Republicans' double standard
Columnist Joel Connelly writes in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
The possibility of a win is what's driving this "Re-Vote" campaign. Republicans are confident that would Rossi would win if given another chance. Whether or not Rossi would be favored to win in a second election, the fact is that there shouldn't be another chance. There's just one election. This one may have been close, but it was conducted with professionalism and scrutinized closely. It is still being scrutinized closely.
So it's time for the state to move on. Republicans could do the the entire state a favor and drop their lawsuit. But they won't. Instead, they'll drag this out as long as possible in order to de-legitimize Christine Gregoire's administration. If they want to pursue an election contest, so be it. They will need more than allegations and accusations to win in court.
That Was Then: Ten days after the November election, with Dino Rossi leading in the governor's race, state Republican Chairman Chris Vance intoned that voters -- not courts -- must decide elections.It's not a surprise that "ChairmanVance" has changed his rhetoric. The GOP is all about winning, and if they have to do an about face to pursue a strategy that will help them win, they'll do that. Before the Supreme Court ruling, the Republicans were for only counting "legal, valid votes". But after the ruling, which changed nothing at all, the Republicans turned around completely and started mixing things up by throwing allegation after allegation of voter disenfranchisement, blaming the counties for what they said were examples of fraud and incompetence.
"We are very disappointed and concerned that Christine Gregoire is resorting to desperate legal tactics that will drag this election process into court, just as the Democratic Party did in Florida four years ago," said "ChairmanVance."
"John Kerry did the right thing by choosing not to drag the presidential election into court. Slade Gorton made the same choice in the 2000 election. I hope Christine Gregoire will follow their example."
After judge-shopping, Republicans go to court in Chelan County on Friday to challenge the final recount that put Gregoire in office.
The possibility of a win is what's driving this "Re-Vote" campaign. Republicans are confident that would Rossi would win if given another chance. Whether or not Rossi would be favored to win in a second election, the fact is that there shouldn't be another chance. There's just one election. This one may have been close, but it was conducted with professionalism and scrutinized closely. It is still being scrutinized closely.
So it's time for the state to move on. Republicans could do the the entire state a favor and drop their lawsuit. But they won't. Instead, they'll drag this out as long as possible in order to de-legitimize Christine Gregoire's administration. If they want to pursue an election contest, so be it. They will need more than allegations and accusations to win in court.
