Michael Medved starts a new Republican rallying cry in governor’s race

Washington Republicans who have waited more than 30 years for a conservative governor to take office are pleased by the results from the primary election, even if their candidate, Bill Bryant, is at least 10 percentage points behind.

That’s because, as KTTH’s Michael Medved says, sitting governor Jay Inslee will likely keep shooting himself in the foot the same way Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has.

“It is terrific news for Bill Bryant,” Medved said. “Basically, this is going to be an ‘ABI’ election – Anybody But Inslee. The truth of the matter is that’s the campaign he has to run. Though I think he has a really good slogan: It’s time. It really is time. People have had lots and lots of chances to see Inslee straighten up, fly right, look like a credible governor. He has totally failed.”

Related: Bill Bryant refuses to answer simple question about Donald Trump

Fellow KTTH host Todd Herman agrees that Inslee is incredibly vulnerable following mishaps such as the early release of state prisoners at the Department of Corrections and the hectic rollout of tolling on I-405, as well as a recent report from The Seattle Times that at least 73 Washington state sex offenders were released early because of incorrect language on a court sentencing form. The incorrect form had been used since 2008, but officials, including Inslee, only became aware of the problem in January, the Times reports.

Herman said the fact that Bryant, who has little name recognition and has primarily focused his attention outside of King County, is within striking distance of a sitting governor bodes well. He agrees with Bryant’s assertions that Inslee’s push for Bryant to disavow Trump is a red herring.

“Inslee had two years on the prison thing where people were getting let out early,” Herman said. “He’s had almost a year to deal with the early release of sex offenders. How long has he had to make a deal with Olympia to avoid the McCleary decision, to avoid the Charter schools getting shut down? And he wants a governor candidate to disavow a presidential candidate, which does nothing.”

Medved worries that some people might fall for Inslee’s argument that Trump is responsible for everything that’s wrong with Washington state.

“Which is a bit of a stretch, I don’t even think he has a hotel here in the state. No hotels, no casinos,” Medved said. “You can blame Trump for a lot, such as the state of the Republican campaign right now … but you cannot blame Donald Trump for the state of Olympia. I don’t even think he knows where Olympia is.”

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest