Goldy's Only in Seattle Counterintuition: "The Big Winner in Yesterday's Tunnel Referendum? Mayor Mike McGinn"

Goldy (SLOG):

Here's a bit of contrarian punditry for you: The biggest winner in yesterday's pro-tunnel victory was our anti-tunnel mayor, Mike McGinn.

"Whaaaaa...?" You might be asking yourself. "Is Goldy still drunk on all those free Big-Business/Big-Labor beers?" The answer is "No" (although I do have a bit of headache), and it's not a conclusion to which I've recently come. I expected the tunnel referendum to pass by a double-digit margin, I don't view it as a profoundly anti-McGinn vote, and I'm convinced that the referendum's passage was the best thing that could happen for McGinn's 2013 reelection prospects. And judging from his terse yet graceful response to yesterday's results, I'm guessing the politically savviest of the mayor's people agree with me. MORE...

Howie P.S.: I'll take a pass on this particular shot of free booze.