In an attempt to expand his range of voters, Washington gubernatorial hopeful Dino Rossi spoke at Walla Walla’s Elk’s Lodge in a luncheon address last Thursday. In a packed room of Rotary Club members, the Republican candidate lamented the current affairs of state politics and touted his ability to effectively lead Washington out of its decline.

Rossi, running his campaign based on Democratic incumbent Christine Gregoire’s “failed” term as governor, is implementing a method of “compare and contrast” to woo disgruntled Washingtonians.   He wants the citizens of Washington to reconsider their gubernatorial choice.
In 2004 Gregoire beat Rossi in a highly controversial race.   After three million votes were cast, Gregoire was proclaimed the victor by a mere 261 votes. Three recounts later brought the margin of victory down to 133. Rossi sued, claiming that Gregoire’s camp had illegally registered both felons and the dead.   The judge ruled in Gregoire’s favor and even nullified four illegal votes for Rossi.   Dino lost by 129 votes.

But in front of the Rotary Club on Thursday, Rossi spoke confidently and glibly to an enthusiastic audience. He highlighted his success as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the Washington State Senate in 2003 and the expanding “citizens’ movement” surrounding his campaign.

Rossi lampooned Gregoire’s supposedly irresponsible spending and the state’s $3.2 million deficit. In contrast, he stressed his own fiscal responsibility, promising to balance the deficit without raising taxes, claiming, “I’ve done it before so I can do it again.”

Rossi also spoke extensively on his goal to make small businesses in Washington more profitable. He wants Olympia’s concentration to move away from Seattle, Boeing, and Microsoft and instead focus on rural Washington and its contribution to the state.   He claimed that as small and medium sized businesses grow, they hire more people and improve the economy.

Having made his first million dollars at the tender age of thirty, Rossi emphasized his empathy toward the turmoil of the entrepreneur.   Rossi wishes Washington to be an “entrepreneurial state” and “wants Washington to be…the best place in America to start a business.”
Though Rossi never explained specifics or the necessary steps to bolster the might of small business, his statement inspired an explosive applause.

For much of his address, Rossi emphasized his can-do attitude and the hardships he has had to overcome to become a gubernatorial hopeful.   As the seventh child of a “Brady Bunch” style family living off a school teacher’s salary, Rossi is no stranger to adversity.
He attended business school at Seattle University, but only by working construction and janitorial jobs.   Against the odds, he became successful in real estate by ignoring the “naysayers.”

He ended his speech by promising to take a “fresh set of eyes” to governorship. He even appealed to the Rotary Club to find community members to help him in Olympia.

In all, Rossi’s engaging address served more as a rallying cry than a discussion of specifics.