Washington State has a Mandate!

According to the Bush Administration's logic, there is a mandate in Washington.

With the counting and re-counting finally exhausted Thursday, Democrat Christine Gregoire emerged as the victor by a mere 130 votes. The final tally: 1,373,171 votes for Gregoire; 1,373,041 for Republican Dino Rossi.

Republicans, however continue to use the same, old, tired, excuse of voter fraud:

But Republicans have vowed to leave no stone unturned in the breathtakingly close race that has dragged on for nearly two months.

“I know many Washingtonians are hoping this will end soon, but I’m also sure that people across this state want a clean election and a legitimate governor-elect,” Rossi said after the final tally from a grueling hand count was announced Thursday. “At this point, we have neither.”

Aren't these tactics of count and recount and recount the same ones that Democrats were accused of doing back in 2000? I know nothing about either candidate in Washington state, but I can tell you this: The cries of voter fraud are only going to get louder as time goes by. It seems to be a time-honored tradition to bitch, moan, and complain when it appears that your side is going to lose. The only winner in an election this close is going to be the candidate finally certified as governor-elect. The people of Washington will have lost. Lost faith in the election process, lost faith that their votes count, lost faith that they can make a difference.

We've all heard the phrase "Take it like a man." Even with the results this close, Rossi needs to "Take it like a man" and concede for the good of Washington. The citizens of Washington continue to lose faith in the government that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. You can read the entire article here: GOP may challenge Wash. governor recount