PORT ANGELES — An energetic Dino Rossi urged his supporters Saturday not to lose momentum in the final days before the Nov. 2 general election.
“We are in a position to win this race,” said the Sammamish Republican, who hopes to upset incumbent Sen. Patty Murray, D-Bothell.
Rossi, who is in a tight race with Murray, spoke at the Olympic Lodge in Port Angeles as part of his “Road to Victory” tour before attending another rally on Saturday at Peterson’s Pump and Water Treatment in Chimacum.
The former state senator and two-time gubernatorial candidate is no stranger to close races. He lost the 2004 gubernatorial race by a handful of votes.
But Rossi appeared undeterred as he addressed about 75 supporters from the center of a small conference room at the hotel, and encouraged them to get their neighbors to vote.
“This election really matters,” he said. “And Clallam County is critical.”
The speech, frequently punctuated by applause, was in some ways much the same as the one he gave in Port Angeles in August.
It included the same anecdotes about his ordinary roots and how he worked his way through college, and warnings of the nation’s debt bankrupting future generations.
He also again highlighted his support for replacing the health care bill with measures that he said would make it easier for small businesses to band together for medical insurance and for people to buy insurance across state lines.
Fresh comments
But Rossi did deliver a few fresh comments about at his opponent.
“We have ideas,” he said. “But not Sen. Murray’s big government ideas.”
Rossi said that his opponent overspends, is one of the biggest users of earmarks and has done little to visit small towns across the state.
“I’ll represent Washington, not Washington, D.C.,” he said.
The stop was Rossi’s second trip to the North Olympic Peninsula during the campaign.
Murray hasn’t made an appearance in Clallam or Jefferson counties.
Not everyone who came to the hotel that day was a Rossi supporter.
Six people with MoveOn.org stood outside before he arrived with signs criticizing the funding of Republican ads by corporate interests and anonymous donors.
Their message, which they delivered by giving a mock speech as representatives of “RepublicCorp,” was that Republicans, including Rossi, work in the interests of large corporations, not the public.
“You know you’re good when you can convince poor people to vote against their family’s interests,” said Sequim resident Sam Woods while in character.
They also held a large phony check made out to Rossi from RepublicCorp.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
