The governor’s race is beginning to heat up in a big way. Governor Christine Gregoire has been on a whirlwind tour of the state — riding around in a fully equipped luxury motorcoach. Although the coach is rented from a Seattle company, it's licensed in Oregon (avoiding the sales tax?), which seems to me to be a major faux pas on the part of her campaign managers. The tour included a stop in Bremerton, where she met with local elected, business, and community leaders (including yours truly) to listen to our concerns, tell us what a great job she’s done as governor, and remind us of all her accomplishments, before holding a fundraiser in another part of the building.
Meanwhile, challenger Dino Rossi has caught up to her in fundraising, surpassing 27,000 individual donors — of which, over 40 percent are new to the Rossi campaign. If I were Gregoire, that would be making me nervous. Rossi has also unveiled a transportation plan with 71 percent of the proposed spending going towards nine major unfunded congestion relief projects. Democrats are having difficulty refuting his plan because the cost projections for eight of those projects were taken directly from DOT and RTID numbers.
In spite of Gregoire’s bravado, saying, "In November, we will win, election night, within the first 10 minutes, by a large majority," a couple of independent polls show Rossi neck and neck with Gregoire — who has never polled over 50 percent the entire time she’s been in office.
In my view, it’s still way too close to call, but Rossi has a legitimate shot at unseating Gregoire, who he arguably beat four years ago.
Meanwhile, challenger Dino Rossi has caught up to her in fundraising, surpassing 27,000 individual donors — of which, over 40 percent are new to the Rossi campaign. If I were Gregoire, that would be making me nervous. Rossi has also unveiled a transportation plan with 71 percent of the proposed spending going towards nine major unfunded congestion relief projects. Democrats are having difficulty refuting his plan because the cost projections for eight of those projects were taken directly from DOT and RTID numbers.
In spite of Gregoire’s bravado, saying, "In November, we will win, election night, within the first 10 minutes, by a large majority," a couple of independent polls show Rossi neck and neck with Gregoire — who has never polled over 50 percent the entire time she’s been in office.
In my view, it’s still way too close to call, but Rossi has a legitimate shot at unseating Gregoire, who he arguably beat four years ago.
Do you even research what you write anymore, or is this one just copy-pasted from the GOP newsletter, courtesy of Boss Esser?
ReplyDeleteGregoire's campaign bus is RENTED from a Seattle company that owns these buses and operates them throughout the western US and Canada.
This took me 5 minutes with Google to find out. Are you even trying anymore?
Ian,
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't cut and paste from the GOP newsletter. Learning the bus has an Oregon license plate on it was something I learned from personally seeing it. Rented or not, one would think Gregoire's campaign managers should have the savvy to at least make sure the governor's campaign bus was licensed in our state, don't you think?
No, I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteA campaign manager for an election as hotly contested as this one has enough to occupy their time and energy then getting caught up in the minutiae about where their rented bus is licensed. Next stop is worrying about where the coffee at a campaign stop is from (better be Starbucks!) or where the Governor's wardrobe was purchased (better be Nordstrom's!).
When you were running for Mayor, did you devote staff or volunteer time to making sure your campaign only used materials made, licensed and bought in Port Orchard?
Is this something we really want candidates to worry about? I'd rather they stick to the issues, personally.
Also, why did you edit your post after I pointed out the bus was rented? This is not the first time I've noticed you doing that.
Ian,
ReplyDeleteIt's the little things that often make the difference winning and losing. A campaign bus for the Washington governor that's registered in Oregon — no matter who owns it — is more than a scant "detail." It's a major PR blunder.
As for my own campaign materials being done locally — yes the majority were. Port Orchard Signs did our signs — and I was the ONLY candidate producing them locally. The TV commercials were produced by an Olalla firm and aired on the local cable system. My own company, Wet Apple Media produced the graphic materials and the Web site. The ONLY thing done out of the South Kitsap area was the printing of some materials — and that was only because there is no union printer in Kitsap County with the color capabilities we needed.
Finally, as to editing the blog...
YOU provided the information that corrected me on the campaign bus being owned by a Seattle company and leased to the Gregoire campaign. I believed that was important information that needed to be pointed out, since it added some balance to the overall story. Thats the nice thing about this media — it isn't cast in stone (or ink) when new information becomes available — especially, as it did in this case, changing the whole dynamic of the piece. I fail to see what's wrong with that.
But since you're carping about it, all I can say is, no good deed, no matter how well-intentioned, goes unpunished.