Rob McKenna, the Republican Party’s leading man in the contest to be Washington’s next governor, is stealing the media limelight again.
Today, at 1:30 p.m., McKenna will perform a live political infomercial in which he pitches his 15-minute plan for balancing the state budget and keeping it balanced.
At 1:45 p.m. he will answer questions from reporters who will undoubtedly wonder why, if it’s so easy, the 147 Republican and Democratic lawmakers aren’t all adherents to the plan.
McKenna’s genius isn’t in the ‘white paper’ he’ll deliver. It’s in the timing. It’s another slow day for news as regards the special session. His campaign team figured correctly that he can get plenty of attention – even if they also want to tamp down expectations of what the candidate will say.
The GOP star’s timing is perfect, like last week, when the media glare fixed on the ‘debate on debates’ created by McKenna’s faux frustration at not being able to get Democratic candidate Jay Inslee to debate whenever and wherever he says.
Inslee actually boosted the story line by rejecting then accepting an invitation to a debate in June in Spokane hosted by McKenna’s friends at the Association of Washington Business.
In the meantime, state lawmakers are expected to be in Olympia Wednesday morning. But if Democrats want to steal back the spotlight today, they’d better get a deal done.
Update: A reader asked if McKenna will post video of his spiel. He will on his campaign web site.
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