The Washington Post (which of course is an expert on the “other” Washington), proclaims the Evergreen State’s senate race as a toss up.  This assumes that both Patty Murray and Dino Rossi survive the new “Top Two” primary and advance to battle in November.  Assuming they do both advance, polls seem to show them as very close among likely voter preference.  While the likeliest scenario is that the two most recognizable names in the race do advance, in this Tea Party year, anything is possible on the Republican side.  While it is easy to discount Paul Akers and Clint Didier, the strong anti-incumbent, and anti-establishment passion among conservative voters could really hurt Rossi. Dino Rossi, among the Republicans, is the establishment figure, despite never having won a state-wide race (or at least making his one win stick…).  Add to that the fact that Rossi is an economic conservative, with a more liberal take on the abortion issue, and Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Clint Didier, and we have an interesting mixture that could bite Rossi. 

If Rossi does manage to join Murray in the rarified air of the “Top Two,” he faces the challenge of energizing the conservative voters who currently back Didier, and/or worship Sarah Palin.  If Rossi cannot corral the Republican Party’s usually reliable Eastern Washington base, he will be in serious trouble.  His best shot is to run against President Obama, not against Murray.  Tuesday night will be interesting…

That having been said, Obama’s choice of Sotomayor makes sense; she is a veteran judge, has a compelling personal history, and in this era of identity politics, the fact she is a female hispanic makes sense.  For more info on the coming confirmation battle, go to:

 http://www.historyguy.com/supremecourt/sonia_sotomayor_supreme_court_appointment.htm

For Governor Gregoire, the timing is perfect, with a highly unpopular budget just passed by the Legislature, most Democratic constituencies in the state unhappy with her (social workers, teacher unions, unions in general, government workers, health care activists, etc.), now is a great time to bail out of a foundering ship of state, and leave the mess to the Lt. Governor, fellow Democrat Brad Owen.  Unless things turn around quickly, and with little pain ( not a likely possibility), Gregoire, should she choose to run for a third term, would likely face a bruising campaign.  With the current Senators from Washington, (Murray and Cantwell), not making noises about retiring, there literally is no where else for this ambitious woman to go.  She has extensive legal experience, served three terms as State Attorney General, and would have the added quality of being, if appointed and confirmed, the only Supreme with elected political experience.  A definite plus if serving in any capacity in Washington City.  Plus, President Obama is a very astute politician, and Washington has firmly been in the Democratic fold in Presidential elections since 1988.  This would be good, quality payback for this state’s firm liberal loyalty.

Washington State would gain advantages from a Gregoire nomination to the Supreme Court as well.  The state has not had a native son (or daughter) on the Supreme Court since William O. Douglas retired in 1975.  Also, given the budget issues mentioned above, a new governor could probably effectively govern better without the baggage of the budget wars recently fougtht in Olympia.  A new Governor Owens would start off fresh, without the leftover detritus that Christine Gregoire will have to deal with the remainder of her term.  If I were the head of the state Democratic Party, I would be actively lobbying the Obama Administration to select Gregoire for all of the above reasons.  Just good politics, you know.

Gregoire has issued the ususal denials, saying things such as ‘thank you, it is such an honor, but…’ which is only par for the course in politics.  You can’t look eager to want something like this.  Playing coy is just part of the game, and Obama certainly knows this. 

Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to see a native of little old Auburn, WA make it all the way to the Supreme Court?

So, wait and see…What do you folks think?

Leave a comment or two…

For Governor Gregoire, the timing is perfect, with a highly unpopular budget just passed by the Legislature, most Democratic constituencies in the state unhappy with her (social workers, teacher unions, unions in general, government workers, health care activists, etc.), now is a great time to bail out of a foundering ship of state, and leave the mess to the Lt. Governor, fellow Democrat Brad Owen.  Unless things turn around quickly, and with little pain ( not a likely possibility), Gregoire, should she choose to run for a third term, would likely face a bruising campaign.  With the current Senators from Washington, (Murray and Cantwell), not making noises about retiring, there literally is no where else for this ambitious woman to go.  She has extensive legal experience, served three terms as State Attorney General, and would have the added quality of being, if appointed and confirmed, the only Supreme with elected political experience.  A definite plus if serving in any capacity in Washington City.  Plus, President Obama is a very astute politician, and Washington has firmly been in the Democratic fold in Presidential elections since 1988.  This would be good, quality payback for this state’s firm liberal loyalty.

Washington State would gain advantages from a Gregoire nomination to the Supreme Court as well.  The state has not had a native son (or daughter) on the Supreme Court since William O. Douglas retired in 1975.  Also, given the budget issues mentioned above, a new governor could probably effectively govern better without the baggage of the budget wars recently fougtht in Olympia.  A new Governor Owens would start off fresh, without the leftover detritus that Christine Gregoire will have to deal with the remainder of her term.  If I were the head of the state Democratic Party, I would be actively lobbying the Obama Administration to select Gregoire for all of the above reasons.  Just good politics, you know.

Gregoire has issued the ususal denials, saying things such as ‘thank you, it is such an honor, but…’ which is only par for the course in politics.  You can’t look eager to want something like this.  Playing coy is just part of the game, and Obama certainly knows this. 

Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to see a native of little old Auburn, WA make it all the way to the Supreme Court?

So, wait and see…What do you folks think?

Leave a comment or two…

Quotes to help unify the nation on the eve of Barack Obama's historic election victory.

"I didn't vote for him, but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job."--John Wayne, following Richard Nixon's defeat by Senator John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election.

"Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children…

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!…

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true."–The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement

From CNN:

November 4, 2008

McCain aides see 'no path to victory'

Posted: 7:23 PM PT

From CNN Correspondent Dana Bash

(CNN) — Two senior aides to John McCain see "no path to victory," given the night's results so far.

The two advisors, who were crunching numbers for the Republican contender, were responding to a question from CNN's Dana Bash, who has been covering the McCain campaign.

The aides asked not to named because the campaign is not commenting on internal discussions.

Three states that went Republican in 2004 have gone for Democrat Barack Obama, according to CNN projections — Iowa, New Mexico and Ohio.

In the American Political
System, the true winner of the Presidential Race
is not determined by simply adding up the vote
totals from each of the 50 states plus the
District of Columbia. No, each state and D.C.
hold its own presidential election and the
winner of each of those separate elections (all
held on the same day of course, the first
Tuesday following the first Monday in November
of a Presidential Election year), takes all of
what are called "Electoral Votes" in each state
and district. Main and Nebraska do it
differently where a portion of the electoral
votes goes to the presidential candidate who
wins each congressional district. Nationwide, a
candidate needs to win a total, from among the
states, of at least 270 electoral votes in order
to win the election to be the next President of
the United States.

The The Electoral College, as
the whole group of Electors nationwide is
called, is made up of 538 members from the 50
states and the District of Columbia. When
citizens vote for the presidential candidate of
their choice, in reality they are really voting
for a person called an "Elector" who is chosen
by the candidates' campaign organizations to
represent their candidate. For example, in
Washington State, which has a total of eleven
Electors, there are eleven people representing
the Republican candidate, John McCain, and
another eleven representing the Democratic
candidate, Barack Obama. If a majority (or even
a plurality-but that's another story) of the
state's voters choose Obama, then all eleven of
Obama's chosen representatives become that
state's official Electors. So, what happens
then? On the first Monday following the second
Wednesday in December, the Electors meet in each
state (not as a national group, but as
individual state groups), and formally cast the
"real" votes for President and Vice-President.
The official Elector's votes are then sent to
the House of Representatives where the President
of the Senate (usually the incumbent
Vice-President), officially reads the results
and declares the winner.

The rules governing the
Electoral College are found in the United States
Constitution in Article 2, Section 1, and in the
12th Amendment. Electors meet on the first
Monday following the second Wednesday in
December , which, in 2008, is December 15. These
dates are set by law in the US Code, at 3 USC
7.

ABC News reported on the night of August 22 that:

The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate.

Joe Biden ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2004, but never advanced to the point where he received Secret Service protection.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The University of Illinois at Chicago said Friday it is releasing records of Barack Obama’s service to a nonprofit organization linked to former 1960s radical William Ayers.

Supporters of John McCain have been trying to exploit the tie between Obama and Ayers, with a McCain fundraiser donating nearly $2.9 million for an independent ad focusing on Ayers. Ayers’ Weatherman group took credit for bombings that included nonfatal blasts at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol four decades ago.

The records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an organization that Obama chaired and that Ayers co-founded, will be made available to the public Tuesday, UIC said in a statement.

On Monday, National Review magazine posted an online article saying the university had initially declared that the records were open to inspection but that the university subsequently reversed its position.

On Tuesday, the university said that there had been a misunderstanding about the status of the collection.

The unidentified donor of the records notified the university about the absence of a signed ownership agreement last week.

The donor’s only concerns regarding the collection are due to personal information that could include names, confidential salary information and even Social Security numbers, a university spokesman said at the time.

In its latest statement, the institution said that it now has legal authority to allow public access to the material.

In the 1990s, Ayers was instrumental in starting the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which was awarded nearly $50 million by a foundation to help reform Chicago schools. Ayers is now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Obama and Ayers have other ties.

Ayers held a meet-the-candidate event at his home for Obama when Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s. Ayers and Obama live in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood.

Ayers and Obama served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Obama left the board in December 2002.

The new ad sponsored by American Issues Project says that Obama and Ayers served together "on a left-wing board. Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it? Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama?"

According to documents filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission, the ad is being financed by Harold Simmons, a billionaire financier from Texas, who is listed as one of 235 fundraisers who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for McCain’s presidential campaign.

Simmons also was one of the top contributors to Swift Boat Veterans and POWS for Truth, the group that aired ads questioning 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s service in Vietnam. Democrats have blamed those ads for helping George W. Bush defeat Kerry.

Simmons donated $3 million to the Swift Boat group.

One of the board members at American Issues Project, Ed Failor Jr., was a paid consultant for McCain’s campaign in Iowa last year.

In April, Obama said he "deplored" Ayers’ actions in the 1960s and that "by the time I met him, he is a professor of education at the University of Illinois. We served on a board together that had Republicans, bankers, lawyers, focused on education."

Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Throughout the night, reports came in that other leading possibilities, including Evan Bayh and Hillary Clinton, reported that they were not the vice-presidential picks.