Another battle is brewing between an establishment candidate and a political outsider, and now it’s happening in Washington state.
It is a battle we’ve seen before in the Republican Senate primaries in Kentucky and Nevada: an insurgent conservative attempting to bring a serious challenge to the perceived favorite of the Republican Party. Clint Didier, a former NFL player with Sarah Palin’s support, is gunning to be that outsider in the Washington state U.S. Senate race.
Standing in his way is Dino Rossi, the favorite of the GOP in Washington, D.C., and a pragmatic politician recruited to run because he is widely seen as having the best chance of knocking incumbent Democratic Sen. Patty Murrary out of office. He has run for governor twice and lost both times, though one of the races was the closest gubernatorial contest in the country’s history.
But Rossi, 50, refused to be labeled as an establishment candidate in an interview with The Daily Caller and claimed instead that he is also an outsider.
“The establishment in our state spent $40 million in two elections against me,” Rossi said. “The establishment in our state — SEIU, Moveon.org and ACORN — they’re the ones who run our state. I think you have to be in power to be the establishment.”
The August 17 primary election is unique because it is a top-two contest. That means candidates from all parties run in the same primary, and the top two vote-getters proceed to the general election. Polls show Murray polling in the top spot and Rossi leading other candidates for the number two spot.
Rossi has made it clear that he sees his opponent as Murray, not the other Republicans. He points out that she has been in office for 18 years and ranks third in the Senate for earmarks.
“I’m known as the guy in our state who … tackled what was the biggest deficit in state history at the time. And worked across party lines, balanced the budget without raising taxes,” he said.
He said his campaign strategy is to compare and contrast his record against Murray’s. “It matches up pretty nicely next to somebody who has done nothing but taxed, spent and grown government,” he said.
Rossi has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s chairman, Sen. John Cornyn, who promised to “do whatever it takes to help him” win (though the committee has not endorsed yet in the race). He is seen as the frontrunner among the other Republican candidates and was received well at the state’s GOP convention, according to the Seattle Times. But, the paper reported, “Clint Didier had the crowd roaring.”
Didier, who could not be reached for comment, has discussed campaign strategy with Palin and was in Washington, D.C., this week conferring with national Republicans. He has also met with Tea Party favorite Ron Paul.
Rossi says he too sympathizes with Tea Partiers: “The sentiment is clear. We’re spending too much money.”
Though he refused to speak negatively of his GOP opponents, Rossi said it would be “difficult” for any of them to win against Murray. And he says he realizes that winning the seat could mean winning the Senate for the Republicans.
“This is 51st seat. This is majority,” he said.