Republican Re-Animator
| By Darrin Gunkel - Feb 8th, 2010 at 11:30 am PST |
Maybe progressives should take a page from the Republican play book and start doing essentially meaningless polls to stimulate our base. The latest instance is the “finding” that Dino Rossi could win Patty Murray’s senate seat, if he were willing to give up his lucrative job to return to politics, if he were willing to run for senate and face a hat trick of humiliation, and if the election were held today. A few pretty big ifs. Still, the poll got a lot of attention, mainly because Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts has the Democratic establishment, to the delighted glee of the Republican establishment, royally freaking out. Could Rossi “Brown” Murray’s solidly safe seat? Could our cool blue state start turning shades of red? Don’t hold your breath.
Last November, the same polling firm, Moore Insights, conducted basically the same poll, pitting a reanimated Rossi-for-governor against a not-any-time-soon-up-for-reelection Christine Gregoire. That poll showed the candidate who won in a landslide the year before losing by 6 points to the guy who actually lost, proving for once and for all that liberal policy is so obviously failing the American people that Dem governors would have lost not just in New Jersey and Virginia, but in Washington, too. (Ignore that 10 point margin of error behind the curtain.)
Nice try, but even the long-time Republican pollster Bob Moore admits his latest survey isn't all that authoritative. Kind of like the Washington Republicans. They’ve been a mess for so long it’s sometimes a wonder they hold any office at all. Remember ’96 GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen “gay rights are special right for sodomites” Craswell? (If you don’t, her Wikipedia page is chock full of other gems.) More recently, Pam Roach, famous for years for tormenting other Senators, staff and attorneys, was locked out of the Republican caucus for bad behavior. And there’s the BIAW, which could also be spelled WA GOP PAC, going after (Republican) Attorney General Rob Mckenna, for going after them, for campaign finance violations during Rossi’s run in 2008. The most viable current Murray challenger, Don Benton, (who just squeaked out of the woodwork to announce this weekend) only lasted 8 months as state Republican chairman before running afoul of party leadership and getting the boot.
Pollster Bob’s been trying to put lipstick on this party for years, doing what a good propagandist is supposed to: convincing his employers that there’s hope, and striking what he hopes will be terror in the hearts of their foes. Dino didn’t even know his name was being pit against Patty’s. Moore used it for the name recognition. If that’s the best they can do at this point in the game, we’re doing all right.
None of this, of course, is keeping Patty Murray from exploiting the poll’s results to her ends. Alarming fundraising letters are already out, warning us to pony up for Patty’s campaign because those danged Republicans will stop at no underhanded Rovian dirty tricks to cut down the Democrats' Senate lead. In Patty’s defense, this is becoming standard practice for Democrats. A DSCC phone canvasser squawked at me the other morning, after my third “no” to their fundraising pitch, “Do you really want the Republicans to control Congress?” I reminded her that’s a silly thing to say to a “4 of 4” Dem voter, and hung up. Call me a dreamer, but I have more faith in voters. Does anyone really believe the GOP could pick up 11 senate seats? And keep in mind that the Republicans will be defending 19 senate seats and the Democrats 15. What really worries Murray and her party is not so much Rovian polling tactics but voter backlash. The cure for that? Well, if they can’t figure that out, the idea of a Senator Rossi may not be so far-fetched.
Last November, the same polling firm, Moore Insights, conducted basically the same poll, pitting a reanimated Rossi-for-governor against a not-any-time-soon-up-for-reelection Christine Gregoire. That poll showed the candidate who won in a landslide the year before losing by 6 points to the guy who actually lost, proving for once and for all that liberal policy is so obviously failing the American people that Dem governors would have lost not just in New Jersey and Virginia, but in Washington, too. (Ignore that 10 point margin of error behind the curtain.)
Nice try, but even the long-time Republican pollster Bob Moore admits his latest survey isn't all that authoritative. Kind of like the Washington Republicans. They’ve been a mess for so long it’s sometimes a wonder they hold any office at all. Remember ’96 GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen “gay rights are special right for sodomites” Craswell? (If you don’t, her Wikipedia page is chock full of other gems.) More recently, Pam Roach, famous for years for tormenting other Senators, staff and attorneys, was locked out of the Republican caucus for bad behavior. And there’s the BIAW, which could also be spelled WA GOP PAC, going after (Republican) Attorney General Rob Mckenna, for going after them, for campaign finance violations during Rossi’s run in 2008. The most viable current Murray challenger, Don Benton, (who just squeaked out of the woodwork to announce this weekend) only lasted 8 months as state Republican chairman before running afoul of party leadership and getting the boot.
Pollster Bob’s been trying to put lipstick on this party for years, doing what a good propagandist is supposed to: convincing his employers that there’s hope, and striking what he hopes will be terror in the hearts of their foes. Dino didn’t even know his name was being pit against Patty’s. Moore used it for the name recognition. If that’s the best they can do at this point in the game, we’re doing all right.
None of this, of course, is keeping Patty Murray from exploiting the poll’s results to her ends. Alarming fundraising letters are already out, warning us to pony up for Patty’s campaign because those danged Republicans will stop at no underhanded Rovian dirty tricks to cut down the Democrats' Senate lead. In Patty’s defense, this is becoming standard practice for Democrats. A DSCC phone canvasser squawked at me the other morning, after my third “no” to their fundraising pitch, “Do you really want the Republicans to control Congress?” I reminded her that’s a silly thing to say to a “4 of 4” Dem voter, and hung up. Call me a dreamer, but I have more faith in voters. Does anyone really believe the GOP could pick up 11 senate seats? And keep in mind that the Republicans will be defending 19 senate seats and the Democrats 15. What really worries Murray and her party is not so much Rovian polling tactics but voter backlash. The cure for that? Well, if they can’t figure that out, the idea of a Senator Rossi may not be so far-fetched.
