Constantine: "Video shows Hutchison flip/flop on key issues" (with video)

Chris Grygiel (Strange Bedfellows-seattlepi.com), with video (01:20):

King County executive candidate Dow Constantine's campaign on Thursday said a video of an appearance last year by rival Susan Hutchison shows her praising conservative stances on light rail and government spending that she has softened during bid for office.

Hutchison spoke at a dinner for the conservative think tank the Washington Policy Center last October. She praised the center's book, The Policy Guide for Washington State, which decries light rail and calls for government spending restrictions beyond what Tim Eyman's Initiative 1033 is attempting to impose.

"I'd like to put in a plug for a book that you have on your tables," Hutchison said at the dinner, which featured conservative commentator Fred Barnes speaking about then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. "I have read it cover to cover and it is one of the most extraordinary pieces of work about Washington State and the policies that make our government run."

On the campaign trail Hutchison, a former television broadcaster, has spoke favorably about light rail and has said she won't be voting for Eyman's initiative because it would restrict government revenue during a severe economic and budget crisis.

Constantine's campaign news release comes just a month before the election. Polls show Hutchison is slightly ahead of the County Council Chairman. Earlier this week the state's Public Disclosure Commission said it would investigate a claim of coordination between Constantine's campaign and an independent attack on Hutchison. Such coordination would be illegal.

Constantine spokesman Sandeep Kaushik said he was confident investigators would find that Constantine's campaign did nothing wrong. "The Hutchison campaign and their supporters are trying to throw stuff up against the wall to see if they can blow smoke where there's no fire," he said.

Howie P.S.: In other news on the King County Executive race, see "Dow’s Painted Pledge to the South Park Bridge" (Seattle Weekly) and "Disaster, illness, no time -- recipe for new county exec?" (seattlepi.com).