The folks at the Republican Party debate-watching party in Tacoma loved Sarah Palin before the debate. They loved her during the debate. And they really loved her after the debate.

So if you were looking for objective analysis, you shouldn’t have been at Maxwell’s Speakeasy + Lounge Thursday evening. But if you were looking for a celebration of the Republican vice presidential candidate, you came to the right place.

“She won!” many cheered as the debate ended amid a round of giddy applause.

It was the loudest of many ovations Palin got from scores of Republicans who gathered at Maxwell’s.

Shawn Burpee of Enumclaw was among them. He said Republicans have an “ideology based in principle, based in logic.” The Democrats are “driven by their feelings, rather than what works.”

He’s been a fan of Palin since before John McCain picked her to be his running mate.
Going into the debate, Burpee hoped Palin would just be herself. “I’d like to see Palin make a good showing,” he said.

None who attended the party seemed disappointed.

They gathered in several rooms with big-screen televisions tuned to the Fox News Channel. One was a designated “rowdy” room, where more than 50 people cheered Palin and razzed Democrat Joe Biden throughout the debate.

Among Palin’s biggest applause lines:

• “Patriotism is saying to government, `you’re not always the solution. Sometimes you’re the problem.’”

• “Your plan (on Iraq) is a white flag of surrender.”

• “There is only one man in this race who has ever fought for you, and that’s John McCain.”

Biden’s groan-inducers included:

• He said climate change is “man-made.”

• “We will end this war. For John McCain, there is no end in sight.”

• “Vice President (Dick) Cheney is probably the most dangerous vice president we’ve had in American history.”

Viewers talked back to Biden and cheered Palin on nearly every question. And when it was over, the verdict seemed unanimous.

“I think she pretty well soundly trounced him,” Burpee said. “She did pretty much just what she needed to do.”

From Les Blumenthal in our D.C. bureau:

Just days after they voted against the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, four Washington state lawmakers faced mounting pressure to change their minds as the House prepared to take up the rescue package again Friday.

While the lawmakers – Republican Reps. Dave Reichert, Doc Hastings and Cathy McMorris Rodgers along with Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee – were still hearing from “Joe Public” today, they faced a lobbying blitz from the business community.

None had publicly switched, despite the addition of more than $100 billion in tax breaks and other sweeteners.

“I’m still leaning no, but I haven’t decided yet,” said Reichert, the Auburn resident who faces a strong election challenge from Democrat Darcy Burner. “If you are going to roll the dice, I want it to be in favor of the taxpayer.”

Backers of the bill need to reverse a dozen votes to change the outcome.

Local banks, real estate companies, car dealers and small business owners weighed in. Along with such major corporations as Microsoft, Weyerhaeuser and Alaska Airlines, they were asking lawmakers to support the package when it comes up Friday. Lawmakers were also hearing from such groups as the National Association of Counties, the American Forest and Paper Association, the Aerospace Industries Association and the Information Technology Industry Council.

=> Read more!

During his speech to Tacoma Rotary 8 today, GOP candidate Dino Rossi spoke of his business credentials. Being someone who has signed the front side of a paycheck gives voters a choice between Rossi and Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has spent most of her career in government and none in the private sector.

"That doesn't make her evil. It doesn't make her bad. It's just a very narrow, Olympia-centric view of the world," Rossi said. He then outlined his career as a commercial real estate broker.

"I come from a world of 100 percent commission. I come from a world of no salary, no benefits, if you don't work you don't eat. I'll be the first governor in my lifetime to come from that walk of life. That's a different lens to look through, isn't it?"

If his point was that he'd be the first governor since 1960 who was a 100 percent commission salesman, he's right. But if he was suggesting that he'd be the first since 1960 with private sector experience or who issued checks to employees, he's forgetting someone.

Booth Gardner, a Democratic governor from 1985 to 1993, spent 10 years as president of the Laird Norton Co. and was a member of the board of directors of Weyerhaeuser, the former Puget Sound National Bank and the soon-to-be-former Washington Mutual Savings Bank.

Sure, Gardner was leading a family owned company and representing the stock ownership of that family. But the building materials company wasn't exactly a government agency or a non-profit.

Democrat Chris Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi met last night in the third of five scheduled debates in the governor's race.

From the Yakima Herald-Republic's story:

Rossi, 48, took a lot of his lines from his previous playbook, calling Gregoire fiscally irresponsible, saying she “recklessly gambled the economic boom would never taper off.”

He likened her spending to that of former Gov. Mike Lowry, a Democrat known for big ideas and big social programs.

“She’s outspent Mike Lowry. You’d have to lay awake nights figuring out how to outspend Mike Lowry,” Rossi quipped.

But Gregoire said the state has caught the same cold that’s spread across the nation, which has legislators staring at a projected $3.2 billion budget for the upcoming biennium.

“Our nation is truly facing unprecedented economic challenge,” she said. “No corner of America has escaped the mess created by Wall Street.”

Here's a link to the rest of the Yakima paper's story.

Three of four candidates for Pierce County executive say they don’t favor public funding for lodging or restaurants at Chambers Bay Golf Course.

Depending on who wins the election, that could scuttle an idea floated earlier this summer by current executive John Ladenburg. He proposed the county consider joining with a private developer to build lodging, a clubhouse and a restaurant at the course and share in any profits.

Originally, the county hoped a private investor would pay to build the new facilities. Now KemperSports – which operates the course for the county – wants at least some public investment. The idea is that Pierce County can borrow money more cheaply than the private company.

The county has hired a consultant to study the feasibility of lodging at Chambers Bay. It looks like a final report won’t come until after the election.

Ladenburg has been the primary champion of Chambers Bay, which opened last year. It was his vision to build a high-end course to generate revenue to help pay for the development of other recreation amenities at the county’s Chambers Creek Properties in University Place.

That vision seemed to be validated earlier this year when the course won the right to host the 2015 U.S. Open, which the county estimates will generate tens of millions of dollars in economic activity and tax revenue.

But the course has been controversial from the start. The county borrowed $21 million to build it and pledged golf course, sewer and general fund revenue to repay it. So far, the course is paying its own way, and Ladenburg says it will continue to do so.

But it likely will be up to the next executive and the County Council to decide whether to invest in Chambers Bay lodging, restaurants and a clubhouse. And so far, only Republican candidate Shawn Bunney says he’s keeping an open mind.

“It’s not a yes or a no because it has not been vetted,” Bunney said. He wants to see if such a plan would protect taxpayers and provide a return on the county’s investment. You can listen to his full comments here.

The other candidates – Democrats Calvin Goings and Pat McCarthy and Executive Excellence candidate Mike Lonergan – offered variations of “no” when asked whether they would support public investment in lodging and a restaurant at Chambers Bay.

Goings said he would support a 99-year ground lease for a private firm that would develop lodging and restaurants. You can listen to his full comments here.

Lonergan said it’s time to reap the benefit of the money the county already has invested at the golf course. “If the market bears it out, there should be no difficulty finding private interests to invest” in lodging and a restaurant, he said. You can listen to his full response here.

McCarthy said she’s “not in a position right now to say I would support that … My belief is that it should be done through some other mechanism.” You can listen to her full response here.

Coming tomorrow: the executive candidates give their take on impact fees to offset the cost of providing new services to housing developments.