It’s been clear for a few days now that Dino Rossi was ready to run for Senate, and, as expected, today was the official launch day:
In a five-minute video posted to his web site, www.dinorossi.com, Rossi reaches out to voters upset with the direction the country is headed, citing rising unemployment, plummeting housing values, “wasteful” stimulus plans and “massive new debt as far as the eye can see.”
In language straight out of Ronald Reagan’s playbook, Rossi says “America’s best days” lie ahead if we “unleash the power of the people” and restore government to its “proper, more limited role….”
Rossi says he’d start by “replacing the Pelosi-Reid health care bill with something that will actually reduce costs and increase access,” though he gave no specifics.
Before facing off against Patty Murray, though, Rossi needs to survive the state’s top-two primary. State Sen. Don Benton was considered the more-or-less establishment frontrunner before Rossi’s entry; he’s a friend of Rossi and is likely to share the same pool of votes and donors, so he may be ready to bail out. Rossi’s bigger problem is likelier to be Clint Didier, who has been explicitly courting the Tea Party vote (which doesn’t have much goodwill left for Rossi… and whom Rossi doesn’t seem too interested in, as he spent last Friday hinting about his plans not with them but rather in front of the Mainstream Republicans of Washington) and who has a freshly-minted Sarah Palin endorsement.
With many polls giving Murray a lead in the single digits over Rossi, Swing State Project is moving this race to “Lean Democratic” from our list of Races to Watch.
Is anyone else still getting the old thank-you/business promotion letter when you open his website?
Approve/disapprove?
But still, Rossi is a two-time loser and Patti Murray is a more popular and stronger politician than Gregoire, so I’m not worried about Murray losing.
Having said that, the Leans ranking is a good call.
round 1 should be something like a poll with a massive sample–assuming the other strong Republicans drop out.
She doesn’t have Blumenthal’s lead, and her opponent is of a higher caliber.
She still should win, if she doesn’t make more mistakes than Dino. But Dino (at present) has a relatively moderate image, (and if he raises the money) I can see him running somewhat ahead of McCain’s ’08 total — I could see a 51-46 result.
I think Murray is a shrewd campaigner with a huge war chest and the support of Democrats, unions, and Boeing (the latter being a huge player in Washington state.) The tea party will not be enthusiastic about Rossi if he is the R nominee, making any chance he has at taking this seat very small.
i would be shocked if murray doesn’t keep her seat come fall.
also, who else expects Ras to come out with a poll on Washington Senate later today/tomorrow? I’m sure the numbers will be something like Rossi 44 Murray 40
wasn’t he the guy who refused to be listed as ‘republican’ on the ballot last time?
Showing him up 51-32?
at the “citing…plummeting housing values” thing. This guy is like Dan Coats, looks good in early polling but has weaknesses out the wazoo.
Rossi is a credible candidate, no doubt, and if this really is a very Republican year, it could be close. But he’s a two-time loser running in a federal election in a Democratic state. Voters are much more likely to cross parties in a governor’s race than a senate race. Further, Patty Murray is a better politician than Chris Gregoire.
is that Senator Murray will have to use all of her campaign $ (now at $6 million +) and won’t be able to send some to the DSCC.
It is very doubtful that Rossi can win.
He has angered many Republican activists by waiting too long, he has no money, he will not be able to ever fundraise enough to outspend Senator Murray. He also will now have to answer questions about torturing prisoners and abortion rights, issues that he has largely dodged in the past by saying that they were federal, and not state, issues.
Plus, he has been making his money as of late buying up cheap property that has been foreclosed on. Being a rich realtor is probably not the best occupation to have when running for public office right now.
Cornyn really is good at arm-twisting. Too bad for him he had to be NRSC chair during the Year of the Teabagger.
Here’s one former resident of WA who thinks that Rossi is pretty much DOA. He’s been damaged goods since his second run for governor, and just can’t stop shooting himself in the foot – his waiting almost a year before declaring, and declaring a week after giving a speech to his realtor buddies about how to profit off of poor people’s misfortune being perfect examples.
Ultimately, this is going to be another race like Cantwell-McGaverick (2006) – sleazy Republican business leader vs. fairly popular (and accomplished) Democratic incumbent. The difference is that Rossi pretty much oozes sleaze, while McGaverick’s was a lot more subtle. And, as others have noted, lots of people have made up their mind (for whatever reason) that they hate Gregoire. That doesn’t mean they like Rossi, or that Rossi has a chance in hell of upsetting the state’s most powerful incumbent absent a 1980-style Republican blowout.
Starting one’s campaign by hosting a video on a website is never a good start (Plus it started 25 minutes late).
He did not hold a press conference, there was no rally of hundreds or even dozens of enthusiastic supporters. I doubt that there is very little enthusiasm for him running.
It would appear that he will attempt to skate thru the primary by answering as few questions as possible. Since he is the most well known of the GOP candidates, it will probably work.
If I were Senator Murray, I would immediately “welcome” Rossi by challenging him to several debates pre primary with several of the other GOP contenders. And I would have the debates, not in Seattle, but in Spokane, Vancouver and somewhere north of Seattle.
If this will have an impact on the WA-3 race. Rossi is very popular in southwest Washington.
I know he probably has some campaign infrastructure left from his failed 04/08 runs for governor, but Patty Murray is a proven fundraiser and campaigner. She’s not going to be a pushover by any means. Also, I don’t see John Cornyn throwing large sums of money at this race if Rossi can’t raise enough money. Still, he’s a much more credible candidate than Clint Didier or Don Benton, so rat’s off to you, John Cornyn.
Is that this spreads the DSCC even thinner. Rossi’s a pretty known commodity to Washington voters and is probably locked in at 47-48% of the vote unless the climate become significantly worse for Murray by election day. But this is one more headache for Bob Menendez to deal with, and makes it harder for the DSCC to play offense in MO, OH, or NC.