As previously mentioned in Spin Control, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has been given command of GOP forces counterattacking Democrats on the “War on Women.”

Along with her appearance yesterday on Chris Matthews, she also appeared on CNN's John King U.S.A. show.

The message is essentially the same, as it has been for more than a month, that the war is a “Democratic myth” designed to capture women's votes in 2012 after losing them in 2010, and that women really care about the economy.  Compare the two clips, if you are so inclined, to see which matchup she handled better.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, was put on the defensive Monday by Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball.

McMorris Rodgers, who has become the GOP's chief spokeswoman against attacks on the party related to women's issues, defended the House leadership's position against adding protections for lesbians and others in the Violence Against Women Act, which expired last year and is under consideration for reauthorization by Congress.

She said the House GOP leadership is committed to the act but not as the reauthorization has been approved by the Senate. The version approved by the Senate includes the protections as well as extra visas for female immigrants facing abuse.

Everyone thinking about running for political office this year, take note: You have less than a week to make up your mind. Everyone talking about running and acting like they’re already a full-fledged candidate, take note: It’s not official until you file your paperwork and pay your fee.

Candidate filing week starts Monday morning, and ends when the office where that paperwork and fee must be deposited closes on Friday. Here’s a tricky part – because of budget cutbacks, some county elections offices close as early as noon on Fridays, others at 4 p.m., and some stay open until 5 p.m. Anyone planning to wait until the very last minute to build suspense would be wise to make a phone call to the appropriate office and check when that last minute is.

For some positions that’s the county elections office in the county seat; for others, it’s the Secretary of State’s office in Olympia. How do you know what goes where?

Go inside the blog to read more, or to comment.

Washington candidates are scrambling to announce endorsements this week as filing week approaches.

The gubernatorial candidates are taking turns touting nods from “first responders.” Former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, the likely Democratic nominee, is in Spokane today to pick up the endorsement of Fire Fighters Local 29. They'll have a formal laying on of the hands at 2:15 p.m. at the union hall, 911 E. Baldwin.

Attorney General Rob McKenna, the all-but-certain Republican nominee, announced Monday that he'd been endorsed by the Washington State Troopers Association.

The State Labor Council weighed in over the weekend with its endorsements, which were, depending on one's point of view, strongly pro-Democrat or anti-Republican. The council is backing Rich Cowan against U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in the 5th Congressional District, and picked a D in eight of the other nine districts. For District 3 in Southwest Washington, they didn't have a good Democratic option, so they came out opposed to Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler.

In Spokane Legislative races, the labor council showed an ability to shift quickly to the winds of Sen. Lisa Brown's surprise retirement last week. endorsing Andy Billig for the now open Senate seat and Marcus Riccelli for Billig's former House seat. One problem with the quick turnaround: They misspelled Riccelli's name. Also on their list: Amy Biviano in the 4th District and Dennis Dellwo in the 6th.

Speaking of that potentially crowded 3rd District House race, Democratic leaders seem eager to jump in line behind Riccelli. Brown endorsed her former aide this morning, as did former state Sen. Chris Marr, former Reps. Alex Wood, Jeff Gombosky, John Driscoll and Don Barlow, and most recent past county party chairpersons.

That's a pretty quick closing of the ranks, considering the seat became open less than a week ago, and at least two other candidates — Spokane businessman John Waite and Spokane City Councilman Jon Snyder — have expressed interest in filing.

Filing week, by the way, begins Monday morning.

If you tune in to NBC’s “Meet the Press” this weekend, you’ll see a familiar face from the Inland Northwest getting some network air time.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Spokane Republican serving as vice chair of the House GOP Conference, will be among the guests on the nationally televised news show, which airs in Spokane at 8 a.m. Sunday on KHQ TV. Topics include the presidential race, the economy, immigration and the continuing debate over what some are calling the “war on women.”

McMorris Rodgers, seeking a fifth congressional term, is the Washington state chair of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and has led the Republican rebuttal against Democratic attacks that the GOP’s agenda harms women.

Other guests in the panel discussion include Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow, and Republican strategist Alex Castellanos.

As a political novice running against a member of the congressional leadership, Rich Cowan said he hopes to use what some would consider his weakness against what many would consider Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ strength.
“This is the worst Congress ever, and she’s part of the leadership of it,” said Cowan, who opened a campaign headquarters Tuesday in Spokane.
  

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers may be a longshot for the veep nod as today's story explains, but she was the designated hitter for the GOP this morning on CNN's State of the Union news magazine when it talked about the “war on women.”

