Gov. race: license to criticize

This from the political team at Spokesman-Review: it turns out one of Gregoire's biodiesel tour buses had Oregon plates. Read the back and forth between the GOP and the campaign below, and see their story for photos.

"Gov. Gregoire has been making it harder and harder for businesses to survive here in our state for three years, so it's no surprise that her campaign hired a bus with Oregon license plates to save money," [Luke] Esser said. "The symbolism of Gov. Gregoire's bus tour couldn't be plainer. The business failure rate in the state of Washington is one of the worst in the country, and the Oregon license plates on Gov. Gregoire re-election bus express very well how hard it is for businesses to survive in our state. Time and time again small businesses have been thrown under the bus by Gov. Gregoire, and until Dino Rossi has been elected governor our business climate will only continue to get worse."

Aaron Toso, spokesman for the Gregoire campaign, was equally swift in his dismissal when contacted by colleague Rich Roesler. The bus may have Oregon plates, but it's rented from a Seattle-based company that has buses around the region.

Toso was quick to fire the Gregoire rejoinder to Rossi business climate criticisms, that Gregoire has high marks from Forbes and from the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council.

"There's the governor's record, and then there's an argument over license plates," he said. "Their candidate wants to talk about license plates."