The idea that U.S. Senator Patty Murray is "in trouble" got a lot of play here and elsewhere last week.
For a historical reality check, we had Stranger intern John Friis-Mikkelsen do some quick searching for similar declarations of trouble for Democrat Christine Gregoire when Republican Dino Rossi was running against her in 2008. Rossi ultimately lost that race, but not before political junkies and prognosticators declared that polls showed Gregoire "in trouble," that she was running a flawed campaign, that her attempts to paint Rossi as too extreme for Washington weren't working, and that Rossi was succeeding by shrewdly blaming her for economic problems she didn't personally create.
"Gregoire is in trouble." (Sound Politics commenter cliff, on March 5, 2008, after a SurveyUSA poll put Rossi ahead of Gregoire.)"Rossi is the strongest statewide candidate the Republicans have been able to field in many years." (Tacoma News Tribune, October 30, 2007.)
"Rossi is proving himself to be a far more robust, compelling candidate than Gregoire this time around. Much as she did four years ago, Gregoire is running a lackluster, defensive campaignâpainting Rossi as a right-wing monster, pitting him against crying moms, and associating him with George W. Bush." (The Stranger, September 24, 2008.)
"Here are my Top 10 reasons why the race remains so tight... No. 1, the economy: Gregoire has little to do with the economy but she does own part of the anticipated deficit... Republican Dino Rossi can use the anticipated deficit to slap her around." (Joni Balter, writing in the Seattle Times, October 5, 2008.)
Sound familiar?
