I'm almost afraid to say it, but it really does look as if this is one Presidential election in which the outcome isn't going to be appalling and leave me depressed for months. I've voted for Democrats for most of my life, and even voted many decades ago for Shirley Chisholm, who was the first major-party African American candidate for President, and fourth woman to ever run for the office. So with Obama polling well, this year looks good (fingers crossed), but there's one potentially bleak spot in this otherwise rosy story (hopefully rosy story, that is...I don't want to be premature).
It's the Washington state Governor's race, where Republican slime-ball Dino Rossi has, according to some reports, a fair chance of winning. Although Gregoire leads Rossi in the most recent polling, it's only by 2 points, less than the margin of error (see reports on two recent polls, here and here).
Rossi is a George Bush Republican through-and-through, with the typical big-money corporate backing (i.e. drug companies and the building industry). He's been running an unrelenting series of particularly aggressive attack ads against Gregoire. As a state Senator, his record was abysmal; you can get a taste of Rossi's nastiness at You Don't Know Dino.com (Note: this isn't Gregoire's website, but one put up by Evergreen Progress, a Washington state progressive group). Here's just a taste of what Evergreen Progress has to say about Rossi:
Rossi cut children’s health care and wants to make abortion illegal
Republican Dino Rossi not only voted to deny insurance coverage for contraceptives. He wants to take away a woman’s right to choose and make abortion illegal. Rossi not only voted to deny unemployment benefits to victims of domestic abuse, he voted to eliminate healthcare for forty thousand of Washington’s poorest children. In these tough times, don’t turn back the clock. Dino Rossi is not the change we need.
Gregoire is a solid Democrat who deserves re-election. She's done well by our state and has the endorsement of several major WA newspapers.
There's still time to make a donation to Gregoire's campaign, or, if you're a WA resident, phone bank for her. Or attend the GOTV rally scheduled for tomorrow (with Howard Dean!).
So, I've been waiting a lifetime for a perfect Democratic election like this one may very well turn out to be and a Rossi win would spoil the perfection! Won't you make my dreams come true and help Chris Gregoire beat Dino Rossi? Thanks!