She and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., were interviewed by Candy Crowley

Former Spokane Mayor Mary Verner won't challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers this year.

Verner emailed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Jan. 30 revealing her decision not to run, said Dwight Pelz, chairman of the Washington State Democratic Party.

Verner had talked to Democratic officials late last year and early this year about a possible run.

McMorris Rodgers has used a possible a Verner challenge in fund-raising letters.

“Former Spokane Mayor Mary Verner is considering a run against me, too. My former aide, David Condon, defeated her last November, so we should expect she'll pull no punches in trying to defeat me also,” McMorris Rodgers' letter from March 14 says.

(That's a pretty interesting analysis of Verner's mayoral campaign, which some might argue barely lifted a finger in response to Condon's effective campaign ads.)

Verner's decision about Congress isn't surprising. A Democratic candidate for Congress in eastern Washington would have to win big in the city of Spokane in order to win. Given that she lost a city-wide election so recently, Democratic leaders weren't eager about her candidacy and have lined up mostly behind Rich Cowan, the founder of North by Northwest, a local film production company.

Asked in an email about McMorris Rodgers' fund-raising letter and if she might run for office this fall, Verner said that she is “keeping her options open.”

Of course, Verner could be referring to other offices, such as county commission. No Democrat has announced for Spokane County Commission District 2 (Mark Richard's district), and that's where Verner lives.

Gregoire signs Health Insurance Exchange bill.

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire and other Democratic officials marked Friday’s second anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act – which Republicans prefer to call Obamacare – with a signing ceremony of their own.

Gregoire signed legislation to help set up health insurance exchanges in Washington, a system that would help individuals and small businesses shop for medical plans by 2014. . .

To read the rest of this post, or to comment, click here to go inside the blog

Yet still another website is doing a post on the prospect of U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers getting the No. 2 spot on the GOP national ticket this fall. This time it's Human Events, Powerful Conservative Voices.

It has the standard bio information that's familiar to most Spin Control readers, or at least the ones in our main readership area of the Inland Northwest. It talks about her spot in House Republican leadership. It also suggests the whole thing was “conceived in cyberspace”, being first mentioned online, then picked up in print in Washington, D.C., news outlets.

It also contains the standard “it's an honor to be considered or even mentioned” comment that is de rigeur for any potential veep candidate at this stage. What it doesn't ask — or at least answer in print — is, “Have you talked to Mitt Romney about this?”

Which seems a logical question, considering McMorris Rodgers is the Washington state chairwoman for the Romney campaign, and Mitt was in the state just last week in advance of the precinct caucuses.

Spin Control did ask that question on Saturday night, in discussing Romney's win in Washington with McMorris Rodgers. The answer: No, they haven't talked about it at all.

Which is about what you'd expect, considering that it is March.

So let's start a new meme: HBO's movie about the 2008 campaign, “Game Change”, has Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin. If McMorris Rodgers is selected as the GOP vice presidential candidate, and the 2012 campaign is made into a movie, who will be cast as Cathy?

Click the comment link to weigh in.

No. 6 in line? McMorris Rodgers at a recent press conference.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is ranked No. 6 on a list of 10 possible Republican vice presidential candidates by a GOP leaning election blog, Race 4 2012.

It describes her as “the biggest potential dark horse candidate” and plunks her down between Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.  It also commends her “gravitas.”

As nice as it is to have a Washington congresswoman on someone's short list, it should be noted that this blog doesn't even seem to know that the state's precinct caucuses are being held this weekend. So we'll take their Veep list with a grain of salt.

OLYMPIA – In this year’s volatile Republican presidential campaign, Mitt Romney’s success in the March 3 Washington caucuses may depend on how well he does in the two contests earlier in the week, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chairwoman of his state campaign, said Wednesday.
“It’s up and down,” McMorris Rodgers said in an interview with reporters. “Some of it depends on how things turn out in Michigan and Arizona.”
Those states have primaries on Tuesday; the Washington precinct caucuses are next Saturday…

To read the rest of this item, or to comment, click here to continue inside the blog.
  

Spokane attorney Dick Leland is the new district director for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

The congresswoman's office made the announcement today that Leland, who worked for the Farm Credit System before becoming a lawyer, is her pick to replace the former director of  her Eastern Washington offices, David Condon.

Condon stepped down last May to run for mayor of Spokane. That worked out so well for  him that he is now otherwise occupied.

