By the way, a little more recent history from the Soviet of Washington.

When the votes were counted after the gubernatorial election in 2004 (that's when we elect our goobers), Dino Rossi, the Republican candidate came out a couple of thousand votes ahead of Democrat Christine Gregoire. When Chris Gregoire pointed out that Washington State law requires a recount when the margin is that close (and she knew, because she had been State Attorney General before running for Governor), Dino Rossi accused her of being a "sore loser." But when the recount, mandated by law, was complete, Chris Gregoire had won by a razor-thin margin:   129 votes. Rossi—who's the sore loser now?—wanted to sue (on what basis, no one was quite sure), but cooler heads in his own party talked him out of it.

The sloppiness of the 2004 election (uncharacteristic in this state) has many of the voters of all parties here watching gimlet-eyed and looming menacingly over election officials. I think that's a good thing.

Don Firth