As Dino Rossi was on a campaign sweep through Eastern Washington today, three of the regions' biggest newspapers endorsed Dino Rossi.

The Tri-City Herald writes:

The Herald has supported Chris Gregoire in every campaign she has ever run for public office.

Not this time.

It is not so much that Dino Rossi has won our support as that Gregoire has forfeited it.

We're talking, of course, about Areva.

And as much as we admire and respect Gregoire -- and even understand to some extent why west-side politics may have constrained her giving meaningful support to the Areva project -- our first loyalty is to the Tri-Cities, which remains bitterly disappointed over this loss.

Ouch. That whole "One Washington" thing isn't working out too well for the governor. That's what happens when you're in the bag for Puget Sound liberals.

The Walla-Walla Union-Bulletin also endorsed Gregoire last time out, but now:

We believe Dino Rossi is the right person for this difficult job. Rossi, a Republican, served in the state Senate as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee where he worked with Gov. Gary Locke, a Democrat, to write a hard-times budget.

Democrats now control both houses of the Legislature by a wide margin.

Our concern is that Gregoire, a Democrat, will have a difficult time negotiating a sustainable budget with her own party. These negotiations are going to require a governor who can say NO, and say it often.

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We see advantages to having a divided government -- Democrats in control of the Capitol and a Republican in the governor's mansion. It promotes compromise and forces the debate to the political center

And the Yakima Herald-Republic agrees:

We recommend Rossi's election to the job, which pays $166,618 a year. In these trying economic times, we see real value in a Republican chief executive being squared off against a Democratic-controlled Legislature dominated by Puget Sound big spenders. It's in the public's best interest to have available the tight-fisted budget writing skills he displayed as chairman of the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee before he resigned to run for governor four years ago.

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Four years after we endorsed Rossi's 2004 bid, we still find ourselves with the same major concern: In Gregoire, we sense too much of "government is the answer" to the needs of the state, particularly health care and education. While her goals of a world-class education and health insurance for every child in the state are noble, we're leery of how the state would pay for all of the good things she has tried to provide.

In Rossi, we see a much more pragmatic approach by a conservative with a social conscience, who approaches funding state programs based on our ability to pay for noble goals. Let's shoot for the best we can get with the money available.