Murray for the WIN!

It was announced today that Senator Patty Murray has secured the win over candidate Dino Rossi.  Taking the lead by about 46,000 votes, this amount (51% to 49% out of about 1.8 million votes) is said to be insurmountable. I find it interesting that we were one of the later states to find out the results of this election. While the votes were being counted it was clear that murray had a lot of confidence in herself, she really believed that she would be the winner of this election. Rossi fought hard against Murray in this election attacking her with loads of network ads saying how she is an irresponsible spender and has changes with her 18 years in office, but he took a gracious defeat even though obvious disappointment was present. This will be Patty Murray's fourth consecutive 6-year term in office. Now that the race is over, the question is, what will she do next?

Patty Murray plans to hit the ground running as she states, "Now we have to get to work...to make sure Washington state has what it needs to get its economy back on its feet," this sounds like a plan to me.

Problems with voting?

An interesting fact to add in, I have heard that despite this election being all mail in ballots, some people still could not find time to send in there votes. Because of this a few voting stations were set up around Washington. An unexpected problem with this was that there was sometimes 3-4 hour long lines to vote. I heard some stories of some people ordering pizza's to pass the time and even worse, some people chose to not vote at all rather than wait the 3-4 hours. This is something that really needs to change in the future.

A turnaround?!

Dino Rossi's poll percentage is rising, while Patty Murray's is decreasing.
Poll Update:
Rossi: 49.4%
Murray: 50.6%

It is possible that we will not know who has won the election for up to a week, stated by the news.

Poll Data Right Now!

Patty Murray is in the lead with 52% and Dino Rossi at 46%!

Now that it is almost over, lets review.

Their Views and Ideas:

Patty Murray-

• 2008 Farm Bill: This bill continues to provide security for Washington's wheat, pea and lentil growers and provides funding for necessary conservation and energy programs. It also includes the following crop provisions; National Clean Plant Network, Market Loss Program for Asparagus Growers, Specialty Crop Block Grants, and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative. It funds these programs; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Elimination of the Child Care Deduction Cap. She also is a supporter of agriculture research and making U.S. producers globally competitive.
• Civil Rights: Patty Murray is for protecting the civil rights of all Americans. She is trying to help end the policies she finds to be unfair of Don't Ask Don't Tell. She has cosponsored the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, the Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, the Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2010, and still cosponsors the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Patty Murray worked for years to pass the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, which was signed in October 2009 and she also worked to pass a provision in Health Care Reform that will make medication for HIV positive people more affordable. 
• Economic Recovery: Murray has been trying to help Washington maintain and create jobs, stay competitive, and recover from this economic downfall. Her investments have been made in a variety of places to ensure more jobs are being created. She helped to pass the biggest middle class tax cut in American history and provided health coverage for millions of low-income children. She is currently working towards  providing everyone with more affordable health care, more use of clean renewable energy, and better schools nationwide.
• Energy Independence and Climate Change: Patty Murray is trying to make it so that there is more cost friendly power in the Pacific Northwest without damaging the environment or the economy. She is also working towards a more beneficial system to address pollution and climate change.
• Environment: Murray believes in environmental protection and healthy natural resources so that we can obtain long-term economic growth. 
• Government Accountability: She is striving to ensure that we protect our  economy so that the misdeeds of Wall Street and lack of oversight don't lead us to the economic downfall again. She is working towards a more accountable government to American families and businesses. 
• Health Care: Murray believes in lower costs long-term, providing more of a choice and stability, allow portability, prevent being denied or dropped by health insurance companies based on pre-existing conditions, and eliminate lifetime and annual caps, promote prevention and wellness, end discrimination based on things like age and gender, and put an emphasis on health information technology to increase efficiency. 

Dino Rossi-

Dino Rossi with American Legion Riders.

• Promoting Economic Growth and Job Creation: Dino Rossi wants to rid of the tax and spending policies that have failed. He feels like it is now the time to worry about the workers who contribute to our economy and the employers who are giving them the jobs. 
• Fix Health Care: Rossi does not agree with Congress' health care reform bill and he thinks we need to repeal the bill and put in a new one that has "common-sense bipartisan proposals that give power to patients and doctors not government and insurance companies." Dino Rossi wants to replace it with something that will lower the costs, provide people with a variety of health insurance plans, and give people a choice on who their doctor is. Also, Rossi would like people to be able to buy health insurance across state lines, give individuals the same tax deductions as corporations, and make insurance more affordable for small businesses. 
• Reform Our Tax Code: Dino Rossi wants to lower taxes to boost our economy and allow for more jobs to be created. This would allow individuals and small businesses to be able to invest more of their money back into the economy and this would create a positive outcome. Rossi would like Congress to repeal the death tax and broad-based taxes, lower tax rates that are paid by the job creators, and put the 2001 and 2003 tax relief back in action.
• Reduce Government Spending: To do so, Dino Rossi suggests that we cancel unspent bailout and stimulus funds and put them towards decreasing our deficit, pass a Balanced Budget Amendment with a supermajority to raise taxes, cut Government Employment, and reduce too generous of benefits and pay. 
• Energy: Dino Rossi feels that we need to create more of our own resources by "developing more renewable energy sources, increasing our reliance on alternative fuels, and expanding domestic energy production in an environmentally and fiscally responsible way." His thoughts to help make this happen are to not approve of energy taxes, enhance safety procedures for energy exploration, and make sure that people polluting pay for any environmental degradation. 
• Protecting Our Country: Dino Rossi's stand on protecting our country is strong, he feels that we should control our borders and fix immigration. RossiRossi believes that listening to what the commanders in the field have to say, and always ensuring that our military has a plan for victory and an exit strategy. 
• Veterans: Dino Rossi is all for honoring veterans and ensuring that their interest is also best looked out for. He believes if you defend our country, then the government will make sure and take care of you and your family.

From this you can get an idea on some of the basic opinions and suggestions that Senate candidates Murray and Rossi have on some current issues in our government. Many of their ideas differ, but occasionally you will find where each candidates opinions relate and are similar. This is not all of the topics discussed throughout the senate campaigns, but these are a few of the most valuable and current.

-Sara Lien