A political blog in the other Washington, The Daily Caller,  suggests a certain congresswoman from this Washington could have a shot at the No. 2 spot on the GOP presidential ticket this fall.

The blog quotes a Republican strategist, Kellyanne Conway, as saying Cathy McMorris Rodgers would fit the bill as a vice presidential selection that “needs to be a surprise, but not a shocker.”

The blog goes on to recount the parts of McMorris Rodgers bio that would make her a good pick on paper: daughter of fruit farmers, first in her family to attend college, married to a retired naval pilot, only woman to have two kids while in Congress, founder of the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus after her first child, Cole, was born with that condition, leadership post in the House Republican Caucus, from a Western state…

To read the rest of this post, or to comment, click here to go inside the blog.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, vice chair of the House Republican Conference, gave Fox News a preview of the GOP's rebuttle to tonight's expected themes in President Obama's State of the Union address. The congresswoman from Spokane took repeated shots at Obama's rejection of the Keystone pipeline, saying America needs the private sector jobs.

“At a time when we need to be putting Americans back to work, the President, unfortunately, is saying ‘no’ to American energy and ‘no’ to American jobs,” McMorris Rodgers told Fox News commentator Bill Hemmer.  “That’s the wrong answer.

Here's a clip of the TV appearance:

The president is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address at 6 p.m. PT tonight, and is expected to call for higher tax rates on America's millionaires.

A former dean of Gonzaga University Law School is among Democrats considering a campaign against Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers next year.
Dan Morrissey, who served as dean from 2001-04 and now teaches corporate law at the school, said he is exploring his prospects for a race and expects to decide by next month.
“I’m testing the waters,” he said, which includes speaking to party gatherings in Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District and discussions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a group that recruits and raises money for candidates.
 Morrissey, 63, is one of several Democrats that party sources have named as a potential challenger to McMorris Rodgers, a member of the House GOP leadership who would be seeking a fifth term in 2012.
Also among the potential candidates: outgoing Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, longtime Spokane television reporter Daryl Romeyn, who won the Democratic primary in the 5th Congressional District last year but lost to McMorris Rodgers in the general election, and Rich Cowan, chief executive officer of North by Northwest productions.
Whoever runs could face an uphill battle…

The campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, Romney's campaign announced today.

McMorris Rodgers will serve as Romney's chairwoman in Washington, his campaign said in a news release.

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers smiled, hesitated and then dodged a question that could have earned her plenty of press – and grief: She declined an invitation to endorse a Republican presidential candidate today.

Eastern Washington’s representative and member of the U.S. House’s Republican leadership team was wrapping up her appearance at the Spokane City Forum when an anonymous questioner quizzed McMorris-Rodgers’ preferences.

She didn’t take the bait.

We’ll have to wait, perhaps after a clear front-runner emerges next year. No surprises there.

McMorris Rodgers revisited her standard talking points, including cutting federal regulations, slashing federal spending, repealing federal health care reform, and passing a balanced-budget amendment.

These City Forums are a worthwhile $10 affair. The speakers are important, local and relevant. Check it out at www.spokanecityforum.org
  

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is on the record supporting the Community Development Block Grant program, yet she voted for a bill in February that would have slashed that spending by about 62 percent.

Why? We were unable to interview her or her spokesman yesterday for today's article on block grant funding. Today, we reached McMorris Rodgers spokesman, Todd Winer. He explained that the bill she voted for “was not going to become law.”

“It was to keep the process moving,” he said.

Asked if that meant she voted for a bill that she didn't support, Winer said McMorris Rodger, in fact, did support it. He noted that the block grant program was one small portion of the budget bill. He said that given the massive federal debt some good programs may have to face cuts to avoid “a Greek-like debt crisis in the next few years.”

“She thought the entire bill was moving us in a positive direction,” Winer said. “The most important thing for her was to get a bill to reduce the total amount of government spending.”

The final budget deal, which McMorris Rodgers also voted for, cut the block grant program by about 16 percent.

The budget votes in the early part of the year were made in the shadow of a potential government shutdown (as opposed to the budget votes this summer that were made in the shadow of a potential government default).

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' office released a full schedule of public meetings she'll have over the next week, finishing with a town hall meeting on Aug. 31 in Spokane.

Before that, she'll be having smaller meetings her staff calls “Coffee with Cathy” in Walla Walla, Clarkston, Newport and Davenport. Those meetings are open to the public with invitations sent to people who have contacted her congressional office on different topics.

For a full schedule of the meetings, click here go inside the blog.