Those who count the votes decide everything

They play for keeps in my adopted state of Washington:


It seems that Christine Gregoire's unwillingness to play the Al Gore nice guy (or gal) role by rolling over and conceding, and instead choosing to fight the post-election legal challenge every bit as craftily and nastily as Karl Rove, has the R's in WA sputtering. It also seems that she'll be the next governor of Washington State.

Dino Rossi appears to be a nice enough guy for a winger, while Governor-elect Gregoire usually strikes me as the smart and not nice type of person you'd prefer to have as an ally than an enemy. It'll be interesting to hear the echoes of Florida and Bush v. Gore when the R's attack the legitimacy of her governorship; R's like Rove and GWB might yet regret having awakened the ghosts of LBJ and Richard J. Daley on the D's side. This time around, D's like Gregoire are going to give as bad as they get, so it's gonna be a bumpy ride. I don't have the stomach to participate in this game, but it will be highly entertaining to have a ring-side seat when I move to Olympia next week.