I have thought long and deep on the question of whether to support Dino Rossi in his 2010 challenge to Washington State Senator Patty Murray - and the answer that emerged is quite clear - NOPE.
The recent statewide election contests of Mr. Rossi are an interesting story. In 2004 he ran for the open governor's seat as an outsider against the heavily favored Attorney General, Christine Gregoire. His campaign was personally directed and he crafted it with a 'real', sincere outreach to independents and the nicely phrased crossover 'dino-crats'. Surprising all he won that race, unfortunately it was a victory **exactly** like Al Gore's in 2000.
Since that time I've realized (and been reminded!) that his centrist political positions were not at all consistent with his role as a 'neighbor' in the Issaquah/Sammamish area - marked by hyper-partisanship and extreme divisiveness - though likely also not without blame from the opposing camp. That history likely shows the true character of the man behind the facade.
This 2008 rematch against the now incumbent, Gregoire, curiously, foreshadowed the emergence of the Tea Party.
In this 2008 race he was flagged as a strong challenger by the National Republican Party and given strong support. He continued his outreach to the middle, but at that time it struck me as insincere.
What I believe we saw at this time was a preview of what the Tea Party has become to the National Republican Party. I'm not enough of a political journalist to provide extensive details, but I'd hope those of you familiar with Washington Politics can see the same effect.
Simply put, the Republican Party has consciously attempted to pull the **center** of American Politics, unaffiliated, independent minded, **common sense** Americans to the extreme right with their political efforts - premiering in the 2008 Rossi campaign and fully maturing in today's Tea Party politics.
I'm sorry, but that's just bat shit crazy, not to mention highly insulting to this **thinking** individual.
FWIW, getting Gregoire out of office might well have still been worth it in 2008 - with Senator Murray there's about as much chance as her doing the right thing as there is of anyone in DC, but she's certainly not as harmful as the bankrupt raging Republicans who are destroying the country in a vain attempt to retain control.
