Rossi's Masterful Move

Dino Rossi, in calling for a revote, has from a strategic perspective made a masterful move. It stole the thunder tonight from Christine Gregoire's bogus "governor-elect" designation and forces her to respond. Obviously she will say no to the request, making her look like the one that is afraid of the outcome.

Rossi had run out of time to make a play. Pouring over data for the next few days or weeks would have cost the GOP all of their public capital on the issue. This is a PR war as much as a legal one. It's about the perception of the voters in Washington State.

Many bloggers today have done a wonderful job examining data from King County and crunching numbers. The real consideration, though, is how to keep the public on Rossi's side.

Most people realize there was fraud in King County and that the rules were illegally changed along the way. What you can't let happen is for the public to throw in the towel and reluctantly accept Gregoire as their new governor.