Washington state Republicans seek distance from McCain, national party

John McCain will be nominated this week as the Republican candidate for president. He likely will ride effortlessly through the party's national convention in St. Paul, Minn.

But in Washington state, McCain will share the ballot this fall with Republicans trying to distance themselves from the national party and doing little to link arms with the McCain campaign.

Dino Rossi, a Republican who lists his party preference as "GOP Party," is doing his best to bask in Barack Obama's message of change as he tries to unseat Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Rossi talks so much about Obama on the campaign trail, you could be forgiven for thinking they share a ticket. He doesn't mention McCain in his stump speech.

And neither Rossi nor Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, both engaged in competitive races, will attend this week's Republican National Convention.

On Thursday, the night Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, Rossi ran a TV commercial and made his most obvious attempt yet to appeal to likely Obama voters.

"Tonight the Democrats have a nominee," Rossi said in the ad. "I agree with him on this: Change is needed, but not just in Washington, D.C."

A beaten-down brand

McCain campaign officials in the state say they're not worried about Rossi, the state's premier Republican candidate of 2008, distancing himself from the party's presidential candidate.

"Dino has his own coalitions he has to keep together," said Mike McKay, a former U.S. attorney in Seattle and co-chairman for the McCain steering committee in the state.

McKay said he's heard Rossi tout McCain on the campaign trail. McKay said he thinks he'll hear more of that before November.

If McCain's poll numbers rise in Washington state, McKay said, Rossi "would more closely embrace Senator McCain."

Rossi on Friday praised McCain's surprising pick for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as "a perfect fit" and someone who is "bright and articulate."

Republican presidential candidates haven't done well in Washington state since Ronald Reagan won in 1984. As Rossi well knows, the last time a Republican won the governor's mansion was 1980.

And there are problems for McCain particular to 2008. Some state Republicans don't want their fortunes tied to a national party beset by President Bush's unpopularity, a faltering economy and Republican corruption scandals on Capitol Hill.

The brand is so beaten down that Spokane County Republican Chairman Curtis Fackler listed no party preference for his Aug. 19 primary run for insurance commissioner. He finished third.

Fackler told Fox News that "we want to get around" the fact that 30 percent of the state's voters will vote against a Republican "no matter what."

National distractions

A citizens initiative on the November ballot to change King County offices to nonpartisan positions is driven in part to create distance between the national parties and local officeholders.

Joe Fain, an aide to Republican County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer and a spokesman for the initiative campaign, said recently that politicians such as his boss shouldn't have to run with a party label because "they aren't dealing with those issues that distract us at the national level."

Those distractions, such as national security, economics and social issues, long have been the ideological ties among party members up and down the ticket.

But Fain's comments go to the heart of what's happening with the Republican Party in Washington state. Candidates want to draw a distinction between Evergreen State Republicans and those from all other states who make up the party's presence in Washington, D.C.

Other Republican candidates share that inclination with Rossi. Reichert bases much of his re-election in the 8th District on being an independent, moderate Republican. He said recently that he doesn't expect to do much this year to push for a McCain victory in Washington state.

But Rossi goes further than most state Republicans. He doesn't see himself as even sharing a ticket with McCain.

"The ticket part starts with where I am and goes down to where all the legislative candidates are," Rossi said. He said "we're not all that connected with" Bush, McCain or congressional Republicans.

"We do our own thing, and it is very separate and very distinct and the issues are very different. I don't have anything to do with world peace."

To run as a ticket with McCain and to align himself with national issues, Rossi said, would be "mixing messages."

That thinking robs the McCain campaign of active support from one of the state's most popular Republicans. But McKay and other McCain backers say that won't make a substantive difference here.

"A presidential campaign is strong enough to drive its own message," said Chris Vance, a former chairman of the state Republican Party.

The Ron Paul faction

McKay, a veteran of Republican campaigns in the state, said McCain will prove popular in Washington state. The campaign has been working to firm up support among religious conservatives and libertarian-leaning Republicans who backed Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Paul supporters challenged the selection of delegates to the national convention and, as Vance put it, "are trying to take over the state party." But McKay said much work has been done to bring the libertarian wing into the fold.

"We're doing our very best to encourage them to recognize that Senator McCain is a heck of a lot better than Senator Obama in the White House, and there is a big chunk of those who agree with us," McKay said.

State leaders of the Paul campaign could not be reached for comment. But former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a longtime McCain backer, said Lou Moore, who headed Paul's campaign, "has come into the fold" and will be traveling with McCain supporters to St. Paul.

McCain has paid field staff in the state, McKay said, and the campaign believes it can compete in Washington state.

Vance seemed less sure. "Right now I think the McCain campaign and the RNC think Washington state is a place they'd like to turn into a battleground state," he said.

That can be done, Vance said, with money and a high-profile event — say, $500,000 in TV commercials and a massive outdoor rally.

If McCain does that, Vance said, "everyone will know that he's decided to fight for Washington state and he doesn't need Dino to help him."

A string of Republican presidential candidates have said they'd stay and fight for Washington state votes. But since Reagan, none has kept at it through the November election.

The Bush campaign said four years ago that it wanted to make Washington state a battleground. There were local TV commercials and as many as eight paid staffers at one point.

But about three weeks before Election Day, the Bush campaign's executive director "looked at the numbers and gave up on Washington state," Vance said.

Vance, then state party chairman, said a state campaign executive called him and said, "I just got sent to Pennsylvania. Sorry, we're leaving."

David Postman: 360-236-8267 or dpostman@seattletimes.com

Information in this article, originally published Auguts 31, 2008, was corrected September 3, 2008. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the last time a Republican was elected governor in Washington state was 1984. Republican Gov. John Spellman was elected in 1980.