Economy set to play big role as Gregoire-Rossi battle kicks off
Governor touts jobs as she starts re-election tour
By Niki Sullivan | The News Tribune
• Published April 08, 2008
Four more years.
Rossi counters
In a statement released before Gov. Chris Gregoire gave her kickoff speech for her campaign for re-election, Republican candidate Dino Rossi said his Democratic opponent's first term has been short on results while jacking up government spending to an unsustainable level, ignoring the worries of everyday taxpayers.
"Christine Gregoire has the taxpayer credit card, and we are getting stuck with the bill. And if re-elected, she will raise taxes to spend more of our money," Rossi said.
"We have heard a lot of promises, seen lots of studies, and read many task force reports. But what we haven't seen are real results. Washington state does not need four more years of indecision and ineffectiveness," he said.
The Associated Press
The chant followed Gov. Chris Gregoire on a three-city tour Monday, the first leg of her re-election campaign kickoff. During six stops, she emphasized her role as someone who gets things done for the environment, the economy, health care and safety.
On unemployment, the Democrat emphasized that the state has gone from the highest unemployment rate in the nation — tied with Oregon — to the lowest in the state's history.
"When I came, I set a goal. Let's put Washington State and its people back to work," she said. "That goal has been met — 225,000 new jobs have been created over the last four years."
She never mentioned Republican opponent Dino Rossi by name, but painted him as a politician who didn't make decisions.
"The fact of the matter is if you want a governor who will be an echo chamber for Washington, D.C., the other Washington, I am not your candidate," Gregoire said at Zones Inc. in Auburn, the largest minority-owned business in the state.
Auburn, the governor's hometown, was the first stop before heading to Tacoma and Vancouver.
In Tacoma, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks introduced the governor, saying "Washington has never had a better governor" than Gregoire.
He also described her as a fighter who went against big tobacco companies and won.
Gregoire told the couple hundred people gathered at the Landmark Convention Center that she's "taken the tough challenges and delivered results."
Those challenges include traffic congestion, prison overcrowding, a polluted Puget Sound, health care for children and education.
She also talked about the kidnapping and killing of Zina Linnik in Tacoma last year. After the tragedy, she gathered a committee to study what could be done to prevent similar crimes in the future.
"We went to work this Legislative session and took every recommendation and put it into law," she said, including a community policing pilot project in Tacoma.
"When I look at what we have done together, I see amazing things," she said.
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