A recent poll of Washingtonians is manna from heaven for political junkies, but more like a call to arms for our two gubernatorial candidates. more ›

In case you missed it yesterday, the 2010 WNBA Championship Seattle Storm, one of our city's most skilled and least-watched teams, were hosted at the White House. Even if you're not a sports fan, the video is pretty cool. more ›

As awesome as being deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development was, Ron Sims says he's needed elsewhere: home. Initially the announcement of the former King County Executive's departure led to some conjecture about the upcoming gubernatorial election, but Sims assured the Seattle Times that it's not in the cards right now -- although he has every intention of helping democratic Washington State US Representative Jay Inslee take office in 2012. What do you think, dear readers? more ›

Happi(er) ending for the terminally ill woman blocked from her flight, UW students protest Sodexo, clarification on jaywalking laws, whatever will become of that photo of Bin Laden and more, in this morning's headlines. more ›

Though David Plouffe's hardcover book The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory was published last year, the paperback edition could not be more timely with the new subtitle of How Obama Won and How We Can Beat the Party of Limbaugh, Beck, and Palin and an added chapter on this year's elections and the current political atmosphere. And damn, Plouffe's got some dead-on analyses for the Republican Party and the three notorious crazies that have become the "rock stars of the hard-right punditocracy." more ›

Oh, hello crazies. Mike Stark of the Huffington Post and FireDogLake chased down Republicans in D.C. to ask if they believe our President is a native-born citizen of our country. And who's that, second in the video, unwilling to call out a lunatic fringe movement? Why that would be Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who has represented Washington's 5th District (which includes Spokane) since 2005 and "would like to see the documents." more ›

A new weekend post from our new fashion correspondent, Cameron Levin. But before we get to the fashion talk, she's also got the lowdown on some time-sensitive designer retailer events for you:
• Polite Society Trunk Show with acclaimed Russian talent, Madina Vadache, featuring her spring/summer couture collection on Thursday, January 29th, 6-8pm. Vadache will be there for personal consultations and custom fittings. RSVP by January 27th to info@shoppolitesociety.com or by calling 206-441-4796.
• Karan Dannenberg 70% off storewide sale, January 25-31
• Butch Blum Winter Sale, 50% storewide sale

Wondering what the racket was in Belltown last night? A tamborrada. Here's the background. more ›

Barack Obama has just been sworn in at the 44th President of the United States, if you're wondering why you're the only one in the office. For the snow boots-on-the-ground perspective, our sister site DCist has been live blogging the inauguration in the 27 degree weather. "It's not just about what they're wearing," the commentators on PBS observed a few moments ago, and it's true. Obama actually became president about 5 minutes before he took the oath. You know how the government is about getting things done on time. CHS spent the morning canvassing inauguration parties on our Capitol Hill and snapping photos. If you've got photos to share, drop 'em in our Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

We all know someone who is in DC for the Inauguration, sure they’ve rubbed in our face a bit, and we’re all jealous of them. more ›

Holy crap, y'all! Two more days of the Bush Administration—an era that, at times, felt like it would never end. And yet here we are. Have you volunteered yet for tomorrow, the Obama-initiated national day of service? We'll be on Yesler picking up trash and collecting food. Do join us there or at any other location, and help get the new Obama Administration started right. Meanwhile, revisit the primaries, election season, and the parties of election night in our Flickr pool. more ›

Just in time for Inauguration Day, 826 Seattle is celebrating the publication of Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids' Letters To President Obama (available January 20th). In the book, 826 students from all seven writing centers "reach out to the 44th president, speaking to the issues closest to their hearts, relating their life stories, and asking for help. Topics include the economy, education, war, global warming, race relations in America, and immigration. The book also includes letters about snow cones, puppies, microwavable burritos, dinosaur projects, multiplication, and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, reportedly haunting a White House bedroom." To celebrate the book's release, there's a party and reading at 826 Seattle next Saturday afternoon. more ›

• John Cook, former newspaper reporter and current blogger at TechFlash.com, lists twelve tech meisters who could save the P-I. Among the illustrious names on the list: Crosscut's David Brewster and Rich Barton, the guy who started Zillow.com.
• Barack Obama must have been such a sweet, angelic child, like baby Jesus only with a bigger halo. Turns out that he lived on our Capitol Hill as a baby, and Capitol Hill Times found his address. Small children residing at 13th & Republican, you too could be President of the United States someday.
• Cameras were rolling at Seacrest in West Seattle this weekend when Tick Tock Productions used the location for six hours to film what was rumored to be a TV pilot. West Seattle Blog has photos of the...er...explosive shoot.

