GOP: No plan B if Rossi doesn’t run…
Three months ago at a moderate Republicans conference in Wenatchee, congressman Doc Hastings seemed to sum up the mood of the crowd for the ‘08 gubernatorial race: “I sure hope you run, Dino.”
Hope is what the GOP is relying on, according to this story from The Olympian’s Brad Shannon. GOP chairman Luke Esser told Shannon that there’s no Dave Reichert plan B if Rossi decides he won’t run again:
“…Rossi is the one horse in the barn…There is no doubt it would be a scramble, which kind of motivates me and everyone at the state party to do everything we can to get the party in shape and get Dino to say yes,” Esser said Friday.
“We cross our fingers a lot and knock on wood all the time. We’ve gotten pretty superstitious.”
As the story notes, the Democrats believe that Rossi’s already campaigning, using his Forward Washington foundation and town-hall-style meetings as a sort of stealth campaign under the radar of state public disclosure laws.
If Rossi doesn’t run, Democratic spokesman Kelly Steele told the Olympian, the GOP’s situation is bleak indeed. Or, as Steele put it:
“Screwed.”
* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Eye On Olympia." Read all stories from this blog