Back in 2005, when local pundits were kvelling over how Mike McGavick, with his mix of political experience and private sector success, was such a savvy choice to counter Sen. Maria Cantwell, I wasn’t so sure:
It’s hard to imagine how the Republicans are going to present a multi-millionaire insurance company executive who proudly advocates shipping jobs overseas, as a “man of the people.” But you know they’re going to try.
I hear some righties snidely claim that they’re going to force Cantwell to run on her record. Well I hate to burst their bubble, but McGavick has a record too, and it ain’t gonna look so pretty by the time November, 2006 comes around.
Substitute “real estate speculator” for “insurance company executive” and you get Dino Rossi circa 2010.
Republicans and some namby-pambies in the press may decry the way the DSCC has been adroitly flinging dirt at Rossi these past few months, but the Dems don’t need to uncover any illegal or corrupt real estate speculation to damage Rossi, they merely have to drive home the point that this is how he makes his living. For in the same way that “insurance company executive” wasn’t exactly the most admired profession back in 2006, “real estate speculator” (or even the less pejorative “investor”) is hardly the best sales pitch to voters in our post real estate bubble economy.
Rossi made his fortune on Western Washington’s prolonged real estate bubble. That’s a fact. And as his own website made clear in the wake of his 2008 gubernatorial loss (and until nearly an hour after it was supposed to flip over into campaign mode), Rossi sought to profit further from the losses suffered by others in the real estate market’s subsequent collapse:
“The next two years will be a terrific time to purchase quality properties at prices that make sense.”
Nothing illegal about that. Nothing particularly unethical, I guess, by capitalist standards.
But there’s nothing particularly honorable about it either.
There will be two candidates on the November ballot, and assuming Rossi makes it past the primary, only one of them will have profited from the real estate bubble, and from its epic collapse that undermined our economy and put millions of Americans out of work.
Huh. “Insurance company executive” doesn’t sound like such a bad resume bullet point anymore, does it?
I was curious as to how Dino was going to slalom between insulting the state’s majority liberal voters on the west side and/or the Teabaggers on the east.
I guess he’s chosen to avoid controversy and just run on his good looks and charm.
I wonder how much thought Rossi or his supporters have given to the considerable personal benefit he gained from not being elected governor. Seems he’s spent the last few years getting rich at the expense of some of those who fared the worst. Otherwise he’d have been in Olympia sweating his ass off trying to figure out how to make a budget work in tough times without Helen Sommers to help him.
Any Republican candidate can count on 38% of the vote. Those are the voters who will vote for cigarette smoke or baby rape. McGavick beat that mark by about one percent. Rossi, if he spends tens of millions of dollars of Scaife and Koch money, just might double McGavick’s tally and make it to 40%.
Several cycles of dishonorable candidates and misguided leadership from the WSRP seems to be making the Dem party a bit complacent in recent campaigns. Their work in King County and the 8th CD has been less than stellar in recent elections, and their ad work for Gregoire last time didn’t impress much.
I hope that this doesn’t happen this year again, and that they seize these kinds of narratives, which would resonate with voters this year.
[Deleted — see HA Comment Policy]
Mrs. Rabbit just asked me, “What is Dino Rossi’s greatest accomplishment to date?” I replied, “Not getting elected to anything important.”
That’s right, Rossi’s greatest accomplishment is being a one-term state senator, then losing two straight gubernatorial elections, and now offering himself as a sacrificial lamb in the GOP’s quixotic crusade against Patty Murray. We should thank him for being willing to keep on losing. If voters didn’t have Rossi to kick to the curb, who knows, the GOP might find someone who’s serious.
@4 These days, half the Democrats are Republicans anyway, including the governor and the people running the legislature.
@4 As far as the Senate race is concerned, the GOP in general may have lulled themselves into complacency by buying into their own “Patty’s-a-dumb-broad” war chant, and by Rossi having been spoiled in his last two outings by running against someone who’s far better at governing than she is at campaigning.
