It’s not just Rossi vs. Gregoire
There are two rematches being proposed for next year’s gubernatorial election.
Almost anyone not living in a cave knows about one: Dino Rossi versus Chris Gregoire, the gubernatorial grudge match to end all grudge matches. Of course if Rossi wins next year, Gregoire could come back in 2012 and they could settle this with the best two out of three.
But that’s not the only one. Rossi is looking at a rematch in the primary.
Yes, Rossi did have a primary in 2004, even though he was the Republican party’s anointed candidate. John W. Aiken Jr., of Medical Lake, a construction inspector for the City of Spokane, ran for the GOP nomination back then, and is trying to let folks know he’s doing it again.
In fact, he arguably got in the race first, if one believes – as the state Public Disclosure Commission said recently – that Rossi didn’t really become a candidate until mid-October of this year.
Aiken filed in September. He’s not the first, by the way. Javier Lopez, of Lacey, Wash., filed in 2005. But Lopez apparently thinks he can win the job by spending no more than $3,500 on his campaign. Aiken is not so blindingly optimistic and signed up to spend whatever he can raise, and file full reports.
Aiken also has what every real candidate in the 21st century needs: a Web site. His is www.jwaiken.com.
On it, you can find his platform – which includes doing things to bring down the high cost of living and reviving the timber industry – and of course a way to contribute online. One statistic Aiken mentions in his latest press release is that he finished fifth out of 12 candidates of all parties for votes in the 2004 primary.
That’s true, but there are two things to consider. One is he finished very far behind Rossi: 33,104 votes to 444,337 votes. And he also finished third, out of three, among Republicans. So it would appear Aiken has his work cut out for him.
All aboard
Eastern Washington residents don’t usually think much about the state ferries, except when the fleet is going to cost them more money, which it apparently will if Gov. Gregoire’s plan gets approved next year.
Everyone should brace for grim ferry tales coming out of the upcoming session. With the state’s three oldest ferries pulled from service because of questions about their seaworthiness and much unhappiness on the affected Port Townsend-Keystone run, Gregoire wants $100 million in next year’s supplemental budget to build replacements.
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation said that while Gregoire’s proposal is a step toward resolving the crisis, it’s little more than a Band-Aid on a problem she and her predecessors have been ignoring for decades.
“State officials have known since 1956 – remember Elvis, hula hoops and Sputnik – that the Steel Electric ferries were unsafe and didn’t meet federal safety standards,” foundation President Bob Williams said.
Note to those sticklers for detail: You are correct that Sputnik was actually in 1957, and hula hoops weren’t really marketed until 1958. But you get the point. It was the ‘50s, OK?
Makeup test, anyone?
Washington state did rather poorly in the State Economic Competitiveness Index, which may not be as bad as your teenagers doing badly on their SATs or you showing up with a bad credit bureau score.
Still, it’s a regular measure of where the state is compared to other states. We’re No. 31.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rossi thinks that’s shameful, and that it’s Gregoire’s fault. When he becomes governor, Rossi said in a press release last week, he’s going to change all that by cutting taxes, cutting spending and making it easier for businesses to succeed.
But before anyone gets too worried about Washington flunking out of the competition among the states, a perusal of the full report shows a couple of things Rossi doesn’t mention in his press release.
One is that Washington does much better, finishing 11th out of 50, in something the group calls the Economic Performance Rankings, which measure the growth in personal income, people coming to the state from elsewhere, and job growth.
The other is that Washington is tops in the nation on several key tax measures, like personal income and corporate income tax rates (because it has none), then plummets to near the bottom of the pile in the key areas where it makes up for that, sales and other taxes (as in business and occupation).
One place it really gets hammered, though, is something that neither Gregoire nor Rossi can do anything about, unless they want to go against what’s generally know as “the will of the voters.”
Washington ranks 50th for the state minimum wage, because it’s the highest in the nation.
But that’s a result of a statewide initiative. Seems doubtful that Rossi, who says he wants to be the governor of the people, is going to try to change that.