King Co. Dems convene

WEST SEATTLE -

There appears to be approximately 1000 Democrats in attendance here at the West Seattle High School gymnasium, but that is a rough estimate. It is the standard convention mix of interest groups, delegates and, of course, candidates. On the walk up to the building candidates like Superior Court candidate Suzanne Parisien and State Treasurer candidate Jim McIntire were politicking with stickers, handshakes and brochures while inside the crowd was bombarded with speeches from King County's four Democratic Congressional candidates.

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle), Rep. Adam Smith (D-Tacoma) and Darcy Burner (D-Carnation) spoke to potential voters in the 1st, 7th, 9th and 8th Districts, respectively. Their words have a lot in common red meat Dem fare like why Iraq policy needs to change, ambitious energy policy proposals and lots of back pats for state Democratic candidates.

Yet the theme that has received the best reaction from the crowd has been all three incumbents' firm statement that the Party will fall in line behind whoever gets the Presidential nomination as soon as the decision is made. McDermott has not announced his superdelegate support, but Smith and Inslee are notably strong supporters and state chairs of the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns.