>No Chris, we won’t: The Bellevue Mafia’s cluelessness as evidenced by Chris Vance.

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As most sentient beings following Washington State politics are aware, Sarah Palin endorsed Clint Didier yesterday for the US Senate seat currently held by Aunt Patty.

Given the nuances of our top two primary, I detailed the impacts on the race as I see them, including the perennially egomaniacal and undeclared candidacy of Dino Rossi.

That said, please note the utterly clueless, moronic position put out by former WSRP Chair Chris “I took our caucuses from a tie to fitting into a phone booth” Vance:

“If Dino Rossi chooses to run, the Republican world will line up with Dino Rossi,” said Vance. “And that will include the conservative base.”

“There have always been Republican candidates who split the Republican base one way or the other. Dino was the one guy everybody loved.”

Such an utterly false observation goes to the heart of precisely why this state is so deeply and darkly blue that it’s almost black.

The biggest impediment to a GOP resurgence in this state rests with the almost genetic inability for the members of the Bellevue Mafia to understand and respond to reality.

Not everyone “loves” Dino. In fact, when Patty Murray is re-elected, both Rossi and the Bellevue Mafia will in large part be responsible for that act, as if they were working for Murray’s campaign.

Clearly, the rarefied air within which Vance and the BM operate is too lacking in oxygen to allow them to understand that things aren’t the way they believe. Not by a long sight.

We don’t “love” Rossi. Many loath him because his arrogance and self-worship have cost us a US Senate seat. I loath him because at base, he is the very definition of a RINO.

The endorsement of Didier by Palin yesterday, clearly not a well thought out act based on the latest information concerning the dichotomy of his simultaneous reliance on, and condemnation of, numerous government subsidies and programs, will hurt Rossi and hurt him badly.

It is the kind of thing that can result in nation-wide money coming in, something that Rossi has little chance of getting.

It will bring attention to Didier, providing him with Rand Paul-like attention that Rossi can only dream of.

Now, Rossi will have to spend time dealing with Didier and the other candidates in ways he would not have had to do had he used his head for something besides a fire hydrant.

The Bellevue Mafia cocoon within which Vance, Rossi and the rest reside is in for a shock. If Rossi actually announces, his failure to get in back in February has made his task geometrically harder. Burying your head in the sand like Chris “Puget Sound Crescent and how’s that working out for us” Vance avails us nothing.

The inability of the so-called “Republican political elite” of this state to change, adapt and overcome continues to be sunk in concrete. And as a result, we have the situation we have: complete leftist control of every facet of state government.
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>The Rossi Conundrum: to run for the senate… or hang on for the governorship.

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Sources in the senate have told me late last night that two senate staffers who were going to take a leave of absence for the Rossi campaign cancelled them today.

Rossi is caught between the rock and a hard place. “Everyone” has indicated that Rossi would really, really, rather be Governor. With the rules for a situation like this, if Obama would actually be moronic enough to pick our disaster of a governor for solicitor general, the question would be one of timing.

As explained by the Swing State Project, here’s the scenario:

• WA-Gov: The rumor du jour is that Chris Gregoire is now on the short list to become Solicitor General, assuming Elena Kagan gets promoted to the SCOTUS. Allow me to say: bad idea, if only because it means at least several months of Governor Brad Owen. Under Washington law, though, Owen wouldn’t serve for long, as a special election would be held. The timeline varies, depending on when Gregoire might quit as Governor. If it happens before May 31, a primary would be held, followed by a two-person general in November. If it happens after May 31 but before October 3, it would result in a jungle-style election in November. And if it happens after October 3, we’d be blessed with two full years of Owen. One other major wrinkle: if this looks like it has legs, it may shut the door on a Dino Rossi run for the Senate, as it’s a poorly-kept secret that he’d really prefer another gubernatorial run rather than wasting his third strike on getting pasted by Patty Murray, and this would be the way for him to do it.

So, why would these two people cancel their leave of absence?

Dunno. Fascinating to ponder tho, eh?
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>Why is Dino Rossi working to re-elect Patty Murray?

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A while or so back, I asked the almost rhetorical question: Will Rossi’s intransigence cost the GOP a US Senate pick up?

At the time, it was more a matter of confusion about what was motivating him in this bizarre position he keeps holding on to: that he doesn’t need to campaign until May or June.

Today, a few thoughts occurred to me in the wake of the news that former Rossi stalwarts and former chiefs of staff to Slade Gorton Tony Williams and Jay Vander Stoep won’t work for Rossi if he were to announce… Williams going so far as to hold a fund raiser for Murray, an event that most would have felt to be as possible as being hit by an astroid.

So, the “Why?” questions kept going off in my head.

As I wrote 3 weeks or so ago:

If he waits until May and then tells us “No,” the crippling delay will have made it effectively impossible to be even remotely competitive in the important money race against Murray, who will have an open field when it comes to fund raising while everyone else stews in their juices because Rossi was too arrogant to commit in anything approaching a timely manner one way or the other.

And that was the answer, right there.

That has been his plan all along.

Dino Rossi will NOT be announcing for the US Senate in Washington State. Dino Rossi is deliberately doing this to protect Patty Murray’s re-election.

You see, Rossi’s alleged popularity would not REQUIRE him to campaign at this point. But announcing and filing with the FEC IS a requirement to accept donations.

So, why not do that?

Why not just announce; file, set up a small office with a couple of people in it, and do nothing else except to pick up the checks?

Right now, a lot of people won’t donate to candidates in the senate race because they’re concerned about what Dino Will Do.

Dino knows this. Dino also knows, as I or anyone else knows, that there is absolutely NO advantage of any kind to waiting several months while Murray puts, say, $15 million away before he were to announce. None.

But if he fails to announce until filing; or fails to file, period, Murray will have built up a monumental amount of cash that no one else running could possibly hope to even come close to achieving.

Rossi’s foot is on the fund raising throat of this US Senate campaign. If he waits too long to lift that foot, he will even strangle himself. But by keeping his foot on that throat, he certainly knows he’s strangling everybody else.

By itself, this could have been the product of a massive, out of control ego, a character trait that Rossi has shown in the past.

When added to the facts that waiting makes no strategic political sense and is, in fact, far more crippling to all involved, including Rossi, than announcing last February; when added to the fact that Tony WIlliams held a fund raiser for Patty Murray and that Jay Vander Stoep has indicated he won’t work for a Rossi campaign (Very easy to do when Jay most likely knows there won’t BE a Rossi campaign) it tends to add up to an ugly, deliberate effort to sabotage any chance we have to get rid of the USS Patty Murray and replace her with someone who won’t be an uber-corrupt leftist Obama sycophant.

In spending, literally, days trying to figure this out, there were only so many possible scenarios. When you strip the tenuous partisan element away from it, only one scenario emerges.

Rossi will not run; he knows he will not run; and he’s doing this on purpose to keep anyone else from making a run, either; not only taking them out of the race, but making sure that these other candidates running for the Senate cannot resurrect themselves from a close loss as competition for his next run for governor.

No other scenario of any kind makes strategic political sense.

If you’re among the tens of thousands scratching your head as to why an otherwise bright candidate would engage in childish, ego-centric and dangerous political behavior, I would ask you to consider the possibility that the main reason is he’s doing it on purpose, fully knowing that his actions cripple any other possible outcome but a likely Murray victory.

In 2004, I strongly supported Rossi. In 2008, I opposed him because of a wide variety of reasons that had to do with, among other things, his bizarre position of using tens of millions of tax payer dollars to support keeping the Sonics in Seattle.

But now, I see Rossi as another Herrera type. And that can’t be good.
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>What’s wrong with Dino? The impact of former Gorton staffers working for democrats and Patty Murray.

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It suddenly became clear yesterday why the former Gorton staffers coalesced around a fake Republican like SEIU-supporting Jaime Herrera.

It became clear when the word hit the Times that former Gorton chief of staff Tony Williams held a fundraiser for Patty Murray.

We all know by now that Lobbyist Slade Gorton endorsed Herrera. On the surface, that’s a huge get. But below the surface?

Gorton didn’t know Herrera from Adam. If she had bit him in the ankle, he wouldn’t have known her. Her legendary political insignificance, as illustrated by her monumental lack of accomplishment in our legislature would have buried her beneath any radar that Gorton was looking at back in DC.

So, along comes ANOTHER former Gorton chief of staff, one Jay Vander Stoep, who is now working to do the best he can to keep Herrera from coming across like a blithering idiot (and failing, I might add)

As the article points out, in the event Rossi can ever get past his ego and make public the decision he’s long since made as to whether he will run or not, he’s going to do so without the services of two Gorton stalwarts, Williams and Vander Stoep.

Apparently, either loyalty or adherence to alleged Republican principles don’t seem to be qualifications for a Gorton chief of staff, as amply illustrated by Williams.

But it is the CALIBER of these people that’s at issue.

Now, I freely admit that Williams is, of course, no longer a Gorton chief of staff or a Gorton anything.

But how could Gorton have hired someone with such obvious mercenary tendencies?

