I have lived in Seattle for a few years now, but am considering moving to Austin in the very near future. I disagree with several of the points here...

Politics: I say Seattle wins, easily. Sure, Austin is the liberal bastion in the big conservative state of Texas, but when I've really spent time in Austin, there is something primitive and slightly contrived about the brand of liberalism. Quite simply, Austin wants to be more intelligent than it is. Seattle is the #1 most educated city in the US. Austin is... in Texas. The social programs, political energy, and cultural open-mindedness is far greater and more sophisticated in Seattle. Austin is still sort of in a "hippie" phase where people think that moving from the conservative Old South and converting to "democrats" is cutting-edge progressiveness, and it just isn't that simple. Perhaps one day Austin will evolve beyond this, though.

University Bloodline: Drag Rats? I dunno. On one hand, it sucks that Austin is so Greek (this also is a major point supporting my preceding Politics assessment). Seattle is a much denser, larger, and more walkable city and thus has cool quirky hangouts all over, in every neighborhood, which is cool. This said, I say Austin wins overall, because the energy in Austin is much more positive and happy, and people there like to actually PARTY. The food is spicy, the weather is warm. Seattle is totally a limp penis when it comes to any sort of zest or spice for life.

Lastly, on Weather: I say Austin wins. Yeah, I hate hot weather. I like how in Seattle, the temperature is rarely too hot or too cold. But nine months of cloudy gray skies just blows. The rain is not a problem at all. Hell, that's a total lie; it rarely rains at all... such a misconception. The trouble is that there is no sun for nine months... everyone hibernates and becomes whiny little bitches. Utterly, soul-crushingly depressing. Austin wins, for sure...