Will I feel a bond toward Republican Dino Rossi if he upsets three-term incumbent Democrat Patty Murray when the votes are counted next week in Washington’s senatorial race? I might. I did shake the man’s hand today at a rally at the Silverdale community center. Moreover, I feel good about my vote, which I marked on the mail-in ballot last week and dropped off at the post office this morning.
So why go to a political rally when, for me anyway, the election is over except for learning the results? Curiosity maybe, a desire to validate my choice, and perhaps some stubbornness as it hasn’t been easy to see the senatorial candidates in person in Kitsap County. I got advance notice of the Rossi rally only because I sent email to the campaign. As for Murray there was no schedule of her public campaign appearances on her web site when I checked it a couple of weeks ago.
It’s one thing to see the candidates on TV, or read about them, but there’s no substitute for seeing one live. What’s largely missing in the media are the candidate’s charisma and the crowd’s enthusiasm. There were perhaps 120 of us standing in a crowded stuffy smallish room when Rossi showed up. You could hear a bit of clapping in the hallway outside and then suddenly he was in the room, looking well-groomed, rested and fresh. He was wearing gray slacks and a blue open-collar dress shirt—no tie or coat. In seconds the energy level rose through the roof.
By chance I had chosen a spot just a few feet from where Rossi stood to address the rally. There was no podium, no microphone, no teleprompter, no props of any type. State Representative Jan Angel introduced him and he went right into a 20-minute stump speech, turning in all directions to make eye contact so no felt left out. He stuck to his usual talking points: repeal the health care law, let businesses lead us out of the recession not the government, and be fiscally responsible. Plus a pitch for volunteers to help in getting out the vote. Although the favorable crowd had heard it all before, they responded well.
It wasn’t so much what he said but how he said it. He seemed at ease, talking without notes and directly to us—a communication skill that’s less evident in his TV appearances. Although what he did today is probably easy enough for an experienced politician at a partisan rally, still he connected with me.
The Washington race is one of the closer senatorial contests that could still go either way. I will be surprised if Rossi wins though. He’s lost twice in statewide elections for governor. And Murray really hasn’t done anything specific to get voters mad other than be part of the Democratic establishment and, in my view, a bit over the top in running negative TV ads. She’s also boring and the promise she had in 1992 seems gone. But that’s probably not enough to get bounced from office in our mostly blue state—even in 2010.
Final note: I had never been in the Silverdale community center before. I understand now why ground has been broken to build a new larger one with, I hope, additional parking.
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