In politics, as in military campaigns, victory has many fathers. That may explain the self-congratulatory press release from supporters of I-594. . . 

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. . . The expanded background check ballot measure had so much cash that it moved some money into a separate “Victory Fund” PAC, and endorsed 22 candidates who shared similar views on the issue.

Twenty of them won, prompting the group to claim a success rate of 90 percent (it’s actually 91 percent, but who’s counting). Not mentioned in the press release was that many of those candidates faced only token opposition, and two were running unopposed.

A final note on the gun initiatives: Some commenters on the newspaper’s website argue I-591, which opposed tougher state laws for background checks, carried more counties with more territory and should be considered the winner while I-594, where opposition covered more ground should be the loser, based on geography.

This goes beyond the sore loserdom to the various basics of a republic. States aren’t set up to have places with more square mileage dictate to places with less.

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