That's what I heard on KOMO radio on my way to work this morning.

We have a story in today's paper on B-2 about Democrats filing suit to make Dino Rossi label himself a "Republican" on the ballot. It was actually a pretty clever move by Rossi, notwithstanding the redundancy of "Grand Old Party Party." Remember, Chris Gregoire won by only 129 133 votes last time.

Maybe grammarians on The News Tribune's copy desk will intervene in the lawsuit and make Rossi change his label to GOPP.

Here's the Secretary of State Sam Reed's take on all this (from last night's news release):

“Our view is that the new Top 2 Primary system clearly allows candidates to express their preference for any party, or to designate no preference at all, using up to 16 characters,” Reed said. “Some candidates used the ‘prefers GOP’ designation, while others used ‘prefers Republican.’"

UPDATE: Nathe Lawver, chairman of the Pierce County Democrats, re-sent an e-mail that he sent a few months back.

In the past two Federal elections there has been no GOP 'party.' There isn't even a mention of GOP in the Republican Party Platform. This blatant attempt for Republicans to turn their backs on their rightful party name is just an attempt for them to hide from their radical platform.

After the MORE jump are the full SecState news release and Lawver's e-mail:

[More:]

Democrats sue over “GOP” ballot designation for Rossi

OLYMPIA – Democratic attorneys have filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court seeking to force the state to halt the printing of General Election ballots that use “GOP” as gubernatorial candidates Dino Rossi’s party preference.

The party attorneys, including some who defended Gov. Chris Gregoire in the Republicans’ election challenge after her election by 129 votes four years ago, are seeking an order to require Rossi’s party preference to be listed as “Republican Party.” A hearing and decision were expected as early as Wednesday.

Secretary of State Sam Reed, the state’s chief elections officer, is being defended by the state attorney general. Reed declined to discuss the merits of the arguments, since the case is now in litigation, but noted that the new Top 2 Primary law adopted by the voters allows candidates to self-describe their party preference and for voters to choose the finalists.

“Our view is that the new Top 2 Primary system clearly allows candidates to express their preference for any party, or to designate no preference at all, using up to 16 characters,” Reed said. “Some candidates used the ‘prefers GOP’ designation, while others used ‘prefers Republican.’ The implementing rules, established and publicized well before Filing Week and the Primary, do not proscribe a narrow list of choices for a candidate, and indeed some said they preferred such parties as “Salmon Yoga” or “Progressive Democrat” or other unofficial names. It was the candidates’ call, not for the government to mandate.

“As affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, our new voter-approved Top 2 Primary is not a nominating primary and no party ‘owns’ a slot on the November General Election ballot. The candidates self-describe their party preference, if any, and the voters collectively pick their favorite two to move forward. This process was spelled out in clear and unmistakable terms months ago, and it is very late in the hour to raise the ‘GOP’ issue in the courts. Our County Auditors are far along in their ballot preparation and printing.”

The state Elections Division was polling the counties Tuesday afternoon about the status of their ballot-preparation, printing and mailing deadlines. State Elections Director Nick Handy said some counties already have printed some of their ballots and Voters’ Pamphlets and even mailed some out to military voters in order to meet federal deadlines.

“The proverbial train has left the station,” Handy said.

The political parties first received notice that the Secretary of State’s Office contemplated accepting party preferences other than Republican and Democratic on April 16. The issue was widely discussed, and Filing Week was held with little fuss during the first week of June, and the Primary was held with the party preference designations in place on Aug. 19.

Here's the full e-mail from Nathe Lawver:

Joe,
Here's a copy of an e-mail I sent to Patrick O'Callahan back in June regarding the use of GOP Party.

-Nathe

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nathe Lawver
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Subject: Grand Old Party Party
To: patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com

Patrick,

In the past two Federal elections there has been no GOP 'party.' There isn't even a mention of GOP in the Republican Party Platform (attached).

I've placed the RCW below, as well as links to the "Political Parties in Washington State" page of the Secretary of State's office, and the last two federal elections.

This blatant attempt for Republicans to turn their backs on their rightful party name is just an attempt for them to hide from their radical platform.

-Nathe Lawver
Chair
Pierce County Democratic Party

The law:
RCW 29A.04.086

Major political party.

"Major political party" means a political party of which at least one nominee for president, vice president, United States senator, or a statewide office received at least five percent of the total vote cast at the last preceding state general election in an even-numbered year. A political party qualifying as a major political party under this section retains such status until the next even-year election at which a candidate of that party does not achieve at least five percent of the vote for one of the previously specified offices. If none of these offices appear on the ballot in an even-year general election, the major party retains its status as a major party through that election. However, a political party of which no nominee received at least ten percent of the total vote cast may forgo its status as a major political party by filing with the secretary of state an appropriate party rule within sixty days of attaining major party status under this section, or within fifteen days of June 10, 2004, whichever is later.

2006 Senate:

http://vote.wa.gov/Elections/VotersGuide/Statement.aspx?c=fd4e7e18-3da5-4545-9965-db9aab1e2dc

2004 General election:

http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/guide/federal_results.aspx?d=HJLHBFowVTHD2ELRVw8DpQ%3d%3d

List on Secretary of State's website
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/parties.aspx

Candidate filings:

http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/en/candidatefiling/Pages/Candidateswhohavefiled.aspx?officecodes=3001