Joni Balter / Seattle Times editorial columnist
Murray and Nethercutt get ready to rumble

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We don't do down time in politics anymore. Shortly after next week's Seattle City Council election featuring Heidi, Judy and Jean fades to TV black, the clatter will be all about Patty.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray may have ducked an A-list challenge by U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn, who opted out of the 2004 Senate race. But the GOP still is going for the gusto against Murray, dubbing Washington state its 2004 Georgia.

Though most political observers think Murray will win next November, in large part because she is the down-to-earth everywoman voters readily identify with, get ready for a big-spending, malevolent campaign.

President Bush's chief operative, Karl Rove, not only offered support to U.S. Rep George Nethercutt of Spokane as he decided to challenge Murray, he spoke at Nethercutt's fund-raiser in D.C. Tuesday night.

The Georgia reference is tricky, because each party recalls a different lesson. For the GOP, the 2002 Peach State vote between incumbent Democrat Sen. Max Cleland and Republican Saxby Chambliss is an inspirational come-from-behind GOP victory.

Outside GOP circles, it evokes a low moment, a race with a mean-spirited ad that portrayed Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, as unpatriotic, because he voted against the president's domestic security bill.

You get the feeling similar vitriol is headed our way. Big bucks paying for pummel-'em-to-powder ads — on both sides.

The GOP is salivating over a May poll done for Republicans showing just 41 percent of voters saying Murray deserves re-election. How does Murray or any incumbent surmount malaise associated with a lousy economy, and the notion that Boeing, the state's largest private employer, slowly may be moving on?

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance gushes about Murray's vulnerability and how much GOP cash may stream toward our state.

Murray should have numbers above 50 percent, but some of this is a my-poll-versus-your-poll affair. An August poll by Democrat pollster Evans/McDonough shows 52 percent of voters want to re-elect Murray — about where she should be.

Polls, schmolls. The GOP also hopes for coattails. A few months ago, after the Iraq War ended, if that is the right term, Vance and Rove were anticipating a Republican tide in '04 driven by the president's popularity.

That was then, this is now, and next year will be different in ways nobody yet fathoms. I say Nethercutt will have to make his own case, not rely on any GOP tsunami. And Bush could be a liability, especially in this state, where Democrat presidential candidates have won the last four times.

Nethercutt, who is not well-known west of the Cascades, undoubtedly will get better at this game than he has been in the first few months.

After announcing his candidacy, he attended a King County GOP picnic, where the guest speaker was Ward Connerly, father of an initiative that unraveled affirmative action in public hiring and education.

Oh, mercy, was Nethercutt unprepared. Asked how he voted on Initiative 200, an obvious question getting out of bed that day, his responses ranged from, "In my congressional career, I have always been inclusive" to "I don't think it's anybody's business how I voted." Clunk!

This week, Nethercutt bought big ads in major newspapers explaining another quote causing him trouble.

At a recent meeting, Nethercutt was standing by his president on Iraq when he said: "So the story is better than we might be led to believe in the news. I'm just indicting the news people, but it's, it's a bigger and better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day which, which heaven forbid is awful."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ended the quote after the word "day," which changed the context as the quote re-appeared in other media without context provided in the P-I. But Nethercutt's words still convey a callousness toward soldiers risking their lives.

It would not have hurt his cause if he had joined Murray in pushing for a $1,500 bonus for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he did not. Remember, Murray opposed the war, Nethercutt backed it.

Gaffe meets gaffe. Last year, the GOP tried to portray Murray as Osama bin Laden's new best friend after she tried, clumsily, to engage a high-school class in a discussion about why people in the Middle East follow him: "He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day-care facilities, building health-care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful."

In the year ahead, Nethercutt backers will portray Murray as a dingbat. Good, but it has been tried before. Twice. See "Sen." Rod Chandler and "Sen." Linda Smith for details.

Opponents could take advantage of Halloween specials and hire a full-time weasel to follow Nethercutt around, as they did in 2000. The congressman earlier had campaigned on term limits, then changed his mind when his own limit came due.

Murray so far has raised $5.5 million, Nethercutt about $814,000. Each side wants to raise millions more. Get ready for an earful.

Joni Balter's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is jbalter@seattletimes.com

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