Bill Bryant just killed Gov. Inslee’s only talking point

Finally — finally — Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bill Bryant came out against Donald Trump.

In an interview this week, he indicated he won’t be voting for Trump, or Hillary Clinton, but would be seriously looking at Libertarian Gary Johnson for president. This begs the question: what will Governor Jay Inslee do to criticize his opponent?

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With one single interview, the gubernatorial candidate effectively killed Governor Inslee’s only (albeit lame) talking point. As I explained, Inslee went after Bryant on Trump out of fear. He has little to attack the moderate Republican candidate on, so he used Trump as a weapon. I wrote:

The strategy is rather simple. Bryant needs Independents and some Democrats to break from supporting Inslee, particularly in King County, if he wants any hope of winning. But he also needs Republicans to stand firmly behind him.

Bryant won’t endorse Trump because it alienates Independents and Democrats who might consider voting for him, given how poorly Inslee has performed as governor. But Bryant won’t denounce Trump either because he doesn’t want to alienate Republican supporters who will see him turning his back on their presidential pick. It’s a smart strategy in a blue state.

Now, probably because of how little support Trump has in Washington, Bryant is saying what most honest people already knew about him. There was never a chance Bryant was going to support Trump.

So now what? Inslee’s attacks were already desperate. Imagine the next, even more, desperate attack ad Inslee will take. I’d be curious to hear what Inslee says as they come up with their next strategy. It’s not like he’s had an arsenal of meaningful and legitimate criticisms. Perhaps that’s why Inslee, a sitting governor of a blue state, can’t breach 50 percent support.

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