Less than 24 hours before election night, U.S. Senate hopeful Dino Rossi confidently spoke of the changes he would pursue if voted into office. Approximately 100 supporters chanted his name and surrounded him with a sea of blue and yellow campaign signs at his Bellevue headquarters. Following several other prominent Republicans, Rossi echoed a message articulated by Republican candidates nationwide on election eve.
“America’s in trouble,” Rossi told the crowd of supporters at his Monday “victory rally.” “We’re witnessing the fundamental redefinition of America, and we can’t let that happen.”
Rossi stayed on the message he’s laid out through several months of debates, forums and television advertisements. Rossi said his opponent, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray has been involved in what he called wasteful spending, specifically President Barack Obama’s healthcare bill. He advocated repealing the bill and working toward a new one.
Rossi said it would be simple, given the current political climate, to run simply as an obstructionist to Democrat aspirations, but that’s not what his campaign is about.
“It’d be easy to run in this election cycle by just running against things,” he said. “But we have ideas and we need to get those ideas out there. We’ve got a lot better ideas than what they have.”
Rossi’s fellow speakers, which included incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert and Attorney General Rob McKenna, also railed against government spending, much to the delight of the crowd. Members of the audience cheered and chanted for the Republican speakers while booing and hissing at the mention of Murray’s name.
Rossi pledged to help right the economic problems faced by many Americans. He told the audience Murray doesn’t fight for small businesses like he does.
“When Senator Murray talks about creating jobs and I talk about creating jobs, one of us knows what we’re talking about.”
Reichert, who is running for his fourth term in Congress, said Tuesday’s election will symbolize the overwhelming nature of the people’s will. A will he believed would lead to a shift in control in both houses.
“This isn’t about me, or Dino, or the other candidates, we just happen to be the faces of what you believe,” he said. “We happen to be your voice. We know we’re your servant; we recognize that clearly.”
Reichert is facing off against Suzan DelBene in the Eighth Congressional District. Like the Rossi-Murray race, Reichert’s re-election campaign has been tightly contested. According to opensecrets.org, a website that tracks campaign contributions for federal offices, Reichert has raised more than $2.3 million while DelBene has raised more than $3.7 million, more than $2 million of which she contributed. In the Senate race, Murray has raised in excess of $15 million to Rossi’s $7 million.
Rossi’s confident speech at the rally comes in the wake of several polls that have he and Murray running a very tight race. Many political pundits targeted this race as one that could swing who holds control of the Senate when the dust settles.
