This editorial will appear in Sunday’s print edition.

Dino Rossi is aiming to clear a high hurdle this year, far higher than the ones he missed in his 2004 and 2008 runs for governor.

Challenging an influential, three-term U.S. senator is not the same as vying for the governor’s mansion against a political equal, or even the freshman incumbent.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray has amassed considerable power and political skill since she was elected to the Senate 18 years ago. Voters don’t send such a forceful advocate packing without very good reason.

That Rossi’s come this close – recent polls put him neck and neck with Murray – is testament to his appeal, strong campaign and the resonance of his fiscally conservative message.

But Rossi fails to make the case that Washington would be better off without Murray.

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This editorial will appear in tomorrow’s print edition.

Here’s a nightmare scenario for Democrats: What if Elena Kagan is telling the truth?

In last week’s Senate hearings, President Obama’s soon-to-be-confirmed Supreme Court nominee testified she’s about the law, the whole law and nothing but the law. She may be a “progressive” Democrat, but she’ll be “on nobody’s team” once she dons the black robe.

Heaven forbid that she would bring any preferred outcomes to a case.

“I mean, the worst kind of thing you can say of a judge is he or she is results-oriented,” she told the Judiciary Committee. “It suggests that a judge is kind of picking sides irrespective of what the law requires. …

“The judge should be trying to figure out as best she can what the law requires and not going in and saying, ‘You know, I don’t really care about the law, you know, this side should win.’”

How can anyone quarrel with that? For that matter, how can any Republican quarrel with a nominee whose distinguished legal career includes no time as an actual judge and thus no paper trail of decisions that can confidently be attributed to her own judicial philosophy?
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This editorial will appear in Friday’s print edition.

Dino Rossi’s entry into Washington’s U.S. Senate race bodes well – for voters, if not his party.

Rossi may have but a slim chance of beating Sen. Patty Murray, but he’s the only Republican in the hunt with any chance of besting Murray.

Neither of the other Republican frontrunners, former NFL player Clint Didier and state Sen. Don Benton, are much of a threat to a three-term incumbent with a $6 million war chest. Rossi, with his statewide name recognition and electoral history, will force Murray to defend her record.

Rossi’s showing will depend partly on how the two-time gubernatorial candidate makes the transition from state politician to national hopeful.

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