Dreaming of one shade darker of red

While some Republicans are clinging to hope that Dino Rossi will get another shot at the governor’s mansion with the help of some activist judge or a legislative miracle, others have already begun to figure out how he lost.

This is similar to the game of “How did we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?” that Democrats played for six weeks during the recount and the re-recount, when Christine Gregoire was behind. Apparently it’s a function of being ahead, then falling behind.

While Democrats could look at the Puget Sound base and shake their heads over Gregoire’s poor showing in Pierce and Snohomish counties, Republicans might be wondering if Eastern Washington coulda, woulda, shoulda been just one shade darker of red.

It’s a question first posed by Spokane Mayor Jim West when Gregoire went up by 129 votes in the manual recount: Couldn’t Rossi supporters have flogged another 130 votes out of Spokane County? Sure he won, but what if he had won just a little bit bigger?

Consider that Republican Cathy McMorris beat Democrat Don Barbieri by bigger margins than Rossi beat Gregoire in all 11 counties in Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District. In 10 of those counties, if all the folks who voted for McMorris had also voted for Rossi, he’d be picking out the music for the inaugural ball.

In Spokane County alone, McMorris picked up 7,500 more votes than Rossi. There were also about 6,000 folks who voted for George W. Bush who didn’t vote for Rossi, and about 8,000 who went for Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna who didn’t go for Dino.

If he had made the sale to just half of those ticket splitters, he’d have won without a recount. If he’d have picked up one more Republican in each of the county’s 286 precincts, he’d be up by more than 150 votes.

The GOP could be talking about this one for a long time – that is to say, an even longer time than they already have.

The drumbeat goes on

Republicans and Democrats are both trying to create the appearance of public support for their respective positions on the gubernatorial marathon.

Republicans are asking for calls and e-mails to the Legislature, and lending support to an online petition drive that calls for the Legislature to mandate a do-over election.

Democrats are calling on their supporters to call or e-mail legislators to urge them to do no such thing.

The revote petition supporters claimed last week to have 150,000 names on its sheets. Don’t know if those names have been subjected to the kind of scrutiny the GOP wants for the voter lists from the election, but we’d be shocked if at least a few people didn’t sign the petitions more than once.

Of course, the numbers that matter for the Legislature in this whole drama are 2 and 5, which are the majorities the Democrats hold in the Senate and the House, respectively. But to underscore how serious they are about this, Republicans will hold a rally at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, which is the day the Lege is expected to certify the election.

Sorry, but for those of you out there tired of the whole mess, there’s no one setting up an online petition or an e-mail effort that calls for both sides to pipe down.

We’re collectively unique

If the Gregoire margin holds, voters in Spokane and the rest of Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District will share a distinction unique in America, colleague Jim Kershner reminds us.

No other voters can say that they are represented by a governor, two U.S. senators and a U.S. representative who are all women.

California and Maine have two women in the Senate, but neither has a governor who’s a woman – or even a girlie man.

Check the dance card

While the Republicans keep searching for a way to keep people from using the words “Gov. Gregoire,” plans for the inaugural ball have continued apace. The Gregoire campaign has even sent out an invite – by e-mail no less! What would Emily Post say? – to the soiree. It’s at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Legislative Building of the Capitol Campus, with tickets at $75 per.

That raises several questions that we’re not afraid to ask, such as does Rossi get an invite? And if he does, should he accept?

And if he accepts, should he dance with Gregoire?

And if he does, who gets to lead?