Rossi's Vegas Connection

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So now we know why Dino Rossi had the Italian Club of Seattle make a stink about a Gregoire campaign ad that used background music from the TV show "The Sopranos". With huge amounts of cash being pouring in from out-of-state gambling interests, Dino has real worries about appearing to have those pesky old Las Vegas casino/mob connections.

Dino's attacked Governor Gregoire, falsely claiming she's expanded gambling while he's the one getting millions from casino owners.

RGA Rolls the Dice on Rossi

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Steele, (206) 992-9922

NEW VIDEO: Out-of-State, Right-Wing Gambling Moguls Ante up for Rossi

Right-wing casino owners betting Washington voters won’t see through their Hypoc-ROSSI

SEATTLE – Who won’t Republican Dino Rossi take money from to attack Governor Gregoire? The top two funders of the "Swift Boat" attack ads, check. Tens of thousands of dollars from Big Oil, check. Millions from Olympia’s most powerful special interest lobbying group (who referred to the Governor as a “she-wolf”), check. Now, Rossi is calling in his Republican friends from DC to attack Governor Gregoire for stopping the expansion of gambling with a million dollars from…out-of-state casino owners.

NEW VIDEO: “Hypoc-ROSSI” (click to watch)

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) – which has already spent over $400,000 to get Rossi elected this cycle and deposited an additional $1 million last month into their Washington state political account – went on the air today with an attack ad that has immediately been discredited by two major newspapers.

Seattle PI

“The newest ad is inventive: almost fact free, and especially in all
the relevant detail they ignore to gleefully bash the governor.”

The RGA’s first ad attacks Governor Gregoire for rejecting the largest expansion of gambling in our state’s history, an action she took with the support of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, including the late Republican King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng. Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna has stated repeatedly that Gregoire’s actions were consistent with the law.

What the Rossi and the RGA don’t tell you is that they have spent the last three years filling their coffers with $1.6 million from right-wing casino owners to help fund attack ads.

Hypoc-ROSSI has never stopped the Republican candidate before. After his biggest backers and Olympia’s most powerful special interests, the Building Industry Association of Washington spent millions before the primary election attacking Governor Gregoire to distract from Rossi’s terrible record on transportation and public safety, no one should be surprised to see the latest attack from Rossi and his powerful Republican, DC allies.

The Republican Governors Association, with the help of George W. Bush , has raised record amounts of money from right-wing casino moguls this election season, including a cool $300,000 from Sheldon Adelson, the owner of the Venetian casino and one of George Bush’s top donors.

This isn’t the first time that Rossi has pocketed thousands in campaign contributions from powerful interests bent on expanding gambling in Washington State. Gerry Kingen, a former casino owner and prominent backer of the expansion of gambling, who contributed thousands of dollars to an initiative to expand slot machines in neighborhoods across the state in 2004, has contributed the maximum amount to Rossi this cycle as has his wife.

As part of Kingen’s 2004 campaign to expand gambling, he commissioned a series of racist ads stereotyping Native Americans as reported by the Seattle PI.

Seattle PI Editorial (October 29th, 2004):

“The cartoons depict Indians in loincloths, headbands and feathers
and include the phrases ‘keep 'um cigarette tax, keep 'um sales tax, keep 'um gas tax, too,’ apparently trying to make the common I-892 proponents' argument that tribal casinos have an unfair competitive advantage over non-tribal gambling businesses…The letter claims, ‘Everyday (sic) 125,000 tribal members are scalping our state's other 6.2 million citizens.’"

“Dino Rossi is cashing in on his status as George Bush’s hand-picked candidate with the right-wing’s most powerful special interests who are funding attack ads full of hypoc-ROSSI,” said Kelly Steele, Communications Director for the Washington State Democratic Party. “Just like George Bush, Dino Rossi is relying on millions from Big Oil, lobbyists and casino moguls to attack his opponent and distort their record.”

For more information on the Real Rossi go to: www.therealrossi2008.com
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