Rossi stakes out his positions in first interviews

Quickly contrasting himself with Sen. Patty Murray, Republican Dino Rossi on Thursday vowed not to pursue budget earmarks for Washington state if elected to the Senate.

In one of his first interviews since announcing his candidacy this week, Rossi argued earmarks like those used by Murray are a symptom of federal spending that will bankrupt America.

He also said he supports a temporary ban on offshore oil drilling, called for a "tall fence with a high gate" to secure the nation's southern border, and voiced his opposition to the health-care law recently passed by Congress.

Rossi's pledge to forgo earmarks is a direct shot at Murray, a three-term Democratic incumbent who has used her seniority and position on the Senate's powerful budget-writing Appropriations Committee to regularly deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in federal spending to the state.

That money frequently comes through budget earmarks, which allow individual lawmakers to direct federal money to favored projects. It's a practice long enjoyed by members of both parties.

"It's clear when I watch what is going on in D.C., you have both parties that are obviously, the way the system is set up, they have to go with their tin cups looking for earmarks," Rossi said.

He said he wouldn't use earmarks if elected and would work to change the budget system so that such spending isn't hung on legislation like Christmas ornaments.

"If it's worth doing," Rossi said, "it's worth doing through the normal budget process."

In fiscal 2009, Murray was ranked eighth in the Senate in total earmarks, sponsoring or co-sponsoring more than $380 million worth, according to the watchdog group OpenSecrets.org.

That included $83 million for Columbia River fish-related projects, $8.6 million for construction at McChord Air Force Base and $9.6 million to help repair the badly weakened Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River.

Murray remains a staunch supporter of earmarks. Alex Glass, her spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement that the senator's job is to "stand up and fight for our state."

"That's why she fights for federal investments in Washington state roads, businesses, military bases and veterans," Glass said. "She is not going to leave those decisions up to some faceless bureaucrat in a federal agency who has never heard of Walla Walla or thinks Vancouver is in Canada."

Glass said, however, that Murray supports efforts to make earmarks more transparent, such as legislation that would create a timely, searchable database of requests.

Rossi, a former state senator from Sammamish, is best known for his 2004 and 2008 runs for governor. Wooed by national Republican leaders, he ended months of speculation by declaring his candidacy this week. His entry into the race instantly led national observers to bump up the GOP's chances of unseating Murray.

Several other Republicans remain in the race, including state Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, and Clint Didier, a Pasco farmer and former NFL player who recently was endorsed by former Republican vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Some national media and Democratic operatives have suggested Rossi could face a bruising primary-election fight to capture conservative tea-party activists who have roiled GOP primaries in other states.

Unlike other states with closed partisan nominations or primaries, however, Washington has a pure "top two" system, meaning all candidates appear on the August ballot and the top two vote-getters advance to November. That virtually assures a Rossi-Murray matchup, most political observers say.

Rossi's late start could be a problem, though. While Murray's campaign has nearly $6 million in the bank, Rossi starts from scratch.

To offset that, he has tapped national help, including campaign manager Pat Shortridge, who comes from Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio's campaign. Rossi also has hired a campaign spokeswoman from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell's office.

During the half-hour interview at a downtown Seattle hotel, Rossi laid out early positions on other issues likely to be debated this year.

He said he supports a temporary ban on offshore oil drilling in the wake of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

"I think the ban needs to be in place until they actually figure out exactly what's gone wrong down in the Gulf ... and how to avoid it in the future," he said.

In the long run, though, Rossi said he believes America needs to increase its domestic output of oil, as well as wind, solar and nuclear power. "You have to have it all," he said. "Otherwise, we are going to be dependent on people who sometimes don't care for us all that much."

To stop illegal immigration, Rossi said he supports a "tall fence with a high gate" to secure the U.S. border with Mexico. He said that's the first step before moving to any talk of a "path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants in the country.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Rossi stopped short of saying he backed Arizona's tough, new crackdown on illegal immigration but said it was "born of frustration." The law makes entering the country illegally a state crime in Arizona and requires local police to enforce it.

With regard to social issues such as abortion, Rossi said that he and his wife are Catholics who believe "every soul has a value" and that he would vote his conscience if such bills came before him.

But he said he never sponsored such legislation when in the Legislature and didn't intend to in the Senate. "That's not why I'm running," he said.

An opponent of the health-care law recently passed by Congress, Rossi said he would vote to replace it with a "free market" system that didn't require tax increases that would kill jobs.

Rossi gave few details, beyond repeating standard Republican arguments that limiting medical-malpractice lawsuits and reducing regulation would drive down costs and make insurance more affordable.

Rossi said he supports aid for the most vulnerable, whether it comes from churches or the government.

"We need to have that safety net for sure," he said, "but it doesn't mean you have to herd everybody into a government-controlled program."

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com