The article in question then alludes to Vander Stoep’s decision to bail on Rossi as well:

Another member of Rossi’s inner circle, who was a key player in the 2004 and 2008 gubernatorial races, Jay Vanderstoep, also does not plan to be part of the Rossi campaign, if there is one. Nothing personal. Quite the opposite. Vanderstoep just wants to work on other things.

So here, the deal isn’t that Vander Stoep has stopped being an alleged Republican. It’s instead that he just doesn’t want to work for Dino.

And folks…. this had to hurt.

The buzz out there has been stifling. Will he or won’t he? These two defections from the Dino camp; one the equivalent of political treason/mercenaryism of the highest order; the other a “blow off” of monumental proportions must cast doubt on Dino’s quality as a candidate and his viability in the election.

As I have pointed out before: there has never been any advantage in Rossi waiting to make a decision. In fact, his INdecision makes him look vacillating and unsure of himself while hurting other candidate’s chances to take out The USS Patty Murray.

Taking hits like these and his fellow Realtors endorsing our local dim bulb tends to show that Rossi is a mere mortal like the rest of those running. Combined with his two prior losses in state wide races… and, well, you can see the gist of the issue.

These two senior “Gortonians” voting with their collective feet and the bitch slap of the Realtor endorsement (hey, I admit it. The Realtor endorsement is like the Israeli ambassador endorsing Adolf Hitler, given the massive damage this woman has done and is doing to out economy, which, in turn, does tend to hurt Realtors) is causing a disturbing trend.

These defections are a crushing PR blow to The One. How does Rossi explain it?

Rossi lost my support with his moronic, politically stupid support of ignoring the vote of the people of Seattle when they came out swinging against using taxpayer dollars to pay off a scumbag to keep the Sonics here: $75 million in tax dollars to keep millionaires playing a game in Seattle, a moronic idea that Rossi wanted to use state dollars to make happen, and an idea that I condemned as having cost him the election, well, before it cost him the election.

The splash from this betrayal will reach a long way. And it should hit all of those whose campaigns are being run by those similarly qualified as Williams. And you know who you are.
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>Is this why Rossi WON’T run?

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I consider the source as I post this. I also consider how terrified the left is of losing the USS Patty Murray, as reliable a solcialist vote/earmarker as ever lived for the past 18 years, spending our money much faster than it’s even possible to print.

But if this leftist and now-going-viral article is correct, then Dino would have a very difficult time getting elected to anything.

Why Rossi won’t run

by Goldy, 03/16/2010, 11:52 AM

State Republicans talk tough about taking out U.S. Sen. Patty Murray in what’s shaping up to be a tough year for incumbents, but time’s running out to field a credible challenger, and those WSRP faithful -+holding their breath in anticipation of two-time gubernatorial loser Dino Rossi jumping into the breach are likely to have their faces turn blue long before Washington turns red.

While Rossi would no doubt like to be elected Senator, insiders say he’s not so keen on the idea of running. Nor is serving in the other Washington all that appealing.

The governorship is only as hard a job as you want to make it to be, and Olympia is but a short drive from Rossi’s Sammamish home. But the U.S. Senate is a full-time gig that requires tons of travel and the uprooting of one’s family, and that’s not exactly what Rossi signed up for when the WSRP’s second-choice (Dave Reichert was the inside favorite until he opened his mouth) accepted his party’s gubernatorial nomination back in 2004.

But perhaps the biggest reason why you won’t see Dino Rossi’s name on the “Prefers GOP Party” ballot anytime soon, is that the post-economic-collapse political climate and the financial scandals that precipitated it have virtually assured that Rossi’s own business dealings would be exposed to the kind of public scrutiny he managed to mostly avoid in 2004 and 2008. And it’s not so clear that Rossi’s reputation would hold up so well under such circumstances.

Of course there’s Rossi’s close business relationship with his longtime mentor Mel Heide, who pleaded guilty to bilking millions out of clients two years before Rossi finally severed their ties, not coincidentally in the middle of Rossi’s first political campaign. Heide’s shady real estate dealings have been reported at length, but Rossi’s own business practices while in Heide’s employ have never been fully

investigated.

Again, we need to consider both the source and their institutional, fringe-leftist bias. But would this kind of thing stand up to the microscopic scrutiny that would result from a Rossi candidacy?

Murray would make this the focus of any Rossi campaign, since she could not win on the issues… her waste of billions in pay for play… her support of that empty suited moron running the country… her lemming-like efforts on the Health Care/Student Loan rip off.

But she COULD win on a corruption platform aimed right between Rossi’s business dealings.

Something to ponder.

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>Will Rossi’s intransigence cost the GOP a US Senate pick up?

