Blair Butterworth, who helped Gary Locke get elected governor, and then re-elected, counsels candidates to answer this question at the start of a campaign: All things being equal, who wins?
If it’s the opponent, the candidate had better cook up a strategy to change the dynamic.
For Dino Rossi, the answer was Christine Gregoire. It still is.
That’s why this week is important. Three times in the next eight days, Rossi and Gregoire will share a stage, debating their ideas and differences, including next Sunday when they duel on KIRO-TV in Seattle, an event co-sponsored by The Herald.
Also this week, hundreds of thousands of voters statewide will receive their absentee ballots, including 202,000 in Snohomish County. By week’s end, many will be cast, some voters potentially moved by what they see and hear during the debates.
Rossi can’t waste these opportunities to have undecided voters toss him a second look.
“It is really important for us to do a good job,” Rossi spokeswoman Janelle Guthrie said.
Gregoire’s team knows that.
“He needs this week badly,” Gregoire spokesman Morton Brilliant said.
With the stakes set, here’s a bit of what to expect in the matchups.
These two will dish out their dreams and schemes clearly, but with contrasting styles.
Rossi is the chummy conversationalist, pitching ideas in bumper-sticker slogans. He’ll focus on turning the economy around by freeing companies of excess rules. He will say that he’s “running against the defenders of the status quo,” will be “governor of the whole state of Washington” and plans to “change the culture” of Olympia.
Gregoire is the friendly formalist, presenting plans in full paragraphs. She, too, will talk about rejuvenating the economy and creating jobs by “leading the nation” in industries. She will say she’s not a millionaire, just “the daughter of a short-order cook” who grew up to become attorney general.
Sparks will fly, with each accusing the other of exaggerations, distortions. When it happens, the happy faces disappear and the aggrieved party will be hard-pressed to hide the disgust.
A piqued Rossi rolls his eyes, tilts his head upward ever so slightly as a “there you go again” smirk emerges on his pursed lips. An angered Gregoire is visually arresting as her back stiffens, her eyes widen and her gaze becomes a glare.
The debates will not turn the race on its head. That would require a true October surprise. Nonetheless, voters so charged up on the presidential campaign might for the first time be paying attention to this much-ignored race. That’s a supersized might.
“The biggest worry,” Guthrie said, “is not enough people will be watching.”
That won’t change the answer to the original question.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield’s column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be heard at 7 a.m. Monday on the “Morning Show” on KSER (90.7 FM). He can be reached at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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