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Feature
Can Dino Do It?
If this isn’t the twice-defeated Dino Rossi’s year in Washington state, it’s because he’s running scarred.
LYNDEN, Washington — Dino Rossi came through Washington State’s primary on August 17 just a little more bruised than he might have hoped. Though several candidates quit the field when Rossi made his late May announcement that he would run for Patty Murray’s Senate seat, businessman Paul Akers and the Sarah Palin-endorsed former Redskins tight end Clint Didier stayed in. The duo held Rossi to 33 percent of the vote.
It was still a win. Rossi’s total was enough in the state’s open “top two” primary for him to win the right to take on Murray in November, but it produced an awful lot of griping among Republican Party faithful. “He’s always ‘on,’ ” complained one old codger to me over coffee in Lynden. “It’s hard to know what he actually believes.”
One thing that the 51-year-old Rossi devoutly believes, with ample evidence, is that any Republican who is running for statewide office in Washington is bound to have a hell of a time of it. Rossi has run for governor twice and twice been denied the office, though whether he actually lost the first election is a matter of considerable controversy. In 2004, he narrowly beat Christine Gregoire and was even certified the winner. That would have made him the first Republican resident of the governor’s mansion in Olympia since that bona fide Rockefeller Republican Dan Evans, who turned the keys over in the late 1970s.
Unfortunately for Rossi, Democrats then proceeded to use several recounts — financed, in part, by a large check cut by John Kerry — and dubious vote counting and vote inventing techniques to pull Gregoire over the line. Rossi fought as far as he could in court, but he never got his big Bush v. Gore moment. He wasn’t the only one who held a grudge about that. In 2008, when he ran again, signs spontaneously sprang up all over the state asking voters to “Re-elect Rossi.” He did far better in that election against the tax-hiking, budget-busting Gregoire than John McCain did against Barack Obama, but an ebbing tide marooned most Republican boats on the West Coast, as early news of an Obama victory depressed voter turnout.
At that point, Rossi seems to have thrown in the towel politically. He turned his attention to real estate and didn’t bother with political niceties. Seattle’s commie alt-weekly the Stranger reported, “The night before he announced he was running for U.S. Senate, Rossi made a paid appearance at a Bellevue seminar designed to, among other things, teach investors how to profit off of foreclosures.” The Stranger admitted this was “not illegal, not unheard of…but definitely politically tone deaf,” and the picture the reporter painted only added real weight to the charge:
At the seminar, wearing a gold tie over a crisp white shirt, Rossi told attendees, “Now is the time to buy, especially investment properties.” The next morning, he released a YouTube video announcing his candidacy — and in that video, he bemoaned the fact that “housing values have plummeted” and that America is “on the edge of a fiscal cliff.” Well, which is it? Bad times for Americans with worthless homes? Or good times for people like Rossi, who know how to make a profit from the financial nightmares of others?
REAL ESTATE REMAINS a sore point for Rossi. When I caught up with him in June to interview him for Real Clear Politics, I asked what had caused America’s recent recession. (Hint: it rhymes with “mousing rubble.”) Rossi stepped past the question to complain about “unbridled spending, uncontrollable spending” of the Obama administration. It’s certainly plausible to say that those things have not helped, or even slowed or held back a recovery, but economists would agree that they are not what got us into this mess in the first place.
Another thing Rossi doesn’t like to talk about is the person who beat him twice. I asked what I thought was a slow pitch, right over the plate: what did he think of the recent economic performance of Gregoire and fellow local Democrats? They had just hiked taxes and fees by hundreds of millions of dollars to balance the state budget, but Rossi said he was not at all interested in going there. His laser beam-like focus would be “on running for the United States Senate and Patty Murray happens to be in that seat at this point in time.”
Rossi’s entry into the race for the Senate was late and disorganized because he really didn’t want to do it. He said in June that a run for the Senate “wasn’t on my radar 10 months ago, but when they passed the health care bill it was clear to me that these folks in D.C. were out of control.” That explains why he waited until 2010 to announce his candidacy, but not why he waited until late May. What changed his mind?
WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT he was drafted. National Journal’s Hotline reported in March that Rossi was seriously considering running after receiving a visit from National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. John Cornyn and encouraging calls and messages from people all over the country. Moreover, my best good guess is that an astute political observer whispered an important number into Rossi’s ear: 1994.
