Just for laughs

You know I don't get too much into GOPpy v. Dummycrat deals, and I know you've probably heard about this, but this is just too good to let pass without notice here.

Republican Joe Rossi seemed at first glance to have won the governor's seat in Washington. A machine recount, required by state law because of the closeness of the election, showed him ahead by 42 votes. But Democrat Christine Gregoire wanted a manual recount.

The GOPpy response was immediate and predictable: They declared victory, had a party, and called on her to drop the whole idea and concede defeat. If she failed to do so, she'd "have to answer to the public" if things "dragged on" into January - and, they warned, even if a recount reversed the result, it would be "very difficult for her to be seen as a legitimate governor."

But the recount happened. When in the course of it, King County found a few hundred ballots that had mistakenly not been considered, Gregoire wanted them counted. The GOPpies tried to prevent it but after failing, muttered darkly about the county being "completely corrupt." Republican Party Chair Chris Vance said the party was "absolutely convinced that King County is trying to steal this election."

Well, the recount was finished and Gregoire was shown the winner by 10 votes. Adding in the margin from those additional King County votes kicked the margin up to 129. And what do we hear now from the people who didn't want this "dragged out" and demanded her concession when she trailed by 42 votes? AP for December 30 tells us:

After three vote tallies and nearly two nerve-racking months of waiting, Democrat Christine Gregoire was declared Washington's governor-elect on Thursday. But her Republican rival did not concede and wants a new election.

That's right - now that he's lost, Rossi wants a do-over. What's more, he's wielding the threat of a dragged-out court case, the very thing his party supposedly didn't want, in an attempt to get one.

While noting that he could contest the election, Rossi said a legal challenge could drag on for months. The better way to clear up the mess, he said, would be to ask lawmakers to pass a bill calling for a special election as soon as the state Legislature convenes in early January for the 2005 session.

This is just hilarious. Classic French farce has nothing on this. I actually heard a talk-show host in Las Vegas suggest that John Kerry call for a revote in Ohio by simply adopting Rossi's arguments about "legitimacy" and inserting "Ohio" wherever Rossi said "Washington."

Some of Rossi's supporters have groused that the dispute has made Washington a laughingstock. No, it hasn't - until now, that is.