[Vision2020] Washington State Republicans Seek Distance From McCain, National Party

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 31, 2008) Seattle Times at:

http://tinyurl.com/6nzqz3

--------------------------------------------------------

Washington state Republicans seek distance from McCain, national party
By David Postman

----------------

http://tinyurl.com/5fe3z7
Dino Rossi, Republican candidate for governor, doesn't see himself as even 
sharing a ticket with presidential candidate John McCain. "We're not all 
that connected with McCain," Rossi said. 

----------------

John McCain will be nominated this week as the Republican candidate for 
president. He likely will ride effortlessly through the party's national 
convention in St. Paul, Minn.

But in Washington state, McCain will share the ballot this fall with 
Republicans trying to distance themselves from the national party and 
doing little to link arms with the McCain campaign.

Dino Rossi, a Republican who lists his party preference as "GOP Party," is 
doing his best to bask in Barack Obama's message of change as he tries to 
unseat Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Rossi talks so much about Obama on the campaign trail, you could be 
forgiven for thinking they share a ticket. He doesn't mention McCain in 
his stump speech.

And neither Rossi nor Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, both engaged in 
competitive races, will attend this week's Republican National Convention.

On Thursday, the night Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, Rossi ran 
a TV commercial and made his most obvious attempt yet to appeal to likely 
Obama voters.

"Tonight the Democrats have a nominee," Rossi said in the ad. "I agree 
with him on this: Change is needed, but not just in Washington, D.C."

A beaten-down brand

McCain campaign officials in the state say they're not worried about 
Rossi, the state's premier Republican candidate of 2008, distancing 
himself from the party's presidential candidate.

"Dino has his own coalitions he has to keep together," said Mike McKay, a 
former U.S. attorney in Seattle and co-chairman for the McCain steering 
committee in the state.

McKay said he's heard Rossi tout McCain on the campaign trail. McKay said 
he thinks he'll hear more of that before November.

If McCain's poll numbers rise in Washington state, McKay said, 
Rossi "would more closely embrace Senator McCain."

Rossi on Friday praised McCain's surprising pick for vice president, 
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as "a perfect fit" and someone who is "bright and 
articulate."

Republican presidential candidates haven't done well in Washington state 
since Ronald Reagan won in 1984. As Rossi well knows, that's the last time 
a Republican won the governor's mansion, too.

And there are problems for McCain particular to 2008. Some state 
Republicans don't want their fortunes tied to a national party beset by 
President Bush's unpopularity, a faltering economy and Republican 
corruption scandals on Capitol Hill.

The brand is so beaten down that Spokane County Republican Chairman Curtis 
Fackler listed no party preference for his Aug. 19 primary run for 
insurance commissioner. He finished third.

Fackler told Fox News that "we want to get around" the fact that 30 
percent of the state's voters will vote against a Republican "no matter 
what."

National distractions

A citizens initiative on the November ballot to change King County offices 
to nonpartisan positions is driven in part to create distance between the 
national parties and local officeholders.

Joe Fain, an aide to Republican County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer and 
a spokesman for the initiative campaign, said recently that politicians 
such as his boss shouldn't have to run with a party label because "they 
aren't dealing with those issues that distract us at the national level."

Those distractions, such as national security, economics and social 
issues, long have been the ideological ties among party members up and 
down the ticket.

But Fain's comments go to the heart of what's happening with the 
Republican Party in Washington state. Candidates want to draw a 
distinction between Evergreen State Republicans and those from all other 
states who make up the party's presence in Washington, D.C.

Other Republican candidates share that inclination with Rossi. Reichert 
bases much of his re-election in the 8th District on being an independent, 
moderate Republican. He said recently that he doesn't expect to do much 
this year to push for a McCain victory in Washington state.

But Rossi goes further than most state Republicans. He doesn't see himself 
as even sharing a ticket with McCain.

"The ticket part starts with where I am and goes down to where all the 
legislative candidates are," Rossi said. He said "we're not all that 
connected with" Bush, McCain or congressional Republicans.

"We do our own thing, and it is very separate and very distinct and the 
issues are very different. I don't have anything to do with world peace."

To run as a ticket with McCain and to align himself with national issues, 
Rossi said, would be "mixing messages."

That thinking robs the McCain campaign of active support from one of the 
state's most popular Republicans. But McKay and other McCain backers say 
that won't make a substantive difference here.

"A presidential campaign is strong enough to drive its own message," said 
Chris Vance, a former chairman of the state Republican Party.

The Ron Paul faction

McKay, a veteran of Republican campaigns in the state, said McCain will 
prove popular in Washington state. The campaign has been working to firm 
up support among religious conservatives and libertarian-leaning 
Republicans who backed Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Paul supporters challenged the selection of delegates to the national 
convention and, as Vance put it, "are trying to take over the state 
party." But McKay said much work has been done to bring the libertarian 
wing into the fold.

"We're doing our very best to encourage them to recognize that Senator 
McCain is a heck of a lot better than Senator Obama in the White House, 
and there is a big chunk of those who agree with us," McKay said.

State leaders of the Paul campaign could not be reached for comment. But 
former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a longtime McCain backer, said Lou 
Moore, who headed Paul's campaign, "has come into the fold" and will be 
traveling with McCain supporters to St. Paul.

McCain has paid field staff in the state, McKay said, and the campaign 
believes it can compete in Washington state.

Vance seemed less sure. "Right now I think the McCain campaign and the RNC 
think Washington state is a place they'd like to turn into a battleground 
state," he said.

That can be done, Vance said, with money and a high-profile event — say, 
$500,000 in TV commercials and a massive outdoor rally.

If McCain does that, Vance said, "everyone will know that he's decided to 
fight for Washington state and he doesn't need Dino to help him."

A string of Republican presidential candidates have said they'd stay and 
fight for Washington state votes. But since Reagan, none has kept at it 
through the November election.

The Bush campaign said four years ago that it wanted to make Washington 
state a battleground. There were local TV commercials and as many as eight 
paid staffers at one point.

But about three weeks before Election Day, the Bush campaign's executive 
director "looked at the numbers and gave up on Washington state," Vance 
said.

Vance, then state party chairman, said a state campaign executive called 
him and said, "I just got sent to Pennsylvania. Sorry, we're leaving."

--------------------------------------------------------

So, what we have here is Dino Rossi running on the "Not Only am I NOT 
George Bush, I am NOT John McCain Either" platform.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho.

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)


---------------------------------------------
This message was sent by First Step Internet.
           http://www.fsr.com/