WASHINGTON -- Call it a bungle or just a bad political call, but Dino Rossi has handed Sen. Patty Murray's campaign a much-welcome cudgel by suggesting that Boeing should get no favorable treatment in its bid for the $30 billion Air Force tanker contract.

A trio of congressional Democrats joined union and labor officials Tuesday to lambaste Rossi during a telephone news conference with reporters. They suggested that Rossi's comment in Monday's News Tribune of Tacoma exposed him as ill-informed or -- worse -- possibly jeopardizing Boeing's chances of securing thousands of new jobs.

The Tacoma newspaper's editorial board asked Rossi about recent World Trade Organization rulings that both Boeing and Airbus benefited from illegal public subsidies. Reports have indicated, however, that improper launch aid from European governments to Airbus far exceeded subsidies to Boeing.

Asked whether the WTO's findings should be a factor in the two companies' bid to land the Pentagon contract, Rossi said he would help Boeing fight for the business but did not answer the question directly. Pressed further about whether the illegal subsidies should matter in the tanker award, Rossi replied, "No, not as far as I'm concerned, no."

Rossi spokeswoman Jennifer Morris tried to clarify Rossi's answer later, saying he meant that Boeing shouldn't be penalized for subsidies it's received -- leaving unanswered the question of what should be done about the even bigger subsidies for Airbus.

Murray's campaign immediately seized on it as proof that Rossi believes "France should have unfair advantage in building tanker for America's military."

On Tuesday, Murray's fellow congressional Democrats picked up where she left off.

Rep. Norm Dicks of Bremerton declared himself "just appalled by Dino Rossi's lack of understanding on this issue." Rep. Jay Inslee of Bainbridge Island and Rep. Rick Larsen of Lake Stevens also piled on, in tones suggesting that Rossi may not be up to speed on current events.

David Groves, spokesman for the Washington State Labor Council, noted that an amendment sponsored by Inslee to require the Pentagon to factor in any illegal subsidies in the tanker bids passed the House by a lopsided bipartisan vote: 410-8.

"This is not a political issue," Groves said. "This kind of demonstrates how out of touch Mr. Rossi is."

Rossi responded with a statement Tuesday afternoon calling the attacks false and saying that Dicks, Inslee and Larsen "should grow up and do something that will help Washington's economy, like extend the 2001 and 2003 tax relief, repeal and replace the health care bill with something that actually lowers costs and increases access, or announce they’ve given up trying to remove secret ballots from labor union elections or enact a cap and trade energy tax."

On the Democrats' watch, he said, "Boeing’s footprint in Washington State has shrunk. We’ve lost the headquarters, lost the Dreamliner, and lost jobs. At some point, they have to understand that what they’ve been doing isn’t working and it’s time for a change in direction.

"I’ll fight for the tanker, and I’ll also make sure Boeing doesn’t face punitive taxes, massive new health care bills, and the ramifications of eliminating secret ballots from labor union elections.”