Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat?
Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory?

In either case, there's a new coalition in our state. Take a look at this map of where 912 failed.

Our most populous county (King) teamed up with our fastest growing (Snohomish and Clark), a few other counties connected to Puget Sound, and lo and behold, the proud Eastern Washington county of Walla Walla (albeit by a hair) to help put 912 on the road (HA!) to defeat.

In his column this morning, Danny Westneat says that last night's results show voters are trusting government a little more.

I think he's really close to the mark, but I would make one tweak.

Voters in this new coalition are realizing that government isn't free. We can't keep cutting taxes and expect money to battle traffic congestion to magically appear.

I think the lesson of last night is voters don't want ALL roads ALL the time (See the 2002 defeat of R51 ).

What we do want is a sensible package that does just enough to take care of our most critical needs. Get us just enough roads to get around, and that's plenty -- no one wants Seattle to be the Los Angeles of the Northwest, but we also are responsible enough to support smart road investments.

Now, what can we do with that leftover Monorail money? (Note to Garrett -- thanks for voting no on 912, but you Eastsiders ain't getting any of our Monorail money!)