Still Counting Vofes Here
As my fellow Seattleite BlueSky points out today, Washington’s secretary of state as certified the election of Dino Rossi as governor, after a “machine” recount that disclosed him winning by 42 votes. He rightly lays the blame for the loss, (as I have previously) to a lame campaign run by Christine Gregoire and the Democratic party, but I’m not sure I agree with his assertion that it doesn’t matter whether there’s a Republican or a “New” Democrat in office. While a centrist Democrat is unlikely to press for change (as the disappointing reign of Gary Locke attests), a Republican of Rossi’s ilk will do plenty of damage in the department heads he appoints to administer and enforce, departments like Ecology, Fish & Wildlife, Revenue, etc.
While both legislative bodies are in Democrat hands for the first time in many years, the margin is thin and certainly not veto-proof. I expect to hear a constant refrain about the “business climate” from Rossi’s bunch, as a blanket reason to ease enforcement and promulgation of environmental protection, growth management, forest practices and consumer protection.
A hand recount is possible if either party wants to pay for it, but a total recount is prohibitively expensive, something like $700,000. The state Democratic party doesn’t have that kind of money. I read somewhere that the national party will contribute some funds, and that the Kerry campaign might have $200,000 to ante up. I’m hoping that donors who might have been thinking of helping congressman Jim McDermott pay his fine for passing on a taped conversation of Ohio Republican John Boehner. McDermott had the opportunity to settle the case for $10,000 and stupidly passed on it, and the party has better use for the money.
Meanwhile, Gary Locke, on his way out the door, mentioned in passing that the state faces a $1.6 billion deficit, and suggested that new tax revenue must be raised to cover it. This deficit would seem to be a direct result of his decision NOT to seek new revenue when faced with a similar situation in the last budget cycle. One begins to see why he didn’t seek another term.
It all adds up to an extended election hangover for us here in Washington, and we can’t get so distracted by it that we don’t allow enough time to get our earplugs in for the State of the Union address.
