Opinion: How Amazon’s klutzy politicking backfired in Seattle

A campaign poster for Sawant posted outside her campaign headquarters in Seattle. Amazon's campaign cash, aimed at producing a less tax-happy council, triggered the opposite result and turned a socialist headed for defeat into a martyr. — Photos: AP

For a company that is so good at so many things, Amazon is remarkably bad at politics.

Exhibit A is the latest debacle in its hometown of Seattle, where the company’s push to seat a more politically moderate city council backfired. Campaign cash aimed at producing a less tax-happy council triggered the opposite result and turned a socialist headed for defeat into a martyr.