We know the campaign is official when the attack ads begin to border on the ridiculous.

Gregoire's attack ads against the so-called "Dino Rossi budget" are so easy to discredit, it's  embarrassing. I wonder how many people know that the budget in question received bi-partisan support and was actually signed by then democrat Governor Gary Locke. It was 2003 and Rossi, who was the chairman of the Senate Ways and Committee, wrote a budget that not only received bi-partisan support from thirty democrats and Gary Locke, but it actually helped close a multi-billion dollar budget gap without imposing new taxes and while still protecting our most vulnerable citizens. This is a fact that cannot be changed by vague accusations or menacing music in her ads.

Another fact that should be checked is Gregoire's claim of being tough on sex offenders.
Gregoire has offered no response to the campaign to pass Jessica's Law, a tougher mandatory sentencing law against child molesters, which has passed in 30 other states. She has offered no statement regarding the Special Sexual Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA) which gives preferential treatment to offenders who have a special relationship with their victim (family member, coach, minister, etc.) under the ridiculous notion that a tough sentence against someone close to the child victim will cause the child further trauma. Republicans have been working to throw out this unjust system for years to no avail. SSOSA has allowed 5000 child rapists and molesters to escape prison sentences (which in my view makes the state responsible for re-traumatizing child victims by taking the side of the offender).

The Gregoire ads call her tough on sex offenders because of a program she launched called "Operation Crackdown," which added 50 sex offenders (out of 20,000 in our state) to a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) device. Republicans asked for a program to outfit all level 3 sex offenders on GPS, numbering in the thousands. This motion, along with a motion to pass Jessica's Law and overturning SSOSA have not been allowed a discussion by the majority party in the legislature nor by the Governor. Again, these are facts, not vague statistics or claims using tricky language.

The most recent attack ads against Rossi attempt to align his name and policies to President George Bush by citing Rossi's views on abortion, stem cell research and global warming. Every self identified voter who doesn't like President Bush's policies should be insulted by this attempt. It's a transparent manipulation of Washington State's decidedly left leaning "blue" sentiments, while purposely ignoring important distinctions.

It claims George Bush and Dino Rossi are against stem cell research. They are not against the research itself and neither have attempted to make it illegal. They are against government funding of embryonic stem cell research because of the moral controversy surrounding the deliberate manipulation of human embryos for scientific research. Adult stem cell research has yielded far better outcomes and is not controversial. Failing to recognize such important distinctions like these is what gives politics such a bad name.

And as for both men being against Roe vs. Wade, such opposition holds no weight in liberal Washington State, which legalized abortion before Roe vs. Wade was ever passed. Finally, the real issue at stake in the global warming debate, is pollution. Regardless of whether carbon emissions actually cause global warming, everybody agrees that reducing emissions is a good thing. Rossi's transportation plan will do just that by encouraging alternative fuel sources in cars on the road beginning with converting all state owned vehicles to hybrid or electric sources and offering a reprieve from sales tax from the purchase of such vehicles.

Ah, distinctions between a complete human embryo and mere living cells that exist and depend on a human for life....who cares? In politics, all spoils go to the victor....at least one candidate in the race doesn't seem to care about the means to their victory.