Posted on 12/24/2004 4:08:32 PM PST by sionnsar
All Washington state wants for Christmas is a new governor.
Just when it seems as if Indecision 2004 could not get more serpentine, surreal or saddled with conspiracy theories, some monstrosity, like a fanged beast from an old black-and-white movie, jumps out.
The latest twist involves bloodsuckers with briefcases: lawyers.
Attorneys and political consultants are now scrambling after the results of a second recount yesterday gave Democrat Christine Gregoire a 130-vote edge. That margin appears to give her a decisive victory over Republican Dino Rossi in the closest and most bizarre governor's race in American history.
Legal shrieks and cries of electoral foul still threaten to make this marathon donnybrook the horror story that won't end.
After all, the election hasn't been certified, and the entire imbroglio could in a long shot reach the U.S. Supreme Court, a la Florida in the 2000 presidential election.
Meanwhile, state Republicans appear headed to court to try to validate ballots from other counties -- a last-ditch push to eke out votes. Never mind that those counties already certified their ballot results, effectively slamming the door.
The GOP's Hail Mary takes a page from the playbook of Democrats who successfully made the case that hundreds of mistakenly rejected ballots from King County should be counted. King County had not certified its ballot results, leaving a canyon of opportunity open.
Gregoire was down after the general election. She was down after the first recount. Now, she's on top, fortified by votes from King County, which happens to be the bluest county in the state.
Hmmm ...
This isn't really a case of the third time being the charm. Rather, in the cobra pit of politics an election is not over until your side spits venom every which way and slithers and slides to victory.
Little wonder Gregoire was in a slyly smug mood, suggesting that after this recent round of recounting she and Rossi should agree to live with the results.
Well, one is giddy to live with results when one is pretty much sizing the drapes in the governor's mansion. And it's easy to map out a moral high road -- as Gregoire was trying to do -- when you are all but ready to put both feet up on the big desk in Olympia.
Nothing but an infernal twist could cause Gregoire to lose this contest now.
But her all-but-assured win is no cause for whooping or hollering.
Rossi, who should swallow his pride and concede, has not had the stake driven in his heart. Regardless of whether the Supreme Court hears this election case, at this moment Rossi is morphing into something that will bestride Washington like a towering colossus:
Dino-zilla.
Rossi stands to become a mythic, elephantine figure in the GOP. Former Washington Gov. Dan Evans, a measured Republican, is among those hearing the potentially earth-shaking footsteps. A Gregoire victory, on the heels of so much nastiness, Evans predicts, will "create a rallying point for a lot of Republicans, independents and some Democrats."
It will fire up Republicans ticked off about being losers after having swished victory like a fine Walla Walla cabernet.
It will radicalize independents to see redder than red because they either believe Gregoire stole the election or they're fed up with decades of Democratic governors ruling the roost.
It will sway a fraction of Democrats to the political right who cannot stomach how Gregoire conducted herself in a fumbling campaign that was hers to lose.
The politico who stands to feel the wrath of Dino-zilla?
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, who is gearing up for re-election in 2006.
Consultants could convince Rossi a race against Cantwell is one he can win.
If not, Rossi could loom over Gov. Gregoire like that infamous giant fire-breathing lizard.
Rossi smiled at his 261-vote margin of victory over Gregoire following the general election. He held his breath after a machine recount shrunk the lead to 42.
Now he's behind. The guy who trumpeted himself as being an Olympia outsider is on the outs for real -- so much so he is stumbling over himself.
Earlier, Rossi blasted Gregoire, saying that recounting over and over "until you finally win" leads to an illegitimate governorship.
Yesterday, Rossi's spokeswoman said his camp will "be going across the state demanding they make every vote count."
If such a stunning reversal of fortune does not drive a person to madness or turn a candidate or political party into a rampaging monster of revenge, nothing will.
Washington got what it wanted in this season of giving and receiving.
The gift of a new governor has been unwrapped after we all got the chance to see what democracy looks like -- not pretty, it turns out.
But mark my words. This will be one gift that keeps giving, for better, for worse.
And our state store, as far as I can tell, has a strict policy of no returns.
But he's right about Republicans getting riled up.
WA ping
I don't think I would want the job of being Rossi's food taster.
If Rossi keeps it up for too long, the Dems will be thinking about him the way we do about Gore. At the same time, I am shocked! shocked! at how quiet the dems are over these miraculously appearing votes for their candidate.
What a dump. A decisive 130 vote victory???? Lawyers are now evil that the Democrats have the lead. Rossi should conceed.
We have a 2nd amendment...just saying.
All we need is a Republican who'll do as a Democrat would and doublecount enough votes to win.
The Democrats' cry was, "Count every vote!"
Now the law has been thrown out. The Republicans lost the battle to enforce the law.
Now the Republican position is still that both sides should be treated equally; the law has been set aside to include "extra" votes, so we must include all the extra votes.
The Democrats' cry is now "Stop counting! It's over!"
TROLL!!
George W. Bush did not win in court--Gore never won a single count. Your girl lost twice as I recall, and this box of votes simply showed up out of the blue. If you don't see the difference, you'd best run back to DU for your buds to explain it to you.
Merry Christmas
If you think GWB won only in court, you haven't been paying attention. Gregoire did what Gore did in 2000, only Gore wasn't successful. I think the Supreme Court will overturn the Washington Supreme Court just like it did in Florida.
UNCLEAN!!!!!!!!!
Cleanup on aisle 9!
mar2000 is a troll. That said, the US Supreme Court will not touch this case with a 10-foot pole. They will leave it for the state to sort out. Quite a mess.
Trying to set a record with the number of names you're banned under in one day?
Except that Gore was never ahead, and Rossi only "lost" because of one corrupt county.
Polls have been supportive of Rossi.
This dem who's in the lead right now is a real beaut. Saw her on the tube and you'd think someone who was behind in two counts would have a LITTLE bit more graciousness.
This smells the same to me. I'll contribute to a fund to overturn this BS.
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