The Government's Governor or the People's Governor?

Sunday's Seattle Times had a number of pieces comparing gubernatorial candidates Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi, under the lead article "Governor's race: How would they lead?".

A Q&A with both candidates is here.

Rossi, we learn, is unafraid to state his positions. He stakes a moderate middle ground to improve the business climate while also protecting the neediest among us.

Gregoire, on the other hand, is evasive and avoids taking positions whenever possible. Also:

She bills herself as an outsider ready to "blow past" state bureaucracy

Claiming "outsider" status is laughable, given that the only jobs she's ever held have been in state government, and given that her political base is the government employee unions. Even her mentor, outgoing Gov. Locke supports her precisely because she's a government insider

Gov. Gary Locke, an ardent supporter, says Gregoire is an astute politician he has consulted often on key decisions he's made through the years.

"I've seen her personally lobbying and talking to legislators. We've had groups of legislators in my office where she's made presentations to them. She's not a person who is a stranger to getting things through the Legislature."

Outsider? Yuh, right.

The Times best answers its own question "How will they lead?" with its Monday article "Gregoire's record mixed on public-disclosure laws"

The state has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and fees, and the courts have reprimanded Gregoire when her office, or other state agencies represented by her lawyers, have failed to turn over public records.

The punchline is that Gregoire would continue to protect government agencies from the public's right to know what the agencies are doing.

Putting all of this together, it's easy to see that Gregoire would be the government's governor, while Rossi would be the people's governor.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 26, 2004 12:59 PM | Email This