Dino Rossi had said for months that he doesn’t want to run for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Maria Cantwell. Throughout the recounts for the governor’s race and the legal challenge that stretched the election from November into June, he repeated his unwillingness whenever the topic came up.

Most members of the state’s news media took him at his word. Rossi is a reasonable guy, as state senators go, and when someone with young kids says he doesn’t want to uproot his family and cart them off to the other Washington or have a bicoastal home life, it’s pretty easy to see the point, even for the rapacious media hordes.

About the only folks who seemed unable to take “No” for an answer were the U.S. Senate Republicans. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., had urged him to run, promising to help him raise some money, and given her rousing receptions at some state GOP conventions, that was a bankable promise.

Sorry Mrs. Dole, et al, Rossi said last week. No dice.

Maybe the reason Dole and others hung onto hopes was that they operate under the D.C. rules of engagement, in which a person who answers the “Are you running?” question with a “no” really means “maybe,” and a person who says “maybe” really means “yes.”

(If you say “yes,” you become the front-runner, which is synonymous with roadkill. But that’s a whole different discussion.)

So those folks were likely the only ones surprised by Rossi’s announcement Friday that he won’t – really, no-kidding, no-tag-backs, King’s hex to infinity – run for the Senate.

Republicans in this Washington have to be disheartened, if not surprised, because their most recent polling showed Rossi as the only R leading Cantwell in a straight matchup. Other named possibilities – state GOP Chairman Chris Vance, former Spokane Rep. George Nethercutt, former Bellevue Rep. Jennifer Dunn and former Seattle Rep. Rick White – not only trail Cantwell but allow her to reach or beat the 50 percent mark.

But there is one upside for the GOP to Rossi bowing out once and for all. They can now solidify the message trailing candidates always use: that poll results some 15 months before an election don’t mean a thing.

Political memo 1

Here’s a reminder to anyone considering a run for local office. Next week is the week you file as a candidate.

That includes people running for city council in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Airway Heights, or dozens of other cities and towns around Washington state.

In the city of Spokane, the controversy over Mayor Jim West and a possible recall seems to have sucked much of the oxygen out of the political arena. People who are thinking about it, but haven’t decided, should strap on the O2 tank for a few minutes and figure out what they’re going to do.

Political memo 2

Here’s a reminder to anyone who has already decided to run for office. Keep your darn yard signs off the state right of way.

That reminder comes courtesy of the state Department of Transportation, which adds that such signs aren’t just unsightly, they’re illegal, because they pose a traffic hazard. Putting up a sign on private property adjoining a state road or highway is OK, providing you have the owner’s permission and the sign isn’t bigger than 32 square feet. That’s a 4-by-8 piece of plywood, a sometimes popular sign medium, for the spatially challenged. Of course, if you don’t have the owner’s permission, they can remove it at will.

Don’t know if it’s the right of way? Here are a few hints, courtesy of the DOT:

Utility poles are usually in the right of way, so if the sign is between the pole and the road, it’s coming down, courtesy of the department. If it’s on the pole, it will probably be taken down by the utility, which probably hates people pounding nails in its timber.

Fences often separate private property from the right of way. If it’s between the fence and the road … well, if you don’t get the idea by now, you might want to rethink that decision to run for office.