Doug Ericksen

BELLINGHAM - The Whatcom County Democrats have seen some good signs this fall, but are not quite ready to declare full on victory.

County party chair Natalie McClendon says that canvassing results from a number of swing districts in the county, where independents are expected to split down the middle, have come back indicating more than two-thirds support for presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

But those same numbers haven't been as strong for Gov. Chris Gregoire. McClendon says there are far more undecided voters in the gubernatorial rematch between Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi.

Doug Ericksen's TV Ad:

The Washington state gubernatorial race got some more national attention Wednesday when FOX News Special Report reported on the conflict of interest allegations being made by some state Republicans over Gov. Chris Gregoire's negotiations with the Service Employees International Union while they help sponsor television ads that attack Dino Rossi, and large donations from some state tribes to the state Democratic Party. Both negotiations, as the report mentions, were deemed legal by Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna.

Rossi himself was interviewed on the program, where he raised the idea of corruption by the state's majority party.

"When you have one party," Rossi told FOX, "whether it is Republican or Democrat, that is in power so long you end up with the appearance of institutional corruption, and that is what this looks like."