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Good Morning. Happy MLK and second inaugural day.

President Obama will be sworn in (again) to his second term today. Here is a link to the schedule, the ceremonial swearing in, the festivities, all of it. Question: Is there an excitement/enthusiasm gap between this inauguration and Obama’s first one in 2008? You make the call. Update: Swearing-in just concluded. What did you think?

Chris Christie, bad boy of the Republican Party. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seems to be enjoying the heck out of his penchant for going rogue on his own party. Last week, he did it again, telling the National Rifle Association it was way out of line running an ad about Obama’s kids and public safety measures provided at their school.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane

Gender gap and conservatives: It’s no secret that the Republican Party has a gender gap problem. Women favored President Obama pretty significantly in the recent election. In fact, the gender gap was described as historic.  U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is featured in a Talking Points Memo piece about conservative women tackling the GOP’s problem with women voters.

State Sen. Steve LItzow,
R-Mercer Island

State Sen. Steve Litzow: State Sen. Steve Litzow made noise in the Legislature when he put his name on a bill requiring reproductive parity. He is co-sponsoring the legislation along with state Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens. Litzow is clearly a moderate Republican, rising in his party. The Reproductive Parity Act was an issue in his recent re-election campaign. Even though Litzow is pro-choice, he voted against the bill amid the budget coup last year. Some Democrats tried to make that into a big issue. Litzow is featured as PubliCola’s lawmaker at the center of the action.

Other lawmakers in the news: State Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, does not want light rail on the new bridge crossing the Columbia River to Oregon. He is quite serious about this, having proposed legislation last week to make sure it doesn’t happen. His co-sponsor is Sen. Ann Rivers of La Center.

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Good Morning. Merry Almost-Christmas.

U.S. Rep-elect Denny Heck

Denny Heck lands on a hot committee: Rep.-elect Denny Heck, he of the new 10th Congressional District, doesn’t fully settle in Washington, D.C., until January, but he has landed a spot on the House budget committee and he’s pleased as Christmas  punch about it. Read his press release.  Apparently, he is the only one of the incoming freshman to land such a spot.

McAuliffe bristles at coalition governance in state Senate: State Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, has been in charge of the Senate education committee for a while. So, it’s no surprise that she is less-than-thrilled by the coalition government takeover of the Senate, if that is what happens in January when the Legislature convenes. She says, in this The Herald post, that it’s all about education. She fears that the Republican-plus-two-Democrats rule of the Senate, which displaces her as education chairwoman, will hurt ed reform and result in insufficient funds to pay for education.

NRA press conference: The National Rifle Association’s Friday press conference landed not so well on Capitol Hill and was picked apart much of the weekend. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, known for going off reservation after Hurricane Sandy, seems to have done it again. He is no fan of armed guards as a safety solution for public schools, as recommended by the NRA. While we are on the topic, there is a new website plan burning up the Internet, Demand a Plan, related to new efforts to reduce gun violence.

Pols in Hawaii: Hey, what are we doing in the cold and rain? Not only did our incoming Gov. Jay Inslee take his family to Hawaii     for some rest and relaxation, President Obama and his family left Friday for their annual vacation to Hawaii.

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Good Morning and Happy Friday:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Can Christie run for prez?: Only ABC’s Barbara Walters could get away with a question like this:  Is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie too, well, large to be president.? Psshaw, says Christie, who acknowledges that he is significantly overweight, but not so much that he couldn’t serve as president of these United States.

It’s Austin Jenkins Day on the Politics Northwest blog: Jenkins has a fascinating piece on Northwest Public Radio quoting former Gov. Dan Evans  saying he believes the new coalition leadership in the Senate will work for the state. He knows a thing or two about such arrangements. And  Republican Evans thinks the new structure will limit the power of House Speaker Frank Chopp, a Democrat, who, in Evans’ opinion, acts as almost an alternate governor.

Driving Ms. Gregoire: Austin Jenkins also has a fun story  on the governor, the one leaving office in January. Guess what she needs? Driving lessons. Think about it. Gregoire has been driven around by the state patrol for the last eight years while she was in the back of the Chevy Suburban. The governor says she is excited to re-learn driving skills. No, um, texting while driving, Gov.

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Good Morning.

Plenty of Republican governors, lots of soul-searching: As Washington s-l-o-w counted ballots in its close governor’s race last week, it was easy to forget–  or ignore — the fact that Republicans did pretty well electing governors in the 2012 election. The total number of GOP governors now stands at 30, highest for either party in a dozen years. This week, the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Bobby Jindal, of Louisiana, urged fellow governors to stop being “the stupid party.” That sounds bad, but what he meant was to be more populist and less anti-intellectual. And, yes, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, persona non grata to some after his  embrace of President Obama during the mega-storm, is joining his fellow governors at the Republican governors’ gathering. He might have to sit in the corner for a while, but he intends to be there. Then, back to Sandy recovery efforts.

First District Congresswoman
Suzan DelBene was in D.C. for
her swearing-in.

Suzan DelBene is now First District Congresswoman Suzan DelBene: DelBene was officially sworn into her new job Tuesday afternoon.

Guess what she didn’t say at her swearing-in? SUZAN DELBENE!!! SUZAN DELBENE,!! as her heavily repetitive TV ads bellowed in the weeks leading up to the primary election. The Everett Herald has her prepared remarks from the swearing-in.

