Posted on 12/30/2004 9:28:58 PM PST by Josef1235
Here is Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire's victory speech, as delivered Thursday in the state Reception Room of the Capitol:
Well, an election night without end has concluded. The votes have been counted, the count has been certified and I am honored to stand before you as governor-elect of the great state of Washington.
Today could not have happened without the wonderful people who are with me today - the "First Mike" of the state of Washington, my husband Mike, and our two wonderful daughters, Courtney and Michelle, and we're joined by Speaker Frank Chopp today as well.
I want to start by congratulating Dino Rossi for running a strong campaign that helped sharpen the focus on the challenges our state faces in the years ahead. In the beginning, this was an election about many issues. But by the end, the election itself became the biggest issue. There were some unreasonable attacks during the recount. Fortunately, unfounded accusations were not enough to obscure the importance of what was happening.
Across the state, Republicans and Democrats dedicated themselves to protecting the integrity of our election system. They sat at the same table for days, counting ballots. And each time a ballot was counted, Democrat and Republican observers reached an agreement. That single gesture of bipartisan cooperation, repeated millions of times across the state, is a small symbol of our state's larger desire to be united. We showed that fundamentally, Washington will not allow itself to be divided by region or party or politics.
We worked together to ensure that votes were counted, problems revealed, mistakes fixed.
We proved that Washington is not Florida. And now, we will move forward.
Less than two weeks from today, I WILL take the oath of office as your governor of the great state of Washington. We may start with a narrow margin, the narrowest in the state's history, but we will not limit our goals. Whatever the issue and whatever the challenge, I will listen and I will lead.
The election is behind us, but not forgotten. We will review what worked, and fix what didn't. And let me be clear - change will not stop with our election system. We're going to tackle the tough issues that matter to all of us. We will give our kids a better education, we will insure health care for Washingtonians, and we will make Washington state a place where we are proud to live and proud to do business.
Ladies and gentlemen, there's much work to be done. And I have to say to you, I can't wait to begin.
So my fellow Washingtonians, Happy New Year. God bless each and every one of you, and God bless the great state of Washington.
A barf warning would have been nice......
I love that! As soon as she's ahead, the election is now behind us!
Can anyone explain how this works. So Rossi won. He won the first 2 recounts and then the Demothieves demanded a hand count and got the result they wanted (the strategy that was attempted to steal the 2000 election). Does Rossi not have the right to demand a second hand count? Sad that the granola states (WA and OR) once again fall to the Evil Leftist Empire.
Boy!! You can sure say that again.
In Floriduh, the vote stealers were thwarted.
In Washington, the vote stealers were rewarded.
This chick is so full of it.
If at first you don't succeed, count,count again.
I will NEVER bow to you, GreGore!
"Selected Not Elected!!!"
bump for later read
So, the Dems have Washington state. When do they start raising taxes?
Dems did selective recount, every other county did a recount, KING COUNTY did a magic trick
Wow..the dems had to cheat in the state of washington..their chests must be beating proud..
Yeah, in that the theft succeeded this time.
It was really a triumph. Dem controlled state and it took three tries with sympathetic judges to eke out more fraudulent votes.
Really. Amazing victory on her part. Pfft.
They had a liberal judge allow several hundred rejected ballots in King County to be counted in the first recount, thus overcoming the lead by Rossi.
These same Democrats who demanded that all votes be counted were not allowing military ballots to be counted if they came in late.
I didn't watch this speech.... did she really say that with a straight face?
Can somebody fill me in on what this scumbag Gregoire has to work with? Can the Republicans in the Senate filibuster everything that comes down the pike until the election is truly resolved? If so, do they have the spine to do what's right?
Yes, count count again! But remember ,don't forget behind closed doors to take that felt tipped, black marker pen with you !And of course dont't forget, delay certifying your largest RAT County, so you can always claim''mistakes'' were made! And the biggest thing not to forget is where you hid, that treasure trove of ''ballots'' that of course can't be traced to any ''real people''! Theyre all ''homeless'' after all, theres no way to really track them down, they push around shopping carts after all.And as far as 3000 more people voting than were registered, hey I never worry about the little things!!!
Well, fast forward to Washington in 2004 -- if Rossi fights this all the way (like Gore did in 2000) he could similarly charge the Republicans up in this state (with Gregoire hatred) and boost Republican turnout in future elections here. If he slunk away and accepted his fate like a nice guy what would the Republicans think? That we're weak-kneed losers and can't ever beat the Democrats here.
I say we're much better off taking a page from Gore ourselves -- and fight this until a Supreme Court tells us no. Yeah, the Democrats will hate us and the press may hate us (even though it gives 'em a good story), and all the "let's get along" indy types here will run in horror from a real fight - but the Republicans will be charged up like never before in coming elections.
Rossi can give this fighting spirit to the Republicans, and it's something we've never had in Washington.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.