Elway found that Mrs. Gregoire isn't very popular:
Gregoire's positive ratings increased through her first two years and stayed the same throughout her third year. Her negative ratings are virtually the same now as they were the day she took office but lower than they were last year...Gregoire should want to improve her standing with independents.Democrats rated her performance as positive by a 72 to 25% margin. Republicans were a mirror image of that with a 71-28% negative assessment. Independents were 51% negative and 46% positive.
One way she could do that would be to embrace Tim Eyman and I-960, the Taxpayer Protection Initiative:
Seven out of 10 of those surveyed said they support the idea of requiring a two-thirds majority of the Legisalture or a public vote to raise any state taxes.Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 14, 2007 10:05 AM | Email ThisPollster Stuart Elway said 50 percent of Democrats were inclined to vote for I-960, as were 76 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Independents.
This will make for some great political theatre in 2008. Most likely, the Dems will screw this up as they always do. Gore's sighs, Kerry's haughtiness, Hillary's negative image/ baggage. They sure know how to pick winners.
Buh bye Gregoire.
Posted by: Jeff B. on August 14, 2007 12:48 PMI can not come up with enough adjectives (look it up, lefty's) to describe their hypocrisy and duplicitousness.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on August 14, 2007 09:08 PMI can not come up with enough adjectives (look it up, wingnuts) to describe their hypocrisy and duplicitousness.
sure ans she wil likley get 3 or 4 democtatic votes of she does that,
Posted by: SeattleJew on August 14, 2007 10:59 PMHow many times was Bush behind Gore in the counts in Florida, and kept insisting on counting and counting until he came out ahead? How many times did Republicans in Florida "find" so-called "lost" ballots in a heavily Republican county, and add those into the vote total in an untracked manner so that there were "just enough" votes for Bush to win? Contrast that with SayWA in '04. How many times did heavily 'Rat King County "just happen" to "find" so-called "lost ballots", just enough to tip the balance to Fraudoire? I'm sure it was just an amazingingly innocent coinky-dink that a rabid 'Rat activist "just happened" to notice that his name was on a list of supposedly improperly rejected ballots? Just amazing coinky-dinks, I'll tell you.
Posted by: Interested Observer on August 15, 2007 07:53 AMOf course, if Gore would've simply won his freaking home state of Tennessee, he wouldn't have needed Florida.
Conversely, Rossi was ahead after the initial count.
Rossi was ahead after the machine recount.
Rossi lost after three different sets of unsecure ballots were found (one batch exceeding 10,000 ballots).
Rossi also lost as a result of King County counting approximately 1,800 ballots more than the number of people who voted.
But yes. The situations are identical. /sarc
Posted by: jimg on August 15, 2007 08:08 AMIn case my comments leave this uncelar, I do hate Gregoire and Chopp and the rest of our state's numbnuts Democratic leaders, just more ambivalently than my hatred of Eyman, which knows no bounds.
Finally, the governer's race was a damn tie. There would have been no legitemacy to either candidate winning. A more civilized country would have probably had a run-off. So quit whining. It was random chance who won. The mere fact that a Democrat running for statewide office almost lost is a pretty shocking developement.
Posted by: john on August 15, 2007 02:32 PMExactly! That was the whole point of the Chelan County lawsuit. To have a run-off!
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on August 15, 2007 03:07 PM1 - Unlike the 2004 Gregoire/Rossi recount, the 2000 Florida recount was pre-empted. It was never completed due to several GOP dirty tricks, including rent-a-mobs and SCOTUS judicial activism. Do your homework.
You do your own homework. The Florida recount wasn't a recount. It was a Gore hand-picked selection of heavy D counties only. And that was after the initial count and the machine recount that gave Bush the victory. The SCOTUS 'activism' as you call it was a 7-2 rebuke of the Florida Supreme Court's sham rulings on whether or not each ballot was being treated equally ... which they were not. If they were, EVERY county should've undergone the microscopic review as was being done in the D counties. You can continue to cry about the 5-4 ruling stopping the count, but the end results as conducted by the Times and the Herald revealed Bush to be the winner.