Reps. Norm Dicks and Doc Hastings spoke briefly at the event.

Pot prices: So you thought passage of Initiative 502, the marijuana legalization measure, would make pot cheaper. Not so fast, says Slate Magazine.

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
stumping for Rob McKenna

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stopped by Snohomish County’s Republican headquarters in South Everett Thursday afternoon to thank volunteers and rally the troops working to elect Rob McKenna as  governor.

“The way we’re going to win this election is all of you,” he said, as a grinning McKenna stood nearby. Volunteers personally vouching for a candidate, he said, “is even more charming than a warm and automated phone call from the governor of New Jersey — only slightly.”

Christie stumped only for McKenna, not mentioning another candidate in a tight race, 1st District Congressional candidate John Koster.

“Real leaders in the governor’s chair make a real difference,” he said. “Rob McKenna is going to change Washington, and he’s going to change it for the better.”

Christie was in town to raise money for McKenna — his second fundraising swing to support the gubernatorial candidate. He charged into the Everett banquet hall adjacent to Koster’s campaign headquarters for a 15-minute speech, backed by a few dozen red, white and blue balloons clinging to the ceiling. About 200 people were at the event.

In the day’s only skirmish, a handful of seniors protesting Koster’s views on Medicare were told to leave the front of the campaign headquarters or be arrested, they said. The Republicans called the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office, and two deputies made them leave the private property.

Koster signed a pledge Thursday morning promising to save Medicare by supporting a so-called voucher system, giving people the option of keeping government insurance or taking government money to a private insurance provider.

The campaign for Koster’s opponent, Suzan DelBene, said Koster’s pledge was not a serious one; DelBene believes such an approach “will dismantle Medicare as we know it.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke at
a recent rally for Rob McKenna in Bellevue.

In one of his more memorable lines during a rally in Bellevue last month, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie urged attendees to get Rob McKenna elected governor… or else.

“I’ve been really nice and friendly tonight, haven’t I?” Christie said. “I haven’t said anything bad about anybody. Haven’t gotten angry. I haven’t, you know, gone Jersey on anybody tonight. And I want to tell you something, if I don’t see this thing going well, and I mean really well, I’m going to hold the people in this room responsible first. Don’t make me come back here.”

Well, he’s coming back here — although the McKenna campaign says it’s not because things aren’t going well.

Christie will be holding events for McKenna in Kennewick and Lynnwood on Thursday, Oct. 4, said Charles McCray, a campaign spokesman. The specifics haven’t yet been worked out, but his visit will include fundraising and rallying volunteers, McCray said.

According to a website created for the event, McKenna supporters who volunteer for 10 hours in the next two weeks will get to meet Christie.

“The governor is incredibly enthusiastic about doing all he can to make sure Rob will be a colleague of his in January,” McCray said.

McKenna, a Republican and the state’s attorney general, is in a tight race with former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, a Democrat.

Christie, a popular governor who was discussed as a potential vice-presidential nominee for Mitt Romney, keynoted the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., late last month — to mixed reviews.

The Washington state governor’s race hasn’t changed much since his last visit to Washington.

That appearance at a Republican “unity rally” was held Aug. 9, two days after McKenna received 43 percent in the primary, good enough for second place to Inslee’s 47 percent.

The most recent poll in the race, released last week by Elway Research, Inc., found Inslee leading McKenna 44 percent to 41 percent.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie rallied support for gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna before a crowd of about 200 Republicans in Bellevue Thursday afternoon.

“He has earned your trust,” said Christie, a GOP firebrand and rumored vice presidential candidate, in town to raise money for McKenna. “He has earned your respect. He has earned your support through his deeds.”

McKenna, the state attorney general, finished second behind former Democratic U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee  in the primary on Tuesday.

But Christie said he’s “got a feeling” McKenna will win in November.

He spent most of his 20-minute speech highlighting his tenure in New Jersey, where he took a hard line with a Democrat-controlled Legislature and, he said, eventually achieved better prioritizing and job growth.

“I can’t wait to come back here in 2013 and watch Rob McKenna do it for the state of Washington,” Christie said.

The “unity rally” at the Westin Bellevue was meant to inspire Republicans in the wake of the primary.

McKenna issued his standard stump speech, calling for changes to the state’s education system, streamlining of state government and enacting “tax and regulatory relief.”

Several other Republican candidates were also in attendance, including attorney general candidate Reagan Dunn, U.S. Senate hopeful Michael Baumgartner and John Koster, who is running for Congress in the 1st district.

Before the rally, Democrats held a news conference of their own outside the hotel.

Marko Liias, one of six openly-gay members of the state Legislature, highlighted Christie’s recent veto of a same-sex marriage legislation in New Jersey, as well as his opposition to abortion rights.

“Christie’s record in New Jersey has been nothing short of a disaster for women and gays and lesbians,” said Liias, D-Edmonds, who was joined by King County Executive Dow Constantine. “By standing with such a divisive figure, Rob McKenna is showing his true colors.”

Wilbur, the state party chairman, rejected that criticism.

In an interview, he said he wanted to bring Christie to Washington because he knew the governor would “get everybody fired up.”

“He’s been a reform-minded governor, much as Rob will be,” Wilbur said. “He’s popular, and he’s going to help us raise some money.”

After the rally, Christie and McKenna were scheduled to attend a pair of fundraisers, also in Bellevue.