Gop Leaders Ease Up On Linda Smith Nethercutt And Rick White Waiting To See If Jennifer Dunn Wants To Run For Senate

Faced with the possibility Rep. Linda Smith could be their U.S. Senate nominee next year, some key mainstream Republicans are softening their criticism of the conservative maverick.

Three other members of Washington state’s House delegation also are contemplating the race for the seat now held by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who is expected to seek a second term.

Reps. George Nethercutt and Rick White are waiting to see whether Rep. Jennifer Dunn wants to run and probably will defer to her if she does.

Nethercutt and White suggested in interviews this past week that Smith may be a better campaigner than lawmaker, but they declined to offer any stiffer criticism of the right-wing congresswoman known for crossing House Speaker New Gingrich.

“I don’t think you want a candidate who is divisive,” Nethercutt said.

“You want someone who can bring together Republican voters, Democratic voters and independent voters. I’ll reserve judgment on who can best do that,” he said.

Does Smith’s reputation run contrary to that description?

“That may be,” Nethercutt said. “If you look at Linda’s history, the record is out there, for better or worse. She has got to decide what kind of campaign she is going to run.”

White said Smith’s reputation as a boat-rocker probably boosts her image among most voters.

“They probably like someone who is an iconoclast,” he said.

“But it sometimes makes it harder to get something done once you’ve won the election and that may be part of the reason Linda thinks moving to the Senate is a good idea. She may feel that having taken some of those positions in the House, it’s going be hard to get much done,” he said.

More telling perhaps is the lay of the land according to Tony Williams, chief of staff to Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash.

Gorton is much more closely aligned with Dunn than Smith, and Williams, a party regular with extensive experience in Northwest races, believes Dunn would make the strongest candidate.

But Williams had nothing but good things to say about Smith’s chances should Dunn skip the race, as many party insiders expect she will do.

“I’m not going to dump on her,” Williams said. “You are foolish to underestimate Linda Smith. I think there is a very good chance she could be our nominee.

“She certainly has an independent streak that on occasion can rub people the wrong way. However, this is a candidate who won a write-in campaign. We were just amazed by the level of excitement for that campaign. She has the ability to energize the troops and get people excited.”

Williams dismissed any suggestion that Smith might be too conservative to win a statewide race.

“She reaches a very interesting section of voters. It is conservative Republicans, angry Perot-reform voters and I think she can appeal to working Democrats who like sort of her feistiness and willingness to take on and side with the underdog,” he said.

Dunn is trying to decide how to best serve the state - from a position in House leadership or as a U.S. senator, her spokesman Rob Nichols said Friday.

If Dunn doesn’t run, Nethercutt said, “I would look at it carefully.

“I have said basically the threshold issue is whether or not she would run,” he said.

White said he has seriously considered a Senate bid, but that his primary focus to “accomplish some things in the House over the next few years.

“On the other hand, I do think it is an opportunity for our party. I want be sure our party takes the best possible shot at winning that seat.”