Erica C. Barnett on Mike McGinn as political “outsider”

Erica C. Barnett (Publicola):

Sure, McGinn’s campaign was won largely by the efforts of volunteers, thanks partly to lack of funds and partly to the enthusiasm of dozens of young people who saw his progressive, idealistic campaign as a stark departure from Seattle politics-as-usual.

But as his early decisions (and, indeed, his history in Seattle) make clear, McGinn is no political ingenue. Several of his initial appointments (Marco Lowe, Phil Fujii) have come from within the Nickels/Vulcan political axis, and his green-urbanist group, Great City, was funded in part by Vulcan. Again, we’re not saying that’s a bad thing–however, as we’ve reported repeatedly, those connections may come as a surprise to some of McGinn’s more idealistic supporters.

Howie P.S.: Has The Stranger/SLOG observed this fact yet? Not that I can discern, from a search of their archives. They did note some concern about our "upcoming mayor's personal grooming," but we all know that's downright silly.