Odds and Sods

The Governor's race is tightening as the final ballots are being counted. Deja vu all over again. Rossi 46% Gregoire 48%. It's going to be getting even closer as the counting for the primary continues and count down to November begins.

Will the voters in the General Election be significantly different than the Primary voters? Usually the primary is a dry run for the get out the vote to test organizationWho was really trying to get their voters out?

Is this a democratic tide?

Doesn't seem like it. It doesn't seem as anti-incumbent as I would have guessed but it isn't 2006. McKenna is doing well in his statewide race. Sutherland is losing in the face of scandal and poor management, losing the election is the political trinity. And Darcy Burner can't seem to get over the hump. She has been campaigning for too long not to have made more of an impact in that district, but Reichert did catch the *ahem* Green River killer.

Here are some new items, youtube candidate questions answered by Rossi and Gregoire. Rossi's are way more slick, kind of an active background with the candidate positioned slightly right of center. The Governor's ad looks like it was shot in the laundry room in a dorm. Gregoire faces the camera with a background of Gregoire campaign signs, oh and Obama posters too. 2 signs for Obama and 2 for Gregoire.

http://www.youtube.com/user/YouChoose08

And check out the link to vote.wa.gov in the sidebar to keep up with the latest returns.

Gregoire and Rossi

Usually when a democratic woman runs for anything in Washington State she wins. This has been particularly true about US Senate races. Murray walked all over Nethercutt and Cantwell didn't wind up getting much of a challenge from Mike! McGavick.

I've always wondered why Christine Gregoire barely won in 2004. She should win big. She only carried King County and won a contested election. It doesn't look good and reinforces the provincial attitude towards Seattle/King County politics. The surrounding area is starting to look at Seattle differently. To put it simply, Seattle used to the blimp, now it's the rope. There are plenty of little brothers in this state who wouldn't mind stealing a little of the thunder from Seattle. Sorry about the bad Sonics pun, I swear I didn't even know I was typing it.

Gregoire definitely is carrying a lot more baggage than Cantwell or Murray. Murray was the mom-in-tennis-shoes and Cantwell cashed out of the RealNetworks casino after short stints in both the Washington State Legislature and one term in Congress. Gregoire has been the Attorney General AND the former head of the Dept of Ecology.

Could Rossi really be that much better of a candidate than McGavick? McGavick has a lot more money to blow than Rossi. Cantwell was a relative newcomer and 2004 was a better year to be a member of the GOP.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What is it about this race, in this state, that made it so close to begin with? She really should have won more easily. How do you vote for Kerry and then vote for Rossi? That is what really doesn't make sense.

Her problems now are a little more obvious, the atmosphere says change and she is the the incumbent. The incumbent can't really run on RE-FORM, but people sure do like it. I maintain that Gregoire really doesn't have a lot to hang her hat on and the forecasted budget deficit is another straw on the camel's back. The transportation issue has it's own vote this year, but it's still the main issue in Washington. And there seem to be no solutions coming anytime soon.