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We’re in a US Senate race here in Washington State. Polling to the contrary, Patty Murray is playing the political equivalent of low-hanging fruit by backing Obama’s unconstitutional abuse of the opaque (as opposed to the laughingly “transparent”) process to use Soviet-style politics to ram through a health care bill that Americans don’t want.

So, along comes the ego of Dino Rossi.

If he had already announced, Rossi would most likely be the political equivalent of the “Great White Hope.” And there is a possibility… a SLIGHT possibility, that he could beat Murray.

I say “slight” because he’s a, like it or not, two-time loser in a race which, given Gregoire’s incompetence, matched only by his gubernatorial campaign staff’s (Mostly the same one as Ridgefield Barbie’s, come to think of it) he should have easily won, but didn’t, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by a substantial margin.

Meanwhile, Rossi (who certainly does know, one way or the other, if he is, in fact, going to run or not) has passed on his actual chance to get the job done.

As a result of his lack of commitment for running for this seat, Rossi is sending a political message of arrogance. If he really, really gave a damn, he wouldn’t be following in the abortive and politically foolish missteps of Rudy Giuliani, whose “all or nothing” primary gamble exploded in his face like an upset Ford Pinto.

Instead, he would have immediately hit the ground months ago with a take-no-prisoners approach that would take nothing for granted. If he genuinely wanted to win, he already would have started to run, instead of sitting on some sort of egotistical throne waiting for the cacophony of his subjects begging and pleading with him to get off the dime and get moving.

But the mere threat of his candidacy sucks all the air out of the room for any other candidate. And as ego-gratifying as it must be for him to be fully aware of this, the actual impact of that stupidity is to put any possibility of getting rid of the Obamainan Puppet Murray out of reach.

If he does, as he claims he will do, wait until May to “make a decision,” he is undeniably hurting our chances to accomplish the number one mission of getting rid of Murray… who can and probably will put as much as $20 million in the bank before this is all over.

If he waits until May and then announces, he will fracture the party like a crystal vase dropped from the roof of a house.

If he waits until May and then tells us “No,” the crippling delay will have made it effectively impossible to be even remotely competitive in the important money race against Murray, who will have an open field when it comes to fund raising while everyone else stews in their juices because Rossi was too arrogant to commit in anything approaching a timely manner one way or the other.

If he announces, then he runs the risk of alienating a substantial amount of the base who’ve committed to other candidates… not to mention the campaign staff and volunteer types who have committed to other candidate’s campaigns.

For example, will Vander Stoep’s crew abandon Herrera (not that they’ve been all that great, considering) to take over the Rossi effort? What then?

I find it hard to believe these issues have not been considered by Rossi, and for some reason, he’s calculated that none of these things are problematic enough to concern him.

But also tossed in the mix is this: if he gambles… and loses… he will be politically dead. The curse of the 3 time loser is essentially impossible to ignore. It’s one thing for Rossi to take another run at another statewide office. It’s quite another for him to take a run at the senate, given his lack of success at the governor level.

So, what’s it gonna be, Dino? You gonna screw the rest of the GOP to feed your ego? Or are you going to do what this situation demands, to even give us a shot, no matter how remote, at putting this seat into the “red” column?

The whole world’s watching.
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>So, the buzz was correct: Benton IS running for the Senate.

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As I mentioned earlier, there was a buzz about Benton running for the Senate that was, essentially, correct.

Man, when the article hit in the paper, the fringe left nutter commenters went wild with some of the most moronic, inane, hyperbolic hypocrisy I’ve ever seen.

It seems pretty clear that Benton became the front runner last night. it’s going to be an interesting race, for sure.

The limitless number of candidates is problematic, however. Maybe a little leadership from the WAGOP and the NRSC would b in order?
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>So…. rumor has it that State Senator Don Benton (R-17) has been approached to run against Murray for the US Senate.

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I’m hearing from more than one source that Benton has been approached to run against Murray this November.

It’s an intriguing thought. Murray is ripe for the picking: completely in the fringe left, tax and spend/Obama socialism mold; tying her to Obama, who is turning out to have political leprosy, would be a child-like task in its simplicity.

Benton brings experience and some major league fund raising skills to the table. None of the other candidates are close to catching fire, or putting the kind of bank roll together that taking out Murray will require.

What say you email him and let him know your thoughts? Try don@donbenton.com. I know I will.
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>Scott Brown’s victory party live, here!

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Give it a few seconds to load…

http://www.ustream.tv/flash/live/1/393930Webcam chat at Ustream

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>Jon Stewart weighs in on the "Fumblin’, stumblin, bumblin" effort in the Massachusetts senate race.

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Takes about 10 minutes. Language is a little risque.

<td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'Mass Backwards

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:262017
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

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