Washington state is no longer a battleground state, according to yesterday's New York Times lead-all, which says the presidential race has come down to 11 states. BtC got a tip about 10 days ago that Bush/Cheney had moved staff from here to the true battlegrounds, but Bush-Cheney spokeswoman Leah Yoon wouldn't comment on personnel matters. The NYT doesn't attribute the information to anyone, but says staff have been taken from Washington state and some other former battlegrounds and sent to actual toss-up states. But you heard it here anyway. Bush/Cheney has essentially conceded Washington. The real question is how this will affect other races, like the Senate and gubernatorial? Will the Republican ground game have less energy?
Speaking of those other races, profiles of Murray and Nethercutt, courtesy Alex Fryer and Jim Brunner.
And, the governor's race, headlined, "How will they lead?" which could have used the tag line : "-- if at all."
Though Chris Gregoire has been in public life for some time, she remains an enigma, Andrew Garber reports.
"Asked what she'd do to fix a budget shortfall, Gregoire wouldn't provide specifics. On gay marriage, Gregoire says she can't comment because the matter is in court. Questioned about promises to close tax breaks for business, she talks about appointing a panel to decide."
That's leadership!
Dino Rossi, once a proud social conservative who called for teaching "creationism" in the schools and criticized an opponent for sponsoring a gay and lesbian art exhibit in the state capitol, now underplays those themes, pushing instead for fiscal conservatism and job creation and a friendlier business climate.
No, that's leadership!
Check out the unflattering photos.
The secretary of state race, profiled here.
Superintendent of Public Instruction race, profiled here.
What impact will new voters have on this election? The LA Times tries to answer the question.
"Nationwide, at least two polls in the last week showed that newly registered voters favored Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry by double-digit margins. The Massachusetts senator holds an even greater lead, the polls found, among voters 29 and younger, many of whom will be voting for the first time.
Democratic strategists cautiously postulate that there exists an even greater Kerry vote 'hidden' among young and new voters whom pollsters aren't reaching. But, in an interview, President Bush's campaign manager dismissed many of the opposition's registration gains as inflated.
It has been a truism of U.S. politics for generations that new and young voters tend to diminish in significance when it comes time to go to the polls. The percentage of young registered voters who actually cast ballots has slipped steadily in recent times. It hit a low in 2000, when just 15% of the electorate was 29 or younger, according to a Los Angeles Times exit poll.
Asked about the chances that newly registered voters would prove key to winning an election, Democratic political strategist James Carville once said: 'You know what they call a candidate who's counting on a lot of new voters? A loser.' "
Yet this year's campaign has played out against a backdrop of unparalleled events, most obviously the 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent war in Iraq.
It also follows a 2000 election in which voters learned that their ballots really could decide who won the presidency. Aside from the nationally spotlighted Florida contest four years ago, margins of a few hundred or few thousand votes determined the outcome in Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin."
Bill Clinton, still recovering from bypass surgery, is out stumping for Kerry. Kerry could especially use him to get African-Americans to vote. Polling indicates they're not in love with Kerry.
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