Could a nude photo of Dino Rossi have won him the election in 2004?
It didn’t hurt and likely helped Scott Brown.
Other than his endlessly viewed (and admired) centerfold physique, the sensation of Senator-elect Brown in 2010 evokes memories of and parallels with the marvel of the Rossi campaign when he ran for Washington governor in 2004.
Each is a Republican guided by a conservative compass who seeded their campaigns as senators in state legislatures steered of late by Democrats.
Each sought seats long held by Democrats not available because of retirement (Gary Locke) and death (Edward Kennedy).
Their opponents were women and their state’s attorney general. Martha Coakley and Chris Gregoire were also their party’s anointed stars, heirs apparent for the contested post and the heavily favored juggernauts in the race.
Similarities mounted in the nature of the campaigns.
Rossi and Brown were the better salesmen of ideas and initiatives. What they said sounded clearer to the decisive bloc of voters independent of and emotionally detached from the two major political parties.
They painted themselves as agents of change against the wielders of excessive power and talked of ending Democrats’ sense of entitlement to the position being pursued.
The two gentlemen paid minimal cost for embracing positions on abortion and same-sex marriage that ran counter to their female opponents and most of the electorate.
And Rossi and Brown proved immensely more charismatic than Gregoire and Coakley, each of whom struggled inexplicably for connection with voters.
In the end, Brown went from 30 points down in the polls to 6 points up at the ballot box.
Rossi erased a double-digit deficit in the last week of the campaign to lead after the first two tallies of ballots before falling 133 votes short in the hand recount.
He made up so much ground in those final days, odds are he’d have won with a recount-proof margin had Election Day come 24 hours later.
It ended when it did and Gregoire won.
Does Rossi — who by the way is the same age as Brown — wish a snapshot of his exposed abs and, umm, shielded loins found its way into the conversation of that campaign? Are there any photos of such public exposures he kept wrapped up?
He laughed hard. Politics is show business for the unattractive, he said, quickly adding that no such pictures exist
“I wouldn’t have done it anyway. I always kept my gear on,” he said.
Rossi is getting bombarded with more serious inquiries this week. Friends are phoning and e-mailing and wondering what with Brown’s success and all the parallels with 2004 might Dino be sizing up another run for office.
There is a U.S. senate seat at stake this year, the one held by Democrat Patty Murray.
No way, he said.
And there is nothing exposed in that position.
Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at www.heraldnet.com. He can be heard at 8:15 a.m. Mondays on “The Morning Show” on KSER (90.7 FM). Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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