@5 It might actually be better if it did come from China. The FDA recently inspected the plant in which Tylenol is made and essentially condemned it.
Goldy, do your research. Do it now.
I can help.
SOURCE
25 people got a job? 25 people?!? And you wanna decry that?!? Goldy, you and your people okay over there?!?
@8: Agreed. I don’t see Murray losing to Rossi, I just hope that it’s not even unnecessarily close.
It’s off-topic maybe, but the losses to Satterberg and Hague in King County, not to mention to dull-witted Sheriff Dave (though granted that Satterberg is no pushover), seemed avoidable.
Josef @10,
Oh God… you and your Mary Lane infatuation. Of all the consequences of a Rossi candidacy, I’d forgotten that one.
Really, what in the hell does Dazzling Dino have to offer this state? Anybody?
Really. Democrats should be grateful it is Rossi. Imagine the trouble for Murray if someone serious and sincere were running in this anti-incumbent environment.
Anyone who doesn’t see Rossi as a grand joke isn’t paying attention. Even Rossi knows that. He is clearly is in it for another grab at GOP money.
Goldy, it’s a fan club. Get over it.
Let’s be honest here it’s going to be a circus I personally don’t care for. But I’m loyal to my friends, even when I think they are well going for a “Hail Mary” 20-yard pass.
Rossi is anti-abortion. He was able to avoid that issue running for state office. He won’t be able to now.
He hired Rubio’s Teabagger consultant, Pat Shortridge. There’s no way he can run far right and win here.
@16 Slingshot
So what’s so glorious about abortion? Ever see the picture of the results at one of those town halls about Obamacare?
This still makes me laugh so much it hurts:
http://josefisanidiot.blogspot.com
YLB @ 18
Yeah, Josef is an idiot, but, unlike most of our trolls, he does bring something to the potluck here–he provides us with amusement. That’s worth something.
Rossi’s a one term senator that didn’t even finish his one term.
Benton, at least, has won a few races.
PL @ 19. I wouldn’t call Josef a troll. He’s in a strange class by itself.
I guess I have to apologize a bit. Josef hardly ever if at all gets as mean and nasty as the rest of us.. Politics tends to do that to people – the mean and nasty part, that is.
Josef is actually something of a sweet soul if utterly misguided in his opinions.
If he’s an idiot, it’s more the Dostoyevsky kind than anything.
21
Better to be a Dostoyevskyan idiot than a Cynical-type idiot, that is certainly true.
Goldy–
Maria Cantwell made her fortune during the Dot-com bubble..under incredibly suspicious circumstances that made it sound like her boss was buying the Senate Seat for her.
People have always made money on “bubbles” buying low and selling high. So what?
I’m just sayin’–
You ought to pay more attention to the collapse of Oba-Mao and the Atheist Progressive Movement.
12. Goldy spews:
Ummmmm, Goldy…how about your Darcy Burner infatuation? And also your love-envy of the Blethen’s family.
@YLB,
Thank you :-). I like the fact we can agree to disagree without going hammer and sickle or hammer and tong and it’s WWF.
I just wish you’d blog about more important things like Patty Murray’s accomplishments. Somebody should start that up. Do one a day. At like 3 AM/Democrat Bedeviler Hour. Make the media pay attention, control the agenda a bit. Get the focus on policy, not personality.
I am thinking about doing one for Mary Lane Strow, but I don’t think people would get it was just a fan club, a rah-rah, go-team-go kind a thing. Thanks to people like you.
@24
The clock is ticking on a DRAFT Darcy Burner campaign… gee, thanks.
She’s the best thing to oppose a Republican Congressman without conviction except on law enforcement issues.
@12 It was bad enough when she was single and he wouldn’t ask her on a date. Now that she’s married he’s still infatuated with her and still won’t ask her on a date.
