Indecision may be Rossi’s best move
Published 8:44 pm Saturday, May 22, 2010
A column in three acts.
Act I: Waiting for Dino
Every day in which Dino Rossi does not announce his candidacy as a Republican for U.S. Senate is one less day he needs to run against the incumbent Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
That’s not a bad thing, really.
OK, so he loses time for raising money. No problem, really, because Rossi can line up a couple million dollars in a month and treble it by September, which is plenty of time for a massive television campaign in a statewide race.
Considering how much attention he garners already as the much-feared potential candidate in newspapers and blogs, why pay for something you can get for free.
Isn’t that what Democrats are criticizing him for? Using his name to improve his well-being?
It seems like he’s got a hit political performance going before the curtain rises.
Act II: A crowded stage
Democratic Reps. Al O’Brien of Mountlake Terrace and Mark Ericks of Bothell won’t be returning to the Legislature in 2011.
O’Brien is retiring, and Ericks is in line to be the next U.S. marshal in Western Washington.
There’s no shortage of Democrats and Republicans looking to fill their seats in the 1st Legislative District.
So far 10 people — seven Democrats and three Republicans — formed committees to conduct campaigns. Some might drop out and others drop in before the formal period for candidate filing opens June 7.
As of now, here’s how the crowd is divided:
O’Brien’s seat: Democrats Nicholas Carlson, Vincent Demiero, Judy Janes, Sherry Krainick and Derek Stanford and Republican Dennis Richter.
Ericks seat: Democrat Luis Moscoso and Republican Heidi Munson.
Undecided on which seat to pursue: Democrat Kirstin Haugen and Republican Jack Hawes.
Act III: The petitions thicken
Voters are pursuing initiatives at a record setting pace this political season.
The Secretary of State’s office has reported the filing of 77 initiatives which topples the previous high of 60 filed in 2003.
At just $5 a pop it may be the best political buy in the state.
Ask professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman of Mukilteo. He isn’t shy about filing initiatives — 16 this year alone. He’s pushing one, Initiative 1053, which would reimpose a requirement for a two-thirds majority vote in the Legislature to raise taxes.
He’s been getting signatures on petitions for awhile. So too have those wanting to legalize marijuana use for adults and create an income tax for the wealthy.
Very soon, you should bump into people with petitions for initiatives to change workers compensation insurance, to repeal new taxes on candy, soda pop and beer and to get the state out of the business of selling hard liquor.
Carry a pen.
These folks need to turn in signatures of 241,153 registered voters by July 2 to get a spot on the November ballot.
Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
