Thursday, December 23, 2004

Headlines Tell the Story: Can You Say ''Governor Gregoire?''

"Third time may be a charm for Gregoire."Seattle P-I.: "King County elections officials plan to certify the results of the hand recount this afternoon." "Voters glad their ballots finally will count." Seattle P-I: "Likewise Joel Swanson, a 22-year-old systems analyst from Shoreline, said the candidate receiving his or any other absentee vote wasn't the issue. "I'm probably one of the few Rossi voters who wanted them counted," Swanson said yesterday. "But I think it shouldn't matter who you want to win. If these votes are legitimate, they should be counted." "Gregoire leads by 10."Seattle Times: "Dino Rossi's bid to become Washington's first Republican governor in two decades unraveled in a big way yesterday. Vance said the Republicans have a list of 500 people statewide, including about 260 who have signed affidavits, who voted for Rossi but contend their ballots were wrongly rejected due to signature problems. In light of yesterday's court ruling, he said the party will press county auditors across the state to reconsider those ballots. "Now, we're with the Democrats," said Vance. "Let's count every vote -- everywhere, not just in King County.""Focus turns to canvassing board,"Seattle Times: "Forget the hanging chads and the mismarked ballot bubbles, the green pens and the sloppy voters. The gubernatorial election could be decided today by the little-known King County canvassing board. Asked whether he felt pressure because his decisions could elect a governor, Pelz said he doesn't. "We will act on these ballots on the guidelines of law. We'll do what's right and uphold the law." Logan, appointed by King County Executive Ron Sims, said it's not the canvassing board that matters, but the votes themselves. "Are these legitimate registered voters? The facts show they are," Logan said. "It weighs heavily on me that they might well determine who's governor. What weighs heavily on me is my administration made the error." "Vote Recount for Washington Governor Tips to Democrat." New York Times: "And in an election year that delivered Democrats so many bruising losses, the potential fall and rise of a Democrat in Washington would be a deliciously hard-won aberration. Such an outcome would also be a personal victory for Mr. Berendt, the state party chairman. For the last few weeks, he has begun each morning with hard-charging confrontations on a 6 a.m. talk radio show with Mr. Vance, the Republican chairman, whom he described as a "friend" before the election. "It's time for Democrats somewhere to draw a line in the sand and say we are not going to let bully Republican tactics determine who our governor is or how an election is going to be determined," he said. Mr. Berendt said Washington Democrats had decided from the start that what he described as Al Gore's "nice guy" approach was not to be the tactic here. "I don't think there's any doubt that people are empowered by this whole thing," said Representative Jim McDermott, one of the state's most prominent Democrats. "The feeling of many of us is they quit too soon in Ohio. We don't know what happened there, but we said, 'By God, they're not going to do that in Washington.' "

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