State Democrats to take "Sopranos" song out of ad after Italian Club complains

Excerpts from his blog, Postman on Politics

The state Democratic Party said it would change a video about Republican Dino Rossi after the Italian Club of Seattle complained Wednesday that the ad is "racist" and "beyond offensive."

In a letter to Gov. Christine Gregoire, the group said the video, which criticizes Rossi's connections to the Building Industry Association of Washington, "aims to link Italian-American gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi to Italian-American criminals through the use of the theme song to 'The Sopranos.' "

The letter, from club President Brian DiJulio, said the video on YouTube and the party's Web site uses "negative ethnic stereotyping" and is "beyond offensive."

"Whether the State Democratic Party thought it clever to link Rossi to Italian-American criminals through the use of a popular mobster TV show is irrelevant; it is distasteful, and it is racist," the letter says. "Governor Gregoire, we believe we have your sympathy when we assert that using someone's ethnic heritage as a negative should not be condoned in this campaign."

Party spokesman Kelly Steele said in a written statement that use of the song in the video was not mean to imply a tie to the mafia or organized crime.

"It's a catchy song, which we thought jibed stylistically with our communication about Rossi's designated attack squad — the BIAW — who continue to pour millions into false and misleading attack ads against Gov. Gregoire," Steele said.

"That being said," he wrote, "we'd like to apologize to Rossi's friend Mr. DiJulio, his organization, and anyone else we may have inadvertently offended. The video will be replaced shortly with an identical message regarding Rossi and the BIAW's sleazy attack campaign, using a different song."

Gregoire radio ads hit back at Rossi

Gov. Christine Gregoire's re-election ad campaign began Wednesday with a radio spot that hits back at ads criticizing her as soft on sex offenders.

The original ads, run by It's Time for a Change, the Building Industry Association of Washington-controlled political-action committee, feature a woman who says her 12-year-old granddaughter was sexually assaulted.

"The governor has made it easier for these perpetrators to get away with what they want to do," the woman says in the radio ad. "I don't know how she can go to sleep at night."

In response, Gregoire's radio spot says Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is the one who should be taken to task for his stance on crime.

"It's Dino Rossi who wrote the budget that cut millions from supervising felons. Rossi's budget meant more than 14,000 felons would no longer be monitored," the new ad says. "And it's Rossi who opposed funding for a commitment center for sex predators. Check the record."

The ad goes on to say that Gregoire "cleaned up Dino Rossi's mess" and that "crime is now at a 14-year low and no one's been tougher on sex offenders."

Gregoire's campaign says the claims about budget cuts come from the spending plan approved by the Legislature in 2003.

Rossi was chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee that year, but he worked closely with Democratic Gov. Gary Locke. And the final budget — no matter who wrote it — was approved by the Democrat-controlled House.

The suggestion that "Rossi's budget" made it harder to monitor sex offenders means that some Democrats in the House today went along with the plan, too.

Gregoire campaign spokesman Aaron Toso said linking Rossi to the 2003 budget "is fair game."

"If Rossi wants to take credit for writing a budget, he has to own the entire budget and can't pick and choose," Toso said.

I don't disagree. It is certainly fair to talk about a budget that Rossi has, in fact, made a centerpiece of his legislative career. But I do think that line of criticism is complicated by the Democrats' involvement. I wonder if Rossi will respond with an ad listing some of the Democrats who agreed with him at the time. It'd be a long list.

This material has been edited for print publication.

David Postman is The Seattle Times' chief political reporter. Reach him at 360-236-8267 or at dpostman@seattletimes.com