[proudpapa]

One of the reasons Thune won was because South Dakotans overwhelmingly voted for Bush over Kerry.

Bush won't be of much use to a republican candidate in washington state in '06.

[chimera]

That's true. There will be no coattails for someone in '06. Thune didn't have that against Johnson in '02. He may still have won against Daschle without Bush at the top of the ticket, because people were just ticked at Daschle's obstructionist tactics, but having Bush/Cheney at the top of the ticket certainly helped.

To be honest, I think Osama Bin Murray and CantDoWell have those Senate seats for life if they want them. Murray clobbered Nethercutt and CantDoWell is certainly a more attractive candidate to WA 'Rats than Gregoire. Those that hesitated to pull the lever for Gregoire will likely have no problem pulling it for CantDoWell. Those who say that Rossi should concede this race and just gear up for CantDoWell in '06 are playing right into the hands of the 'Rats, who will bury him in that race if he tries it.