Washington is a Democratic state by default only. Registered Independents far outpace Ds and Rs, which has made elections here unusually volatile. Before the 1994 elections, the state had one Republican in the House of Representatives and eight Democrats. That all changed overnight as voters ushered in a delegation that was 7-2 Republican. They turned sitting House Speaker Tom Foley out of office and elected Republican populist Linda Smith with a hastily organized write-in campaign.
True, the Democrats chipped away at those gains. The current House delegation is 6-3 in the Democrats’ favor. Earlier this year, the Cook Political Report rated four of the state’s districts as “Solid D,” one as “Likely D,” and one a “toss up,” for a Republican gain of one or two seats at most. That Murray could lose her Senate seat was almost out of the question.
Now it is becoming clear that more races are up for grabs. Cook calls the Rossi-Murray race a “toss up” and my own Real Clear Politics polling experts concur. At press time, the official RCP polling average had Murray at 47.8 percent to Rossi’s 46 percent, a razor-thin spread. The polling results put Murray in the sudden death danger zone for incumbents of under 50 percent. Those results were given added heft when Murray came through the August 17 primary with only 46 percent of all voters. (Rossi isn’t doing badly in the money race, either. Murray started at a $6 million advantage. Rossi raised $1.4 million in just over a month.)
Ask Rossi about these polling numbers and he will likely roll his eyes — at least publicly. He told me that his campaign would “compare and contrast” his plans with Murray’s record. By that he meant that his campaign would attack Murray relentlessly from every conceivable angle and try to drive down her favorables. His media operation has been almost hyperactive and always on the attack.
To wit, the press releases and blog posts from the Rossi campaign range from boringly earnest but necessary (“Tech Industry Faces Decline Under D.C.’s Current Policies”) to biting (“Another Day, Another Murray Broken Promise, This Time to Seniors”) to scathing (“Murray Donor Freddie Mac Wants ANOTHER Taxpayer Funded Bailout”), sarcastic (“Patty Murray Wakes Up, Realizes Future Generations Shouldn’t Pay For Today’s Spending”), and, well, surreal (“It’s 5:00 Somewhere, But It’s 4:20 At Washington State University”).
About the Author
Jeremy Lott is editor of RealClearPolicy.com, RealClearBooks.com and RealClearReligion.org and associate editor of RealClearScience.com.
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Fubar Akbar| 10.8.10 @ 7:39AM
Can he beat a moron in tennis shoes?
Dustoff| 10.8.10 @ 10:31AM
Let's hope so
jhoger| 10.10.10 @ 6:57PM
And if he can't, what does that make him, and can then we then ignore him forever afterward?
Harry Keester| 10.8.10 @ 10:28AM
We can only hope Dino can win. Unfortunately, Murray is counting on the ignorant masses in King County with the lack of intelligence and common sense to see she is a disaster to the economy.
SeattleBruce| 10.8.10 @ 5:59PM
Hey - I live in KingCo. While it's true there are a lot of ignoramuses here, there are many thoughtful Conservatives as well. As to the entire county, which encompasses not just Seattle, but Bellevue and Redmond, et al, also - maybe we're running 40 - 60 or 45 - 55 Rs to Ds - I haven't see recent numbers.
I think Rossi wins - his internal polling has him up 6 and recent Rasmussen poll up 3. He's trending in the right direction.
MomInLatteland| 10.10.10 @ 6:55PM
I will second Bruce's comment. I also live in King County and have been praying for a Murray defeat since... 1992.
MikeN| 10.8.10 @ 10:47AM
Mike Dewine 2.0?
Ned| 10.8.10 @ 11:09AM
Fear not, ye Faint Of Heart! Our Dear Batty-Patty is well acquainted with all the notables and reliables from ACORN and SEIU. While it was a bit off-putting (but dead-on accurate) to hear the likes of Bill O'Reilly compare King County, Washington to Cook County, Illinois, the locals DO have a way of finding the necessary votes at critical times... even if it means "discovering" them in an unused voting machine two weeks after the election. And having "found" the neccesary documents (no fingerprints, either, how cool is that?) they can maintain a straight face while swearing up and down that everything is above-board.
To paraphrase O'Reilly - Rossi has to win by at least 5% to overcome the manufactured votes, the felons and the dead-people votes.
BTW - if you took out JUST the felon votes, Gregoire lost the recounts, too.