Being a Republican can’t be much fun. They think sex is for procreation and is “dirty” if it’s fun. So all they do is stick it in, ejaculate, and pull it out. Thank the Great Mother Rabbit Spirit I’m not a Republican!!! I try to have a little fun while impregnating dozens of cute fluffy female bunnies.
wash democrats real fear was that rossi would not run and murray would face a slate of unknown republican losers who would split their 30% while the actual progressive candidate, richard curtis, nosed out the repubs and made it to top 2 fall head2head with murray. now the repubs will coalesce around rossi and most of the other repubs will drop out. murray and rossi will advance in top 2 on name recognition supported of course by the fawning corporate media. murray will run against rossi alone and vice versa from now till november and the usual tweedle dum tweedle dee horse race bullshit will fill the airwaves and this blog. menwhile the oil leaks, the climate warms, and apple farmers are flying jamaicans in to pick since the tea party hates mexicans.
re 28: “Sex is dirty. That’s what I like about it.” Mel Brooks
@29
Apple farmers are flying in Jamaicans?
@31, You mean; “Apple farmers are flyin’ in Jamaicans, man?
@17 Joseph, do you really need someone to explain the political ramifications of Choice in a highly-educated, majority Liberal contest?
And are you referring to the HCR bill that passed earlier this year?
@33, I think Rossi will take the Hillary position – “safe, rare and legal” considering this state’s love of “abortion rights”. I’m trying to get into Dori Monson’s show as I type!!!
apple farmer/jamaicans:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....nny26.html
I swear KIRO FM, you need a new call screener. I had to explain the words “tack” and “feverent” and then got the boot. Big words apparently aren’t in the vocab of KIRO.
Listen to Kiro Goldy, I’m in the holding pattern, got my Marummy treatment on the wings! Let’s see if I’m cleared in hot, my friends!! It’s MARUMMY TIME!!! UN, DEUX, TROIS!
Still in the strike pattern, Goldy. Don’t need a Texaco just yet.
Still on hold… it’s crowded up here, like the damn Jetsons.
49 minutes later, was excused from KIRO airspace. Had enough hits on the Osama Mama cavern today.
(Tongue in cheek, of course).
@35
Thanks!
Rossi doesn’t have a prayer.
Anti-choice for women, pro-letting greadheads do whatever they please. How’d that work out in the Gulf of Mexico? And with Wall Street? Worked out great there didn’t it?
As Goldy said, Dino and friends made plenty of money while the getting was good in Real Estate and as long as they didn’t get TOO greedy.
The guy is a freaking greedhead mean-spirited empty suit..
First they (the right wing/Republicans) give us an insurance greed head who shipped jobs overseas.
Then they give us a Real Estate greedhead sore loser.
Just love the right wing..
GOLDY, I’M THIRD UP AT KTTH. TROIS UP AT KTTH.
http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=136 is a link to the stream.
You can also get the show on iTunes.
I’m so excited in my VRS F/A-18E I think my fist is gonna break the plexiglass!!
I am lining up the target w/ the 20 MARY-MARY.
If you are not listening to KTTH, you should: http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=136
I’m right behind this Didlier dozer on KTTH. Heart going a mile a minute. Having to do a loop to get back into position, thanks Didlier for messing up MY shot!
ON AIR RIGHT NOW
So how did I do on KTTH?
Shoot, I didn’t mention Didlier wants “Letters of Marque and Reprisal” to reply to NoKo ICBMs!
@24 Mr. Cynical spews:
How could you leave out Goldy’s co-dependent love affair with Tim Eyman?
Rossi had better toe the teabagger line or they’ll turn on him like they did Scott Brown. Oh, and like they’re turning on Rand Paul already
you mean Dino is against the murder of unborn children? hmmm, I think thats a pretty good thing.
Dr. Dreck, there’s philosophy and there’s strategy. One can exist without the other.
Or maybe you should just go play with your Legos.
Cynical @ 33
Oh, yes, the atheists. Like those darned libertarians. Maybe you’d to like clarify one of your previous statements:
In your libertarian utopia, who pays for the administration of elections and the courts?
Plz watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc6qOkZXcsQ that’s a replay of my call into KTTH.