Bush Tries to Buck Political History

[dusty64]

Jun 17, 3:44 AM (ET)

By PAUL QUEARY

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - There's a joke in these parts that if you're wet, you're a Democrat. If you're dry, you're a Republican.

Democrat John Kerry embraced a drenching from the Seattle rain as a baptism into Northwest politics last month. When President Bush arrives in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday night, he'll touch down in the arid landscape around Spokane, the largest city in conservative eastern Washington.

No Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan has carried the Northwest, where the big population centers around Portland and Seattle - known almost as much for their liberal politics as for their incessant drizzle - tend to overrule conservative voters in the smaller towns and cities east of the Cascade Mountains.

But there are signs the wet-dry rule doesn't work as well as it once did. Both Bush and Kerry are working both sides of the region for votes. Democrat Al Gore carried Oregon by a whisker four years ago, and the 5 percentage points of cushion he had in Washington aren't enough to douse Republican hopes of taking the state. Meanwhile, a third-party challenge from Ralph Nader could siphon off enough Democratic votes to put the two states in play.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040617/D838KNT80.html

[caffefwee]

1. History tells us it will be a landslide

There are no close elections when the incumbent is running. It will be a landslide, by Kerry.

[wjsander]

3. Assuming there IS an election...

AND assuming Diebold and others don't rig the thing
AND assuming Bush doesn't "find Osama" on Nov 1st
THEN Kerry will win, hands down.

( AND assuming he doesn't pick Gep :+ )

[Massacure]

2. Bush is wasting time and cash over there.

Makes it easier for us.

[rasputin1952]

4. bush is gonna lose it all...

The whole West Coast is Kerry's for taking. I am even willing to bey bush loses a good portion of the South. Here in Nebraska, I cannot find anyone that will vocally support bush; an amazing turnaround in about 7 months...and bush did it himself. He is the absolute WORST president we've ever had, and virtually everyone knows it. Even his 'base' is embarrassed...loser of the century...:P