Bader concedes defeat: we win

At last, they have admitted their failure to the press:

Gas-tax foes on Wednesday conceded defeat of their once wildly popular initiative to roll back a $5.5 billion tax increase that will add nearly a dime to the price of every gallon of gasoline.

"We're very disappointed and wish the outcome had been different," Initiative 912 organizer Brett Bader told The Associated Press.

It is over. We are victorious.

Initiative 912 is defeated!

More from the AP:

The governor went to the Department of Transportation headquarters to celebrate.

"There is joy at WashDOT today," said Linda Mullen, spokeswoman for the department. After the celebration, officials quickly rolled up their sleeves to prepare for a major construction boom, she said.

The state will probably kick off the 16-year construction program by asking the state Finance Committee to sell about $90 million worth of bonds in mid-December. Early projects include an Interstate 90 bridge overpass in Moses Lake, cabled median barriers, a traffic signal in Belfair and an I-5 interchange in Everett.

[...]

House Transportation Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said lawmakers set the stage by passing a smart, balanced project list and by passing transportation reforms.

"We were bold. We were courageous and the voters respond to leadership," he said. "Then news stories showed the impact of failing to maintain the levees in New Orleans and showed us the I-90 (rockslide) problems. That really focused attention on safety issues."

Independent pollster Stuart Elway said the initiative began to lose steam as people got used to the "new normal" of high gas prices and as they saw the hurricane damage to the Gulf Coast and related it to natural disasters that are likely to befall Washington.

More and more, they decided it wasn't a smart time to "disinvest" in roads and bridges, he said.

[...]

A delighted Gregoire told The Associated Press she senses a sea change.

"I hope this is a sign that we're going to stop saying `no' to everything and start investing in our future," she said.

We are delighted as well! This is truly a tremendous victory. We worked hard to defeat this for months and we were rewarded. Time to kick back and celebrate.