1. I believe Rossi is taking calls Tomorrow (Jan 15th) at 1pm on KUOW 94.9. You can write into the show with questions at: conversation@kuow.org.

Posted by: Mr. Yuck on January 14, 2008 02:16 PM

2. Is Dino really running?Is there a Republican Party in this state?Why bother.Last time around I was a supporter and spent a great deal of time at the recount.I saw hundreds of enhanced ballots,marked with a black marker by elections,I saw unsecure facilities,walk out to the loading dock if you want a smoke and plenty of extra votes that just kept coming in via Larry Phillips.The party didn't really do very much;just sat by and watched and the Democrats just kept counting.Will it be any different this time,I hardly think so.As sort of an outsider I wonder if there are some state jobs or contracts reserved for the good Republicans who don't rock the boat.As an aside, I and hundreds of other volunteers signed up daily for two weeks;name, address,e-mail.I've never had a contact,maybe its just me and I they didn't like me.I suspect, however, that nobody was ever contacted and no one in the party really cares.Little organization little concern and no results.

Posted by: kilroy on January 14, 2008 03:00 PM

3. What unmitigaged hubris. Beyond anything I've seen from a citizen running for office.

Ccan you imagine ego that size in the governor's mansion? The thought is beyond evey partisan sensibility...and would require him to annex the entire city of Olympia -- given his inflated self-worth and excessive pride.

Posted by: Tom Anderson on January 14, 2008 03:11 PM

4. kilroy: so why didn't you take pictures? Contact the party? I know personally the party was LOOKING for evidence of fraud.

Tom Anderson: it is "unmitigated hubris" to run for governor? What are you talking about? Only a partisan -- that is, you, I am confidently assuming -- could claim Dino's "hubris" is any greater than Gregoire's. You're not fooling anyone.

Posted by: pudge on January 14, 2008 03:15 PM

5. Pictures were not allowed,You couldn't even have a pen or paper to take notes.The party folks were all there.No one was overly concerned.Thats why I wonder if they are concerned now.

Posted by: kilroy on January 14, 2008 03:27 PM

6. Oh, I'm SOooooooo excited! Will love seeing him spend all that time, effort and $money in a futile effort. Don't say I didn't warn you Dino.

Posted by: HillBill on January 14, 2008 03:30 PM

7. HillBill, I already told you: we heard the same thing four years ago, and it was the closest race in U.S. history. Why do you think we're going to believe you this time? Stop wasting your breath, you're not fooling anyone. You're just making yourself look dumb.

Posted by: pudge on January 14, 2008 03:35 PM

8. Okay pudge, we'll see who the dumb looking one is in the final analysis. I'll bring the crow - you eat it.

Posted by: HillBill on January 14, 2008 03:38 PM

9. pudge You're right WAS the closest race.Past over done with.Gore,Kerry you don't see a looser being run on the other side.Like Obama,its time to find a young articulate leader who can appeal to the electorate with fresh ideas.

Posted by: kilroy on January 14, 2008 03:45 PM

10. Big whoop-de-doo.

Hope he spends lots more this time. Bush will drag down thousands of good Republicans this time, and guys like Rossi will suffer from it.

Let's hope some of the good candidates survive.

Posted by: Big Whoop on January 14, 2008 04:05 PM

11. HillBill: yawn.

kilroy: sorry, but history paints a very different picture. Abe Lincoln is the most well-known example, but even our current President and many others lost elections before winning. Dan Kristiansen too.

Posted by: pudge on January 14, 2008 04:21 PM

12. Judging from the number of visceral reactions to the prospect of Dino's speech, looks like they're just a teeny bit scared, doesn't it?

Posted by: katomar on January 14, 2008 04:23 PM

13. Kilroy,

I was there every day during the recount, MBOS, "Ridgeway Building" and the Admin. There is plenty of things to criticize the King County Elections about. However, what you're saying non-secured facilities is a bunch of crap and lies.

Posted by: Don Ward on January 14, 2008 04:32 PM

14. katomar: indeed. :D

Posted by: pudge on January 14, 2008 04:38 PM

15. Katomar, I sure as heck know that Gregoire isn't feeling extra certain about things just yet. I can FEEL her feeling the heat of what could happen and it's causing her to do/say things I don't think she would if she felt truly comfortable about the outcome.

Posted by: Michele on January 14, 2008 07:09 PM

16. I loved when he called chrissy the 'governor for the government".

Great job Dino.

Hated the tie though.

Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on January 14, 2008 07:19 PM

17. Rossi is barking up a tough tree...despite all the negative comments here, in general voters in Washington like the job the governor is doing, see: http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=bbd24a72-7351-4699-9ccb-481434c09eda

Posted by: Bill Anderson on January 14, 2008 07:30 PM

18. And a new Elway poll shows Gregoire with 51% approval. It also says she's up 48% to 35% over Dino. Ouch.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattlepolitics/archives/129469.asp

Posted by: kojak on January 14, 2008 08:27 PM

19. Am I the only one who thinks voters will react negatively to a lot of Dino's bashing on transportation? He keeps being hyper critical of footdragging by others, and yet he keeps putting off telling anyone about his plan.

Posted by: redflag on January 14, 2008 08:31 PM

20. I just watched Dino's taped "state of the state." Would someone light a fire under him, or hire a speech coach? He fumbled through that speech with extreme low energy. This did not serve us well.

Maybe he read that Elway poll before he read that speech!