And again I'll point out a fact that every Gore supporter refuses to accept - if Al Gore - a name bigger than any other in Tennessee politics would've simply won his home state, you wouldn't know Kathleen Harris from Kathleen Turner. I think that speaks more than anything else about what kind of candidate you put forward.
The 2004 recount/election was completed as required by law, and certified by the GOP SoS. Then, and only then, was it challenged in court by Rossi. His handpicked judge gutted the GOP case like a sockeye salmon. Memories a little foggy about that frivolous lawsuit?
Nobody is questioning that the recount was 'completed' by law. What some are questioning is the miracle discovery of thousands of unsecure ballots.
And again you show your ignorance with your statement about Rossi's 'handpicked judge'. Judge John Bridges was not handpicked. Judge T.J. 'Chip' Small was the original judge. He recused himself because he is and was active in GOP circles in Chelan County. This was done specifically to avoid the appearance that you continue to harp on ... facts be damned. Judge John Bridges plays (and played) it straight down the middle, and I while I didn't agree with the outcome, I never questioned his fairness.
I can quibble about the tactics used by Rossi's legal team, but the suit was thrown out more for a lack of defining statute on the books than any 'clean bill of health' given to the outcome of the election.
So again, in both states - the GOP candidate had the lead after the initial count. The GOP candidate had the lead after the machine recount. But in only one state were enough ballots found in order to overturn the outcome.
Posted by: jimg on August 15, 2007 04:41 PMFact: Uncontrolled spending by the Dem Congress (Reagan) and GOP Congress (Bush II) put 'holes' in the federal budget. Even Keynesian economists agree that reductions in taxes increase revenue. Unless, of course, you put JFK's economic advisors in the same boat as Ronny's and W's.
Posted by: jimg on August 15, 2007 04:46 PMIt was a recount, but not a statewide one. Florida law provided for recounts on a county-requested basis. Those were the counties with known issues. Forget the butterfly ballot?
The SCOTUS 'activism' as you call it was a 7-2 rebuke of the Florida Supreme Court's sham rulings on whether or not each ballot was being treated equally
No, the activism was (1) to intervene in a case that was still being handled by state courts and then (2) to say "Don't use this decision as a precedent for any other case." Transparent activism. If there was a 'sham,' it was the Florida law that based recounts per county.
if Al Gore - a name bigger than any other in Tennessee politics would've simply won his home state, you wouldn't know Kathleen Harris from Kathleen Turner.
I agree Gore lost his home state. That is off topic if we are comparing Florida and Washington recounts.
Judge John Bridges was not handpicked. Judge T.J. 'Chip' Small was the original judge.
Thank you for the correction. Nevertheless (1) GOP SoS certified the results, (2) Rossi went judge shopping and, (3) Judge Bridges gutted his non-fact-based case from stem to stern.
So again, in both states - the GOP candidate had the lead after the initial count. The GOP candidate had the lead after the machine recount.
Agreed. However, by law, in neither state is the machine recount the end of the process.
As a resident of Washington State I am PROUD -- and you should be too -- that the election process worked as mandated by law. This includes legal challenges during the counting and challenges after the counting. What we saw here in 2004 was a model of integrity BY FAR compared to the disgrace in Florida.
Now, Jim G, could GWB have won if the hand recount was completed in Florida? You bet. But, the NY Times notwithstanding, we will never really know because the process was short circuited. And that is a loss for all US citizens.
Fact: Uncontrolled spending by the Dem Congress (Reagan) and GOP Congress (Bush II) put 'holes' in the federal budget.
Oh c'mon. Reagan ran up more debt than all 39 of his predecessors combined. And that includes FDR & LBJ, who also had Dem Congresses. The tax cuts belonged to Reagan & GWB. Don't deny them the glory of their deficits too. ;-)
Posted by: Scott on August 15, 2007 06:41 PM#12, #14 - As for the Chelan county trial on the 2004 election, there should have been a runoff and there could have been if they had done what the Democrats did - canvassed and returned at least 129 more signed affadavits of felons who voted for Gregoire.
Posted by: KS on August 15, 2007 09:05 PM