The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke has created quite a stir within the state GOP with a memo accusing Republican Dino Rossi of “playing games with the Republican Party” by failing to make a decision on whether to jump into the race against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat.

“We have the ability to take this seat in the Senate away from the democrats (sic), but Rossi’s failure to make a decision has badly hurt our chances,” said Mielke in a widely distributed e-mail message sent Sunday.

The two-time gubernatorial candidate “has hurt us all by waiting for no good reason, financial, political or strategic,” Mielke wrote. “All he’s done is anger a lot of the base because he refuses to make his plans public and that makes him look indecisive while a lot of us see this fantastic opportunity slipping away because of Rossi.”

Mary Lane Strow, Rossi’s volunteer spokeswoman, scoffed at the contention that Rossi is hurting Republicans’ chances of capturing Murray’s Senate seat.

“There have been a lot of candidates in the race for a long time and not one of them has caught fire yet, so that’s their problem,” she said in a telephone interview. “The implication is that he has been toying with the Republican Party. This has all happened quite recently, that Dino started thinking about getting into the race. He actually is being thorough in making this decision. He hasn’t been toying with anyone or drawing out this decision. No sane person would just jump into a statewide race like this.”

Mielke has endorsed state Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, in the Senate race. Benton himself has complained publicly that Rossi’s indecision is hurting fundraising by the 10 Republicans in the race.

Rossi has made at least one trip to Washington, D.C., at the invitation of Senate GOP leaders since opinion polling showed him competitive in a match-up with Murray. He has said he will make a decision on his own schedule by the state’s June 11 filing deadline.

Whatever his motive, Mielke’s missive struck a chord.

“I, too, am put off by the game playing from Dino Rossi,” wrote Ted Piccolo, a Grant County precinct committee officer. “Having been a candidate myself at various times, (I) know the effort and courage it takes for someone to run for office. I have more respect for people already in the race than for someone playing footsie with the idea.”

“It’s way past time for Dino to fish or cut bait,” agreed Linda Peterson, a GOP state committeewoman from Stevens County. “What he’s doing by not announcing a decision one way or the other is a slap in the face to the (Washington GOP) and the voters who so strongly supported him in 2004 and 2008.”

Others disagreed.

“Well, folks, the bottom line is that it’s all about winning!” wrote Herb Hardin, a Klickitat County GOP committeeman. “Polls show Dino winning — but none of our other candidates. So if we want to take back that Senate seat, we’d better go with a winner! — or fall on our own sword with pique about Dino’s delay, or unfairness to other candidates.”

“This is just Mr. Benton ‘throwing an elbow’ at the biggest player in the game and having one of his allies do it instead of doing it himself,” wrote Mathew Manweller, chairman of the Kittitas County GOP. He called the tactic “good old fashion hard ball politics.”

Mielke, a former state representative, said in an interview that he has great regard for Rossi, with whom he served in the Legislature.

Rossi served in the state Senate from 1993 to 2003. In his final year in office, he became chairman of the budget-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee and was widely credited for closing a $2.7 billion budget deficit without raising taxes.

“He’s a terrific person,” Mielke said. “Along with Sen. (Joe) Zarelli, he balanced the budget in the state of Washington and made national news.”

In December 2003 Rossi resigned to spend full time running for governor. He lost to Democrat Chris Gregoire in 2004 in the closest statewide race in Washington history, and lost again in 2008 by a wider margin. Since then, he has returned to his commercial real estate business.

Mielke said Rossi has not returned his recent phone calls or responded to his e-mails.

“That’s what is so disappointing,” he said. “I know Dino Rossi really well. I supported him 100 percent. I wish he was our governor. But for whatever political reason, he is stealing the ability for good candidates to go forward in this time of opportunity. While a lot of people still follow him, as I do, this is not a race to take for granted, it’s not a race you can win in six months.”

Mielke said he endorsed Benton in the Senate race for the same reason he endorsed David Castillo in the contest for the 3rd Congressional District seat: Both stepped up early to take on an incumbent. (Castillo entered the race last summer, before Rep. Brian Baird announced that he would not run for a seventh term.)

Bottom line, Mielke said, “I don’t think his heart is in this. I don’t think he could win if he got in the race today. This is not a race you can win overnight.”

Strow, Rossi’s spokeswoman, said this is not an ordinary election year.

“Basically, in a cycle like this, you throw all the rules out the window,” she said. “This is an extraordinary cycle. All across the nation you are seeing longtime Democratic incumbents deciding not to run or being defeated.”

As for Rossi’s fundraising prowess, Strow said she’s not worried, even though Murray has a campaign war chest of $8.3 million.

“It’s not too late,” she said. “Patty Murray has a lot of money in the bank and I think she’s incredibly vulnerable. The reason Patty’s people have been saving all their fire for Dino is they know he is the most formidable candidate.”

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