment to light rail expansion.

In short, the Seattle liberals talked about government as an agent for change and the eastside moderates talked—a bit like Republicans—about managing government better.

Certainly there were exceptions—Jarrett made a reference to how the policies of FDR proved that government can do good. (Although, Jarrett, by far the oldest of the crew, should be advised to stay away from the FDR imagery. Making the same point, Constantine, still in his 40s, talked about Obama.) 

And this isn't to say the guys from the eastside didn't have some new ideas nor interesting things to say. In fact, while I left the evening's forum thinking Constantine and Phillips were the winners (mostly on charisma points), when I checked my  notes, I found that it was actually Hunter—who stumbled out of the gate with a few unfocused answers—that actually had the most stars by  his name in my steno pad when it came to having thoughtful stuff to say. 

I'll file a longer report on this later today focusing on the highlights in my notebook. I will say none of my recommended "Four Questions" from yesterday's Morning Fizz were asked or answered.  

In the meantime, one conclusion I did draw is this: Larry Phillips looks like Barry Bostwick, the guy who played Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but more recently, and what I'm thinking of, is Mayor Randall Winston from the TV show Spin City.



And Constantine looks like a character from another 90s show, Mulder from the X-Files.