Mayor Greg Nickels thinks so! But a City Council committee--and thank God for this--shut him down immediately, saying, "WTF R U thinking Nickels?" Nickels' intentions were to make the city's executive salaries competitive, but Councilman Licata smacked that one down. "It's bad timing," he told the Times. Damn right, it's bad timing; it's worse timing this year than it was both years previous, when Nickels made the same request for raises. During a year when the President-elect tells Barbara Walters on national television that in his opinion CEOs should forgo their Christmas bonuses, what kind of reasonable man thinks it's a great time to ask for executive raises? more ›

From President-elect Obama's weekly address this morning: more ›

Seattle is undeniably Barack Obama country. However, if for some reason, Mr. Obama would like to nip that affection and respect right in the bud, he should go forth with this unsubstantiated rumor: Greg Nickels for absolutely any position in his administration. A search for "Greg Nickels + Obama Cabinet" reveals these disturbing possibilities: Greg Nickels as Transportation Secretary, Greg Nickels at the new Office of Urban Policy, and Greg Nickels at the EPA. more ›

Hat tip to Sightline's Clark Williams-Derry, who jumped on this Obama quote he found in Newsweek about the need for collective action on global warming--all over the U.S., we imagine, there's barely concealed public policy joy about having voted in a president who's his own think tank. Obama's discussing his performance in debates, and his struggle with answering questions that miss the mark: "So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I fucking changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'." more ›

You know how married people are so adorable when they're newly married and they keep referring to each other as "my husband" or "my wife," etc? We keep doing that with the phrase "President Obama," because it's just so . Anyhow, President-Elect Obama and VP-Elect Biden will be holding a press conference this morning at 11:30 a.m. our time (2:30 p.m. for you East Coasters who might be reading this blog for whatever reason). Tune into NBC or msnbc.com to watch/listen to President Obama. more ›

The New Yorker is reporting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin began actively campaigning for the vice-presidential gig almost immediately after she took the governor's office in early 2007. A key component to her vice-presidential strategy was to schmooze high-falutin' conservatives who were passengers on two Seattle-based Holland America cruise ships in the summer and fall of that year. more ›

Award-winning Seattle writer Timothy Egan has a great piece in the New York Times in which he ruminates on the people who, it was feared, would not vote for Obama, but did. "He became only the second Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt to win more than 51 percent of the popular vote not because he’s black, but because he is smarter, with better ideas, and showed leadership under fire. This was a victory for meritocracy." more ›

This morning as we walked in to work, every person we passed had his or her head up high, made eye contact, and actually smiled at us. People on the street said hi cordially and greeted us with "Good morning." It all had us wondering if we woke in a wonderful alternate universe this morning, a universe where an inspiring Democrat will be calling the White House home and where Seattleites actually acknowledge each others' existences. And we gotta say, it made the blurry, hung-over, late trip into the office so much more enjoyable. Is this something Seattleites could keep up? We certainly hope the answer is "yes we can!" more ›

Rossi is on TV right now conceding the governor's race to Christine Gregoire, saying "The voters have a right to hold her to [her] promise." He's bloviating about his vote margin and his level of contributions. He'll be back in the business world, will "see what business opportunities there may be." He's "very comfortable in the business world." He "doesn't need a political career." He'll "be home for dinner tonight...tomorrow night, too." And he's thanking everyone who's helped out, asking the Dinocrats to not be disillusioned. more ›

Little Miss Seattlest mostly watches Yo Gabba Gabba! and Pixar movies (on weekends), so she was thrilled to stay up late and watch the election with her parents. Obama's already delivering big happiness to her life. He also, apparently, has a fun name to say. more ›

...on September 12, 2001, that the next President of the United States would be a guy named Barack Hussein Obama, you would have thought we were insane, even as you purchased another crate of duct tape. more ›

This morning we woke to chilly air and dark clouds, and although we had signed up to volunteer at the Obama office later in the day we considered mailing it in. But then Sarah Palin came on the tube, telling us how she'd make a great VP, and we said "Hell No!" and a few minutes later, we were in our car headed for the Obama/Burner campaign office in Bellevue. more ›

Our ceiling flooded all of a sudden this morning, after our last post. But what's a little fallen, drenched ceiling when there's a once-in-a-lifetime presidential election going on, eh? We left our friendly maintenance guy to talk to himself, sop things up with rags, dry things out with lamps, and headed back over to the Baltic Room for a little E-Day madness. There were at least as many people there as had been there when we left. Signs were everywhere. Food and drink was everywhere. Someone made Obama cookies, as you can see (delicious! probably all gone now). more ›

While the country was busy blindly voting for whoever they fancied, Seattle Weekly writer Don Ward was hard at work being a true patriot and writing an important blog post for the Weekly. We only wish he'd opened our eyes sooner before we so ignorantly cast our ballot. more ›

•The polls close at 8 p.m., and absentee ballots must be postmarked by today. You can find where you are registered here; you can find a place to watch the results in public here. more ›

Yeah, that's how stoked Seattlest is today. more ›

What a long, strange trip it's been. Look back on this Presidential campaign season via the video above, or go all the way back to the halcyon days of the primaries at this simple, foul-mouthed website. more ›