Stan Redmond| 10.8.10 @ 11:35AM
Unless Dino gets the dead, domesticated pets, illegal alien, and cartoon character votes he's not gonna win. And if he does win, the 5th recounted zombie vote will put the democrat over the finish line.
soggy| 10.10.10 @ 8:19PM
so true...why is it that whenever there is a recount only dem votes turn up in that trunk of cars or in uncounted boxes found in democratic polling stations...in the history of this county has ever there been found an uncounted republican vote...seems not...the endless recounts will put catty Murray back in office uless Dino wins by a big margin
Redstateboy| 10.8.10 @ 11:55AM
It seems to me lately that the States and Cities that have been ruled by the Libs and Dems the longest have a population more akin to Cattle.
linda| 10.8.10 @ 2:58PM
Rossi is very much a member in good standing with the establishment republican party. He's never had an outreach to the grassroots and it's going to hurt him. He's missing all the worker bees and enthusiasm that would really help him pull ahead in a meaningful way. He still may win but it could have been a blow out and now it looks to be very close.
Jeremy Lott | 10.8.10 @ 4:08PM
A reader wrote to point out an error in this piece. I said that Dan Evans was the last Republican governor of Washington state. In fact, the last GOP governor of the Evergreen State was John Spellman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Spellman
Nexialist| 10.8.10 @ 5:24PM
This one doesn't matter. Rossi is the next Republican insider, the guys we're trying to get rid of.
Richelle | 10.8.10 @ 7:40PM
I think maybe the "Not Dino" group is helping him gain the edge he needs on Murray. I found this ad to be brilliant and have shared it wherever I can. Don't let the name of the group fool you, definitley pro-Rossi. See the ad at www.notdino.com
JR| 10.8.10 @ 7:47PM
He's wishy-washy, a good RINO that might go to D.C. As previously mentioned, he caters to the monied crowd, not to the roots. Didier, if he could have gotten the R Senatorial Committee's endorsement, would have generated a whole lot more interest in the race. But, as usual, they are more interested in "team" - read RINO - players that will continue the status quo.
Ed| 10.11.10 @ 12:56AM
To all the Didier supporters: Clint is no longer in the race. You only have a choice between Murray and Rossi: Murray, a left wing extremist who is running our country into the ground, and Rossi, a solid conservative who is at least 90% of what you want. You hurt your own interests by trashing Rossi and sitting this election out. Rossi is far from a RINO; his avoidance of strident talking points is not a sign of wishy-washiness, it is simply a necessity for electability in Washington. Please, we need the support of all Republicans and libertarians to retire Murray. She is the enemy, not Rossi.
altster76| 10.11.10 @ 1:44AM
Thanks Ed. How right you are!!
fromoverhere| 10.11.10 @ 2:38AM
Other conservatives like alster76 and "Ed" who agree that Dino is our only choice right now, simply say "I agree." I'll start.
I agree!
hisgal| 10.11.10 @ 2:39AM
I agree!
Irene Flick| 10.11.10 @ 5:13AM
I have already sent in my absentee ballot for Rossi. Murray is an embarrassment to our state the way she would run ahead of Dingy Harry and his buddies to shuffle papers for them at the podium. I debated whether or not to email her of my vote, but who needs an audit by a lame duck?
Shauna | 10.12.10 @ 12:08AM
I have just moved back to WA and I registered to vote when I got my Driver's license but I haven't seen a ballot yet! Have they been sent? How does it work.... I'm terrified I won't be able to vote Murray out and Rossi in!
When I left here twenty years ago Gordon was in... What has happened? You can't fish or do anything fun anymore without Big Brother making up all kinds of rules! My poor poor native state that has the bad fortune of Democrats in power for so long...
Yosemeti Sam| 10.9.10 @ 1:19AM
" ... She has been in D.C. since she won election as the "mom in tennis shoes" in 1992...."
Yo, Dino, grab a pair of sneakers - and you'll be a shoo-in!
LOL.
Jo0hn Taylor | 10.9.10 @ 10:38AM
I can't believe the people of Washington are so economically and Real Estate illiterates, to castigate Rossi for real estate work with foreclosed properties, its all the foreclosures on the market that are depressing real estate values, not the investors! Its all the excess inventory.
If this is the tide that Republican/ conservatives have to row against our country is surely doomed.
Tim| 10.10.10 @ 5:38PM
No Joke! It just illustrates how economically-ignorant the Democrat masses are that Patty Murray uses that "invested-in-foreclosed-properties" canard against Rossi. Were it not for speculators like him, most of the foreclosed properties would be covered in blackberry vines by now. I guess Murray and her kind would like King County to look like Detroit.
jhoger| 10.10.10 @ 7:00PM
If you want to go into politics, maybe you shouldn't be the type of investor typically described as a "bottom feeder." Seems obvious to me. If that's not obvious to Rossi, it says something about him.
