Gregroire Democrats - Pettiness On Steroids

Is the governor of Washington a man? Or, more to the point, is the governor trying to deceive the voters into believing that she is a man? Why else would Christine Gregoire insist upon being called “Chris” and why does she appear under that name on the ballot and on her campaign posters?

I ask this question because the Washington state Democratic Party is suing to force her general election opponent, Dino Rossi, to identify himself as “Republican” rather than “prefers GOP” on the ballot. According to the Democrats, Rossi is attempting to conceal his real party identification to deceive the voters who loathe Republicans, but don’t know what this GOP thing is all about.

Now I will concede that it is an established fact that Democrats are less educated and less well informed on the issues than Republicans. And it is remotely possible that here and there in Seattle one might find an occasional soul, sleeping on a grate or inside a cardboard box, who is unaware that GOP and Republican Party are one and the same. And it is even possible that Obama’s former employer, The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), has registered a few of these people to vote, perhaps more than once. But many of these people have already promised to trade their vote to Democrats for a pint of whiskey and aren’t going to be influenced by the opponent’s party affiliation. And so I find it highly unlikely that there will be even a small number of unpurchased voters showing up at the polls who will be confused by the substitution of “prefers GOP” for “Republican.” Would anyone who knows the location of their polling station cast a vote for a new third party calling itself the Gops?

Supposedly, the Democrats have data showing that Dino Rossi polls significantly better as “GOP” rather than “Republican.” But I find it hard to believe that even the Seattle Public School System could turn out voters that ignorant.

But, if the Democrats persist in this childish endeavor, then I would encourage the Republicans to file a lawsuit of their own requiring Christine Gregoire’s full name to appear on the ballot. What’s she trying to hide with this silly “Chris” business? Her attempt to conceal her gender is far more objectionable that the late Helen Chenoweth’s insistence that she be called a “congressman.”

I can still recall the fulminating fury of the left when she asked to be addressed in that strictly formal manner.

The state’s Democratic Party is the trained pet of Christine Gregoire, and if it has gone to the trouble of determining if Dino Rossi’s appeal is influenced by whether or not he labels his party affiliation as GOP or Republican, then you can be certain that they’ve done the same with Governor Gregoire’s first name. And personally, I would not be at all surprised to learn that voters would prefer a male-sounding name over a female-sounding name, especially when one considers what airheads both of Washington’s US senators have turned out to be. That pair has got to be bad for the brand name. Perhaps Ms. Gregoire should try to convince those two to rename themselves “Patrick” and “Mario.”

Washington’s Secretary of State, Sam Reed, argues that the time for these sorts of challenges has passed: “The time to object was before candidate filings in the first week of June,” he said. “Now counties have actually sent their ballots to the printers. The timing is really bad for an issue we thought had been pretty well resolved earlier.”

Washington’s Democratic Party chairman is the snarky Dwight Pelz. He answers that the issue is more important than a few ballots printed in Washington’s backwaters.

Forcing this change is more “important than whether two to three small counties have started to print their ballot. I know they haven't started to print in King County.”

So sorry Dwight. As it turns out, King County is one of those insignificant backwaters. According to King County elections officials, the county has already printed several thousand ballots. One would think that as a King County Councilman, Dwight Pelz would have known that, but he’s already had more important items on his agenda than the affairs of the county he was elected to govern.

And besides, he should be taking the long view on this one. Once the truth about the financial meltdown finally emerges, he might want the freedom to choose a new name for his own party affiliation.