Dino Rossi insisted again tonight that his work with the Forward Washington Foundation was unconnected to any potential gubernatorial campaign he may launch later this year. But Rossi said that he has been assessing how much support there is for a second run for governor.

"I am assessing whether it makes sense for the family, but also assessing the depth of the support out there. I'm not going to dive off the diving board unless there is water in the pool. Who would? But I'm not a candidate now."

(Rossi had a clarification of something I wrote in an earlier post. The executive director of Forward Washington told me that Rossi would continue to draw a salary from the non-profit through the end of next month. But Rossi said that he will be receiving a severance package that will pay him a lump sum equal to what he would have earned through the end of next month, but he will not be drawing a salary.)

Rossi says that there should never have been an investigation of Forward Washington because he has followed the Public Disclosure Commission rules that say the non-profit can operate as long as it does not support or oppose a candidate or a ballot measure. I asked him, though, if traveling the state to assess the depth of support for a campaign could raise legitimate questions about whether Forward Washington was in fact boosting his potential candidacy. It seems testing the waters is what a potential candidate does with an exploratory committee, not a non-profit foundation.

But he says there is a vast difference between what he's been doing and what would constitute campaigning. He may ask people how much support there is for a Rossi campaign. But, he said, "That's not even close to being a candidate."

"You haven't accepted a dollar. You haven't told people you're running. You're just seeing if it makes sense."

Is that a campaign function?

"No, it's actually a rationale process to see if it makes sense to do. A campaign function is when you stand up and say, 'I am a candidate. I'd like you to vote for me, and by the way, we need funds for me to run.' And anything other than is not a candidate."

Rossi resigned as president of Forward Washington, he said, the afternoon of Sept. 11. That night, he gave a speech to a group of Pierce County Republicans. A report of the event on the Web site of the 28th District Republican Club says that Rossi delved into a strong criticism of Gov. Christine Gregoire and her administration. (If you read the report, Rossi said most of it seemed accurate, except the part where it is reported that he said the press wasn't reporting on the governor "because they are aligned with Gregoire's socialist, government control style of governance." He said he called her health-care plan a "back door to socialized medicine," but did not call her programs socialist.)

But those strong words do not a candidate make, he said.

"I had resigned that day and I was there that night as a private citizen. ... I can say what I want as a private citizen. You've been critical of her. Are you a candidate? Are you going to file with the PDC? Someone doesn't lose their First Amendment right just because they ran for office. You guys aren't the only ones who have First Amendment rights."