I know, that is what Democrats think they are doing in 2008 - but there was a vote really stolen in 2004, and it looks like we'll get a re-match:
The irreplaceable David Postman, Washington State's version of David Yepsen or John DiStaso, reported earlier this week that 2004 Republican gubernatorial nominee Dino Rossi stepped down from his post as head of Forward Washington, a non-profit think tank he had founded, because he was a distraction to the group's mission.Rossi told another Seattle Times reporter that he would spend about the next six weeks contemplating a rematch against Gov. Christine Gregoire (D), who beat Rossi in the most closely-contested election in Washington State history, the validity of the results of which are still hotly debated.
Rossi initially decided to accept a severance package from Forward Washington, though he later decided against one
Postman thinks Rossi's decision to step down, as well as the $3 million Gregoire has raised, are their own announcements, and that neither is being terribly honest when pretending to delay an official announcement.
If Rossi does make the race, national Republicans will no doubt help him catch up with Gregoire's fundraising -- he made good connections when, after his loss, he traveled to DC for President Bush's second inaugural, and the RGA still has him smack in the middle of their radar. The Evergreen State will be one of the most tightly contested races in 2008.
In Washington in 2004, Democrats managed to do what they were unable to do in Florida in 2000 - keep selectively recounting the ballots until they got their desired result. I remember well how in Democrat-heavy areas of Washington State, the Democratic forces managed to always find a few more votes for their candidate until they managed to get just enough to turn a narrow loss into a narrow win. Given that Washington State's judicial establishment is very liberal, the GOP was unable to gain traction on their very real and very serious accusation of fraud - in the end, in order to best serve the people of Washington who needed a governor rather than a constitional battle, the GOP candidate Dino Rossi conceded the race.
This will likely be the most closely contested races for the 2008 cycle - and I'll be doing my small bit to help Rossi out and attempt to right a wrong. Of course, it will take major efforts on the part of Washington State Republicans to ensure Rossi has the resources...and a close eye is kept on the vote fraud efforts which have become routine on the part of the Democrats (getting bums to register to vote so that Democrat operatives can assume their identity at the polling place - in case you wonder why Democrats are adamant against having to provide photo ID to vote; getting absentee ballots for dead people; bundling large number of absentee ballots together; dragging elderly people to the polls and "helping" them to mark their ballots "correctly"...).
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