Is it too late to recruit John Stanton to run?

Posted by: redflag on January 14, 2008 08:46 PM

21. Gregoire (once known as Fraudoire) is ahead by a bit, but people are too bombarded by the POTUS primaries. Rossi will close in by spring and then you can call it another horse race. You can bet that once again he will easily carry the State outside of King County.

Posted by: KS on January 14, 2008 09:34 PM

22. Great Speech!!.....however, a suggestion to Dino...never wear a grey suit or a pale yellow tie. It's a wash-out. Remembering the JFK/Nixon TV debate.

Posted by: Susu on January 14, 2008 10:51 PM

23. I just read that the Queen is crafting legislation to make WA more "green" and which would require all greenhouse gas emitters to report on their emissions. Can anyone say Moo? I'm getting a great visual on this! :)

Posted by: katomar on January 14, 2008 11:20 PM

24. It's the election year, and SUDDENLY Gregoire has a plan for 520 and the Viaduct (whatever that is). This, after 3 years of nothing. But this plan doesn't even go into effect until 2012! That will make it 11 YEARS after the Nisqually earthquake when they said these two projects were emergencies and we had to have additional gas tax money for it.

Transportation in this state is a collossal failure of leadership. Instead of letting Seattle dink around with meaningless opinion votes, she should have taken down the viaduct and rebuilt it with the new gas taxes. Since Rossi is not beheld to the same Democrat party machine in MLKC, he could have made that decision and forced their hand to either go along with it, or face the consequences from voters.

And to all of the trolls who continually post here that Rossi shouldn't even try because Gregoire is so great, get a life. I would gladly take Gary Locke back over her. Worst governor this state has ever had. Bloated budgets, felon releases, new internet taxes, DSHS failures, highest gas taxes in the nation, and zero transportation leadership.

Posted by: Palouse on January 15, 2008 08:15 AM

25. I think even a lot of liberals would vote for Rossi if he came out with a clear, detailed agenda.

Say exactly which transportation problems will be solved in the first budget he writes, and which ones won't.

Say exactly how, and where, he'll reduce the size, or rate of growth, in the state budget. Spell out which taxes will be reduced and which won't.

Saying the current path is wrong is a no-brainer, he needs to show that he has brains and is willing to take a few risks BEFORE he's elected.

Otherwise he might find himself elected with no mandate to lead.

Posted by: BA on January 15, 2008 05:00 PM

26. BA, I agree with most of what you said.

But the "mandate to lead" stuff is complete hogwash. If you win the election, you have a mandate to lead, by definition. And yes, that means Gregoire has a mandate to lead. That is what a mandate to lead IS: being selected as the leader.

And I don't just mean linguistically. I know that over time it has come to mean something greater, but it's a mirage. Bush didn't have a "mandate to lead" by your standard, but he sure got the backing of the Congress and the people to invade Afghanistan after 9/11. Every situation that arises is a different situation, and you may or may not have the support of the people for each decision you make, but one thing is certain: you have been given a mandate by the people TO MAKE that decision, whatever it is (as long as it is within the law, of course!).

That is why, for instance, Bush had broad support for his Supreme Court nominees. Even Alito was favored by about 57-24 percent of the public. Surely not all of those 57 agreed with Alito, and surely many of the "undecideds" disliked Alito. But they recognized that Bush is the one who gets to make that decision and as long as there's nothing to specifically disqualify him ... he has a mandate, no matter how close the election was. Many Senators voted for Alito for the same reasons.

And on the other side, Reagan was elected overwhelmingly in '84 but was hammered for various things over the next four years. What happened to his "mandate"?

An election IS a mandate. It doesn't give you carte blanche ... but nothing does.

Posted by: pudge on January 15, 2008 05:47 PM

27. Why does Rossi not come out against state monopolies like the Liquor Board and the state Ferry system?

That makes sense and would get the support of most all citizens. Oh and it would show he is a free market conservative.

Posted by: Lysander on January 15, 2008 08:14 PM

28. Pudge, it is highly likely that if Rossi wins - he still has a legislature that will be the opposition.

If he hasn't spelled out in detail what he intends to do, then how is he going to to translate an election win into any specific programs?

I'm not talking about any linguistic turn of a word here - I'm talking about if he's elected will he really be able to do something different.

I'm also interested in what that difference will be.

Otherwise the opposition will just ignore him.

He risks the voters ignoring him too.

Posted by: BA on January 15, 2008 09:04 PM

29. Last time around Dino was conspicuous for avoiding the hot button issues by saying they were federal issues and there wasn't anything he could do about them, which, of course, is a complete bunch of codswallop. He didn't say a word on his website- or anywhere else I saw, about what ind of judges he would appoint either.

A question for the Dino-saur this time around would be, just what rights DO gay Washingtonians have in your universe?

None, I bet. Except the right to pay taxes to support the majority.

Posted by: Waldo on January 15, 2008 11:41 PM

30. Waldo, please, don't embarrass yourself. You could not find a SINGLE politician in this state who believes gays don't have the exact same rights as everyone else. Unless, as many Democrats believe, they think gays should have MORE rights than everyone else, of course.

Posted by: pudge on January 15, 2008 11:55 PM

31. In her State of the union she took as a credit that she had created a 1.5 Billion surplus. Did she realize that we all got a 1.5 Billion Shortfall by her actions. Who does she support?

She is the governor For the Government, not For the People.

Posted by: GS on January 16, 2008 03:18 PM

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