Tard| 10.9.10 @ 12:50PM
I've lived in WA for 28 years in Snohomish County and NOBODY believes the democrat power machine will allow him to win: legally or no.
IndependentVoter| 10.10.10 @ 5:12PM
I'm in living in Whatcom County, also an independent voter, Rossi will get my vote. I'm sick and tired of Patty Murray, she's now a rubberstamp for Obama. This is the first time I'd vote for Republican candidates. I guess, there's always a first time for everything.
A vote for Patty Murray is a vote for Obama.
Gabe| 10.10.10 @ 6:05PM
I am curious did you vote for Obama in 2008? The reason why I ask is because if so it shows the cross-over appeal Rossi has in this blue state.
If Rossi wins in WA state, which has benfitted from having major corps such as Boeing and Microsoft based in the state, and not been hit uper duper hard by the recession it shows the depth of the reach the GOP has in this election.
jhoger| 10.10.10 @ 7:01PM
Better than a rubber stamp for corporatist Republican policies.
waldo| 10.10.10 @ 5:56PM
Here's something else for the Democrats to worry about. With these black conservatevs positioned to win it will be hard to sell the race card. Oh that's right they will call them Uncle Toms
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....-race.html
Steve| 10.10.10 @ 6:15PM
Corection: In 1977 Dan Evans (R) turned over Washington State to Dixie Lee Ray (D) who in turn handed the keys to John Spellman (R) from 1981-1985. Spellman was our last Republican governor to date.
Jeremy Lott | 10.10.10 @ 8:42PM
Yes, I posted that correction about 14 comments ago.
valwayne| 10.10.10 @ 7:13PM
The people of WA surely know that a vote for Sen Murray, and any Democrat this year, is a vote for 9.6% UNEMPLOYMENT, and trillions upon trillions in corrupt spending and debt. Sen Murray voted for the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisana Purchase, the Florida Gatoraide, and the corrupt Obamacare bill that is proving to be even worse than the corrupt stimulous bill! Worse a vote for Sen Murray is equal to a vote to keep Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in power. If she goes back to Washinton Obama will be able to continue his arroant radical left wing agenda that has so damaged our nation.
garyg| 10.10.10 @ 7:28PM
What I really hope the people of Washington State remember is that the D has had purse-string control of the gov since Jan '07, and they've managed the trash the nation. GWB never stood up to them as he should have. If the good folks of Washington keep Murray, they keep Obama-Reid-Pelosi in power....and that takes the nation down. I don't know about the rest of youse guys, but I kinda figure if the Nation goes, so goes Washington State. Please get rid of Murray. I'm just sorry we here in Oregon don't seem to have a chance at getting rid of our own problem child.
garyg| 10.10.10 @ 7:34PM
And maybe you need to get yourself out of denial re the cause of the bust in the first place. Clinton, Fannie, Freddie, gov. regulations that made sub-prime loans not just feasible but Required. All Democratic regulatory Bravo Sierra.
cpu| 10.10.10 @ 9:56PM
Patty Murray was endorsed by the Seattle Times today. There's a shocker.
Clint Didier needs to man-up and endorse Rossi.
Rino Dossi's chancess are limited by the fact that the Democrats count the votes.
cpu
g| 10.11.10 @ 12:30AM
A quick correction: It's nonsensical to say that there are more registered independents than registrants of other parties. Washington doesn't have voter registration by party.
JDMx| 10.11.10 @ 2:36AM
"Washington ... (r)egistered Independents far outpace Ds and Rs, which has made elections here unusually volatile." Good point g... WA hasn't had registration by party since before I started voting in the late 80s. If Jeremy ever really voted in Washington, he ought to know that... Washington State voters tend to know what (and who) they like and aren't swayed by party labels -- that's what makes us "volatile" in the eyes of both parties.
Jeremy Lott | 10.11.10 @ 11:31AM
Washington's current "top two" anybody-can-vote primary is mentioned in the second graph. Self-identified independents outnumber Democrats (and Republicans), which makes the state volatile.
St Reformed| 10.11.10 @ 1:58PM
When Patti Murray starts holding campaign rallies in cemeteries, remember that she's only "getting in touch with her base."
Steve| 10.12.10 @ 1:09AM
Actually, John Spellman was the last Republican Governor in the Washington. He was elected in 2000 and defeated in 2004.
Jeremy Lott | 10.12.10 @ 2:09PM
Might want to check those dates.
Bobby| 10.12.10 @ 1:55PM
Patty Murray is an ugly dog in every respect. Dino Rossi is so boring.