With strong poll numbers, and as of yet no signficant challengers, Sen. Patty Murray is ending the fundraising quarter with $5.9 million cash on hand, having rasied about $1 million this quarter. Given that--to date--she doesn't have a serious opponent, the quarter's haul is respectable.
Meanwhile, the other Washington is still breathlessly awaiting word on whether two-time loser and former state senator Dino Rossi, viewed largely because of propping up by Rasmussen as the only likely top-tier challenger to Murray, will jump in the race. Rossi is still playing coy.
[I]n an interview this week with Roll Call, Rossi said he was completely undecided about the race. He said that he will run if he determines he has more than a 50 percent chance of winning, and he will make a decision on his own timetable before the June filing deadline.
“I haven’t said ‘no,’ but I certainly haven’t said ‘yes,’” Rossi said. “We’ll just keep moving forward. The good news is that I don’t have to make up my mind today, because I don’t have all my cards on the table.”
Being courted by Cornyn and getting all this media attention is certainly flattering for Rossi, but not all the attention he's getting is positive. The DSCC has launched a fake campaign Web site, "Dirty Deals Dino," intended to draw attention to Rossi's close associations with husters, including "Melvin Heide, who was imprisoned for defrauding investors, and Michael Mastro, the Seattle developer whose bankruptcy is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office."
This Washington, the one where I live and which Murray represents, might have had enough of Rossi and his associates. While some of us have a secret hope that he gets into this race and is decimated by Murray because that might be enough to finally make him crawl under his rock for good, the increasing weight of his baggage might be enough for the GOP to end their courtship.