Washington State Whine and Cheese

You may recall the period shortly after the 2004 elections when Republicans all over the country were telling Democrats that close votes in Ohio, Florida, and other places were "just the way things go." Democrats were advised to simply "get over it" and not to be "sore losermans."

Apparently what's good for the goose may well choke the gander. Having lost the Washington State governor's race, the GOP is trying to get the election thrown out yet again.

OLYMPIA, Washington (AP) -- Republicans dissatisfied with the balloting that installed Democrat Gov. Christine Gregoire alleged Tuesday that 1,108 felons voted illegally in the 2004 election.

Dino Rossi, the failed GOP candidate, is challenging Gregoire's election in court on the grounds that illegal votes and election workers' errors irrevocably tainted the results. He is pushing for a new election.

Gregoire won the election by just 129 votes, after a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots. Rossi had won the first two counts.

Democrats say Gregoire is the legitimate governor, and say Republicans don't have enough evidence to warrant nullifying the election.

The blatant hypocrisy of this is staggering. I know a lot of Democrats got mad at Kerry for conceding Ohio so fast, and the world would certainly be a better place had he not done so and gotten the results overturned. But I have to admit that I could also see his point in doing it. He was more concerned with the preservation of the process and the smooth transition of power which is vital to a democracy than with his own victory.

This is a lesson that Washington Republicans could learn something from.