I’m not one to toot my own horn. No wait… yes I am.
Anyway, just remember what I’ve been saying about the Democrat’s electoral advantage in WA state, and why that means supposedly unscary GOP candidates like Dino Rossi and George Nethercutt aren’t going to make their races nearly as close as pundits have suggested.
Last week it was revealed that the national GOP had pulled a million dollars worth of ads on behalf the beleaguered Nethercutt campaign. And now Joel Connelly reports that the national R’s may be pulling the plug on a planned negative ad blitz against Christine Gregoire. That doesn’t bode too well for Dino.
But then, neither do his poll numbers.
Chris Vance and his GOPolitburo would like you to believe that Rossi is not the same breed of right-wing wacko as Craswell and Carlson before him. (Again, sorry John, but you’re not exactly a yellow line or an armadillo.) But remember, this is the same party that nominated the likes of Craswell and Carlson in the first place. So what the hell do they know?
It’s not the voters guys… it’s your candidates.
Hey, remember when Washington was a swing state? :)
Usually, Republicans in Dem-heavy states are fairly moderate. That’s why this whole set of more extreme R’s like Nethercutt blows me away. This isn’t Alabama. The Republicans need to look at Gov. Arnold in CA to see what a competent Republican looks like (Arnold’s not perfect, but he’s way better than Rossi).
I’ll tell you what gets me, is that the political and media establishment simply doesn’t see it! They still think the state GOP is dominated by people like Dan Evans and Norm Maleng, and that the Craswells and Carlson’s are weird anomalies. Uh-uh. The wackos are the mainstream of the state Republican party.
Party loyalty among mainstream Republican voters (note the distinction between “party” and “voters”) is the only thing keeping Republican candidates within 20 points.