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The AP’s Curt Woodward has written his post-election analysis of the governor’s race, in which he largely credits (blames?) Obama’s “Superman-style” coattails and the economic meltdown for Gov. Gregoire’s big, election night victory.  And let’s not forget that “high-stakes politically motivated lawsuit.”

In fact, the only non-external factors Woodward credits to the campaign itself were Gregoire’s performance in the final debate, a few “half-truths” about Rossi’s stance on the minimum wage, and a last minute text message to Pierce County voters. That said, Woodward points out, “Gregoire’s campaign definitely had its flaws…”

She allowed Rossi to define her early on, and took some time to formulate a “change” theme that tied her campaign to Obama’s.

Even in victory, there were perplexing missteps. Gregoire’s campaign, for instance, didn’t provide the governor – or even a senior campaign official – for an interview Tuesday night or Wednesday with The Associated Press, which has the widest statewide reach of any news organization.

Yup, the most glaring flaw in Gregoire’s campaign was its failure to show proper deference to the AP… or so says the AP.  I guess that explains the glowing post-election analysis.

Meet your new State Treasurer:

Mike Lindblom:

The 34 miles of additional light rail, to Lynnwood, north Federal Way, and the Overlake Transit Center, near Microsoft, aren’t expected to be finished until the early 2020s. The theme of serving future generations sounded at odds with the official campaign motto: “Mass Transit Now.”

Ugh.

Look… Like most folks, I’d prefer they build this stuff sooner rather than later, but them’s the breaks. On Tuesday, voters decided to put to an end the kind of hand-wringing and second-guessing that had slowed the region on the issue of mass transit infrastructure for decades. We’re making up for previous generations, and their inability to address this issue.

So if the slogan is “Mass Transit Now,” think of it as a truncated version of this:

“Let’s Decide To Invest In Mass Transit Now For The Benefit Of The Region In The Decades To Come.”

I like both, but the second one didn’t fit on a yard sign.

Meet your new Commissioner of Public Lands:

Speaking of prognostication, the Seattle P-I reports that the AP has declared Peter Goldmark the winner in the race for Commissioner of Public Lands, while Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson has conceded her race to challenger Randy Dorn.

David Brewster:

“There’s a good chance the Proposition 1 ballot measure to expand light rail will fail, stalling for years comprehensive transportation planning in metro Puget Sound.”

Jim Vesely:

“I think it’s pretty iffy whether or not, in this climate, people will accept that level of taxation.”

Ladies and gentlemen:

Sound Transit leaders today congratulated Seattle-area voters for giving future generations a regional train system.

Proposition 1, the $17.9 billion measure to expand light rail, commuter train and bus service, won easily, despite the national economic slump.

I no longer listen to the predictions of our local media talking heads. It’s clear now, more than ever, that these guys don’t know any more than I do about this stuff, and just because they write for newspapers or have been around for years doesn’t make their insight anymore prescient than mine.

They’re not bad people, and it’s not that they’re not smart… They’re just out of touch.

UPDATE:
Seattle P-I columnist Joel Connelly ads this in the comments:

In defense of David Brewster, he had pro-Prop. 1 sign on his lawn. I twice witnessed him argue the case for light rail at breakfasts with skeptical neighbors.
He was clearly in touch, just pessimistic: After 40 years he had reason to be.

Meet your governor:

While the uncertain results in WA-08 are making it difficult for me to celebrate Tuesday’s election, I’m taking more than a little joy in the outstanding performance of Peter Goldmark in the race for Commissioner of Public Lands.

Goldmark currently leads Republican incumbent Doug Sutherland by 28,592, or about 1.5% of the total ballots cast, and while nobody has officially called this race yet, a look at the county by county results suggests it’s pretty much in the bag.  That’s because a significantly greater proportion of the ballots remaining come from counties which Goldmark won, thus even if late absentees trend conservative, as many election observers expect, Goldmark should easily maintain or expand his margins.

For example, assuming all counties turnout at 85%, and the remaining ballots split along the same lines as those that have already been counted, Goldmark would finish with a margin of about 90,000 votes, or greater than 3 percent.  He likely won’t finish quite that way, but that’s an awful lot of ground for a late conservative trend to make up.

So congratulations Peter on a great campaign.  I’m proud to have played my own little part in your victory.

As the GOP faces day two of 40 years in the desert, the stories about what they should do are coming fast and furious, both nationally and locally.

The Columbian quotes Clark County Republican chair Ryan Hart thusly:

“I think that this is still a center-right country,” Hart said. “We have a message that reflects the majority of the electorate. … We just need to find candidates that can clearly articulate that message.”

To be clear, I’m not trying to mess with Hart, who has conducted himself as the Republican chair here with aplomb and decency. And what he’s saying is pretty common.

[Read more…]

I was driving my daughter to school this morning when we heard something on KUOW about a “Clown County man.”

Of course, they probably said “Clallam County,” but both my daughter and I heard “Clown,” and it got me thinking… wouldn’t it be cool if Washington state really did have a Clown County?  Not just in name, but a county that embraced the entire clown theme the way Leavenworth embraces its faux Bavarian heritage.

Though if we did, I’m guessing it would vote Republican.

Darcy Burner lost ground after yesterday’s ballot dumps, and now trails Dave Reichert by about 1,800 votes, with about half the ballots counted.  And of course, that’s a very discouraging trend.

That said, it may not represent a trend at all, as at the moment we have absolutely no idea where these ballots came from, either geographically or temporaly.  These could be early absentees. These could be recent arrivals.  These could be a random sample.  Your guess is as good as mine.

For those following the results from outside Washington state, it is important to remember that unlike neighboring Oregon, ballots must merely be postmarked by election day, and they’ll continue to arrive for days.  So once (if?) King and Pierce counties catch up with the ballots on hand we’ll have a much better idea of the status of this race.

Outstanding. Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent, not a country…

Also, Radley Balko points out a sadly ironic statistic out of California. While African-Americans celebrated an unprecedented milestone in their centuries-long struggle for equality, African-American voters overwhelmingly voted for Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage.

If you decide to run against in 2012, please have this man help you come up with good ideas again.

In Clark County’s 17th District, state Senator Don Benton, R-Vancouver, has pulled narrowly ahead of challenger David Carrier in today’s count. Benton leads 50.22% to Carrier’s 49.67%. It’s a margin of 269 votes. Carrier had led by about 150 votes on election night.

Unfortunately for Carrier, for whatever reason, as the counting goes on Republican totals always seem to improve. It’s not over until it’s over, and a mandatory recount certainly seems possible, but obviously today’s count would seem to bode well for Benton’s chances.

Whoever “they” are, just called the Oregon Senate race for Jeff Merkley.  Congratulations Jeff.  (And congratulations Carla and Sarah.)