To be or not to be...a Reed Republican

The Seattle Times reports Reed faces GOP wrath over recount decisions. Defending a flawed election system (particularly in King County) was no mean task. Reed supporters claim that he was merely following the law. But in fact there was no law written for the circumstances that presented themselves. He as well as the courts essentially had to make it up as they went along. No wonder the GOP is angry he wasn't a team player.

But frankly, I think that anger will find no outlet. Reed is well placed to hold his position as Secretary of State for so long as the "top two" primary system continues in Washington. Moderates do well in a "top two" system and Reed is a moderate. Until a successful court challenge can be mounted the system is likely to be with us for several years.

So, it seems to me that Reed's overall objective has been to promote his brand of moderate politics over the partisanships of both the Ds and Rs. It may be that the Ds benefitted this time, but that benefit will be short lived. Reed has been playing to the galleries, and judging by the success of I-872, winning the battle between consensus and ideology, competition and principles. And that can mean nothing but trouble for all third parties.