Dino Rossi's rebranding effort may pay off with voters who say they don't know what it means when a candidate declares himself a member of the "GOP Party." That's what Rossi used when he filed for office, saying that it is an insult to voters to suggest that they don't know the initials for Grand Old Party, an old Republican nickname.

A recent poll by Stuart Elway says that about 25 percent of respondents didn't know what GOP meant. In the most recent Elway Poll voters were asked which party they thought was meant when a candidate lists party preference as "GOP Party."

75 percent said Republican party.

15 percent didn't know.

7 percent said Democratic

3 percent said other.

And it will come as no surprise that of those who said they didn't know, or got it wrong, the biggest chunk, 27 percent, describe themselves as independent. That's where the greatest benefit of rebranding could come for a Republican trying to buck a 24-year gubernatorial losing streak for the party.