Gregoire pushes back on convention slams

While Republicans were trying to ridicule Gov. Gregoire last week for attending the Democratic National Convention the week before, the Gregoire campaign gave Rossi some grief for skipping the Republican National Convention by way a of a web video.

Implying that Rossi was aligned with President George W. Bush in skipping this year's RNC in an attempt to, in Bush's case distance himself for the party's sake and in Rossi's case distance himself for his own sake, the Gregoire camp uses the video to try to further tie Rossi to the unpopular Bush.

 "What else do they have in common?" the video asks, then lists a number of mainly social issues where Rossi and Bush have similar stances.

"On every issue George Bush and Dino Rossi are the same," the video claims. "We deserve better."

This comes on the heels of an ad Rossi ran during Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's acceptance speech reaching out to Democrats and Independents. Rossi also recently touted to Republican national delegates via telephone that there were a number of Obama supporters who were coming out for him.

Still, it is a notion the Gregoire camp hopes to dispel.

"Rossi doesn't understand the change that Obama supporters are talking about," said Gregoire spokesman Aaron Toso. "It isn't change for change's sake, it is the turning away from the failed policies of George Bush. Those same failed policies are championed by Dino Rossi."