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Friday, November 10, 2006
Memo to Dino
Ellen Craswell's name was spelled incorrectly in the original version of this column.
A lot is being written about Tuesday's stunning Democratic successes and Republican failures. In Washington state, here's something else that needs to be written.
A Memo to Dino Rossi:
Take note of the trouncing your party took in this state on Election Day. Not only did voters shift dramatically the balance of power in both houses of the Legislature, but the ballot initiative you came out to promote -- I-933 -- was roundly defeated.
Perhaps your leadership reputation would have been better burnished had you spoken out last year in opposition to Initiative 912, the failed attempt to cut transportation funding. But you were busy trying to sell a book about leadership rather than exercising it.
A lot has changed in two years, and there's nothing to make things look rosy for Republicans two years out, either.
There is no longer any rational questioning of Gov. Chris Gregoire's legitimacy. Democratic legislative majorities have swelled.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick's 39 percent share of the vote against a vulnerable Maria Cantwell fell short of George Nethercutt's 43 percent share against Sen. Patty Murray in 2004, and Ellen Craswell's 41 percent cut against Gary Locke in the 1996 governor's race and even John Carlson's 40 percent against Locke in 2000.
So, carefully temper any dreams of comeback in '08 with the realities of '06.
Tell us what's on your mind.
 | |
| Are Dino Rossi's prospects in a 2008 governor's race lessened or increased by Tuesday's Democratic sweep? | |
 44.0%Lessened. |
48.7% Increased. |
| 7.3% Don't know or care. |
|
| Total Votes: 965 | |
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