Dems hit Rossi on screened town hall meetings

State Democrats are once again seeking to tie Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi to President Bush, one of the most unpopular elected officials among Washingtonians. This time they are doing it by way of a web video that shows Rossi staffers barring someone with a video camera from entry to multiple Rossi events.

This is all the while juxtaposed with clips of Rossi touting the need for more transparency. The video is below.

"From the sleazy front group he used to line his pockets and build his campaign donor lists, to his personal finances where he built his wealth working closely with a convicted felon, to the 'public' campaign events he's turned into George Bush-style town halls, Republican Dino Rossi continues to hide the truth from Washingtonians," said Washington State Democrats spokesman Kelly Steele in a release accompanying the video. "After 8 years of deception and lies from George Bush, the last thing Washingtonians need is a Bush Republican like Dino Rossi in the governor's mansion."

For their part, the Rossi camp stands by their policy of selective entry. Here is what Rossi press secretary Jill Strait told the Spokesman-Review:

"Of course we don't allow Democratic party operatives with cameras to crash our events. In the age of YouTube, the State Democrats have proven their willingness to disregard ethics and use "select" footage out of context to make attack videos. That's why they've been forced to remove several of their web videos for issues ranging from copyright infringement to ethnic slurs. Even if they start using taste in their editing - and soundtrack selection - they still won't be welcome to come collect attack ad footage."

"Dino has always said he welcomes anyone who's willing to work in good faith to help fix our state's problems. Democratic partisan operatives with recording equipment don't exactly meet that standard."

Gov. Chris Gregoire's campaign press secretary Aaron Toso says they take a different approach.

"I have personally said hello to the Republican/Rossi tracker at multiple public events," Toso told the Spokane paper. "I've even cleared space on the media riser for him. It is our policy to be transparent."

Steele, meanwhile, defended Democratic video footage saying, "Never have we infringed on anyone's copyright, and Mr. Rossi's statements and news clippings have been presented in context."