Rossi spokeswoman "can't confirm" how Dino will vote on SJR 4204

Last week, we challenged the press and our readers (if you see him!) to ask Dino Rossi where he stands on the major issues on our ballot this November.

Yesterday we got another non-answer from Dino's campaign, this time on simple majority for school levies. Huge props to Josh Feit of The Stranger for trying to pin Rossi down on this!

Yesterday, I asked his campaign if Rossi supported 4204, the ballot measure that would lower the threshold for passing school levies from a supermajority to a simple majority.

I got this response from his spokeswoman, Jill Strait: “While I can’t comment on how he will specifically vote on 4204, and he has yet to fill out his ballot, in general he is in favor of simple majorities for school levies as long as those votes happen in November elections, when the most voters are able to participate.”

What a coward.

Does he support SJR 4204 or not? It's a basic question with only two proper answers: YES or NO. It's a proposed constitutional amendment. Either we the people approve it or we don't. There is no third option.

Earth to his campaign: Forget sentiments and "in general" statements. Dino is a gubernatorial candidate. If he isn't willing to disclose how he's going to vote on these very important issues, he doesn't deserve to be governor. Being a leader means taking a stand. A candidate who can't divulge that information with the people he or she wants to serve isn't ready for public office.

Governor Gregoire has no problem sharing what she believes. We know how she feels about each of the ballot measures, and we appreciate her candor.

(Rossi is also apparently "leaning towards" Tim Eyman's I-960, based on an anecdote I heard from Rossi's press conference last Thursday, but again, hasn't given a definitive answer. If Rossi votes by mail and still hasn't filled out his ballot, he must really be out of it. I voted the day I got mine).

Josh did get Rossi nailed down on another important matter:

Rossi is definitive about expanding children’s health care. He’s a No.

It did take me a while to get an answer from him on the issue. (There’s a children’s health care expansion bill pending in D.C. that President Bush has already vetoed once—and now a new one is coming his way. If the bill fails it could undermine legislation passed in Olympia last session that expanded children’s health care coverage.)

Rossi supports Bush’s veto.

His campaign told me this morning that expanding coverage to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is what the federal bill (and our state bill) does, is the “wrong approach,” explaining: “the majority of new children that are going to be coming on are either illegal or they currently have health insurance from the private sector.”

Way to go, Dino. Joining Dubya in opposing healthcare for children. Good luck selling those values to the people of Washington State.