Posted on 08/31/2008 11:08:12 AM PDT by Publius
John McCain will be nominated this week as the Republican candidate for president. He likely will ride effortlessly through the party's national convention in St. Paul, MN.
But in Washington state, McCain will share the ballot this fall with Republicans trying to distance themselves from the national party and doing little to link arms with the McCain campaign.
Dino Rossi, a Republican who lists his party preference as "GOP Party," is doing his best to bask in Barack Obama's message of change as he tries to unseat Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Rossi talks so much about Obama on the campaign trail, you could be forgiven for thinking they share a ticket. He doesn't mention McCain in his stump speech.
And neither Rossi nor Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, both engaged in competitive races, will attend this week's Republican National Convention.
On Thursday, the night Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, Rossi ran a TV commercial and made his most obvious attempt yet to appeal to likely Obama voters.
"Tonight the Democrats have a nominee," Rossi said in the ad. "I agree with him on this: Change is needed, but not just in Washington, DC"
A beaten-down brand
McCain campaign officials in the state say they're not worried about Rossi, the state's premier Republican candidate of 2008, distancing himself from the party's presidential candidate.
"Dino has his own coalitions he has to keep together," said Mike McKay, a former US attorney in Seattle and co-chairman for the McCain steering committee in the state.
McKay said he's heard Rossi tout McCain on the campaign trail. McKay said he thinks he'll hear more of that before November.
If McCain's poll numbers rise in Washington state, McKay said, Rossi "would more closely embrace Senator McCain."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
There is also a mistake in the article. The Republicans last won the governorship in 1980 (John Spellman) but lost it in 1984 (Booth Gardner).
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"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Article title:
“Washington State Republicans Seek Distance from McCain, National Party”
Let’s be frank about this.
It no longer matters what Washington State Republicans think, in terms of the national party. The same goes for Oregon and - of course - for California.
This is because Republicans, even today, play little role in the politics of those left-leaning liberal states. What little influence they have today, will only be reduced and further marginalized tomorrow.
Washington state, Oregon and California have become the Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York of the west coast. Honestly, the best choice for conservatives living in those states is... to leave.
- John
He won't win Washington state. Too many libs commies in Seattle.
Good thing Mr. Postman is not a general or he would get lots of people killed. The situation on the ground changed Friday, yet Mr. Postman filed the same old tired copy he had prepared previously. I suspect after Friday the local candidates are quite thrilled to be associated with the GOP ticket.
I think that Washington COULD be in play, if he played his cards right...and used his VP choice correctly. She is a PNW girl and could bring the blue collar Democrats in play. There are a lot of pretentious liberals in Seattle, but I know a lot of rank and file union members who vote Democrat because they think they should.
The other thing he needs to do is somehow turn the Boeing thing into a win. There is a perception locally that he sank the tanker contract and gets money from Airbus. The way to do that is to make sure they know their corrupt leadership sank the original deal....People hate Stonecipher and co, and that’s where a lot of the blame lies.
>>>...thanks to blue collar voters and “Scoop Jackson” Democrats...
Scoop Jackson? I’ve not heard that name since....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1943029/posts?page=3#3
I like that great old Senator Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson who was one of the great democrat strong defense leaders of our time. He said, ‘in time of war national policy should emanate from our shore with one voice’.
—Duncan Lee Hunter December 2007
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
BTW, Rossi had the election won in 2004. However Gregoire and the Democrats, taking a page from the AlGore playbook, held several recounts, each time "discovering" uncounted ballot boxes found, surprisingly enough, in unsecured warehouses, that finally brought her total to more than Rossi's, at which point the Washington State courts (Democrats, of course) shut off the recounts, and declared her the winner.
I’m not leaving, John. I fought too long and hard to stay here.
I hope you’re right. The last pre-Palin poll showed McCain within sriking distance in this state. I would hope that next week’s polling will show the race tightening even more.
The Seattle Times is not the voice of the Washington Conservatives.
This is bu*l
There is still a legacy of "Scoop Jackson" Democrats in Washington state politics, particularly in the state legislature.
Whether he was or wasn’t doesn’t take away from what I referenced.
- John
My wife and I did JUST THAT in July 2006. Now I live back in my home state of Alabama. I was so damned happy to get out of that cess pool of slimy liberals and homos.
Not true. I was the one who posted daily threads on FR about the recount.
Rossi won the official count and also the machine recount. The Democrats paid for a hand recount and won when all those "missing" ballots from dead voters came out of unsecured warehouses in King County.
The litigation of the election challenge went to a judge who was a political independent, a strict constructionist, and who upheld the Washington state election contest law, which sets a very high barrier to challenging individual votes. Under the law, the judge's decision was correct, even though it did not produce the decision Republicans wanted.
The Tacomacrats versus the Latte Crats. I’m sure there are plenty of registered Democrats in South King and Pierce Counties who are sick of having to deal with frou frou douches like Gary Locke and Chris Gregoire.
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