Back in 1968, after Walter Cronkite called the Vietnam War "unwinnable," LBJ lamented "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America."

Governor Christine Gregoire must feel that way today about young, left-leaning Washingtonians, as the editorial staff of Washington State University's student newspaper The Daily Evergreen endorsed Dino Rossi for Governor, writing:

Many Washingtonians, especially Eastern Washingtonians, don't care so much about transportation issues like highways and buses. They care about the prices for a bushel of wheat, a gallon of milk or other agricultural products. They care about keeping their heads above water in a rising fiscal tide. They care about high taxes and high cost of living, because small business owners have to worry about paying their employees, their own bills and then think about how to expand their business.

Agribusiness is an integral part of our economy. These businesses don't get the kind of tax breaks or government subsidies that multimillion-dollar, publicly traded corporations get from the government. The people who own and operate these businesses are truly middle class, average working Americans and they are feeling the squeeze.

Though we have criticized the governor before for other reasons, such as her proclamation of a Purple and Gold Day, we made this decision with one criterion in mind: Who can do the most for Washington state.

Dino Rossi, coming from a business background, is better equipped to face our economic troubles. If he runs Washington state like a business, perhaps we can crawl out of this hole - to the benefit of all Washingtonians.

This would seem to confirm the 54%-38% polling advantage Rossi has over the 18-34 year old voters that Survey USA found.