The Four Musketeers

What to call them? Republican soccer dads? Metrosexual conservatives? Reagan babies? The labels don't quite fit, but their presence is undeniable. As the Jan. 12 convening of the Legislature in Olympia draws near, a new generation of standard bearers has arisen in the state Republican Party: former state Sen. Dino Rossi, 44, is running for governor; King County Council member Rob McKenna, 41, is campaigning for attorney general; state Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, 34, was just elected Senate Majority Leader; and Luke Esser, 42, is the state Senate's new floor leader.

Besides their relative youth, they have at least four other things in common: their residence (the Eastside suburbs of King County), their demeanor (nice guys), their physical appearance (good looks), and their political philosophy (Republicans should focus on pocketbook issuesthe business climate and controlling government growth not social issues).

"We are starting to build a team again," says state Republican Party chair Chris Vance. He likens the emergence of these four to the generation of Republican leaders that emerged in the 1960sDan Evans, Slade Gorton, and Joel Pritchard. Vance adds, "This sort of thing needs to happen to invigorate the party."

Vance says the four also share an ideology that is ascendant within the GOP. "It's not enough to pretend that the free market can solve every problem, but we reject the liberals' point of view: 'Government can fix everything.' It's a third way, between government should not be involved and government should solve it all."

Rossi, McKenna, and Esser date the emergence of their political identity to the 1980 presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan, who made it cool for young people to be Republicans. "The bright hope and vision for the future became very clear when Ronald Reagan started talking," says Rossi. He moved to Sammamish when he became a father, while the other three grew up in the Eastside suburbs. They all speak cul-de-sac. "They have a lot in common with soccer momsthey are married to them!" observes Randy Pepple, a longtime ally who is a consultant at the Rockey Company. (The exception is Esser, who is single.)

THE SUBURBAN EXPERIENCE is part of their political grounding, says Rossi: "Car pooling and soccer teams." That translates into the way they behave, says Vance. "A snarling, angry demeanor puts people off," he says. "Most people who live in a $500,000 house and work at Microsoft are not mad at the world, and they don't want to vote for somebody who is." Notes Esser: "Harsh, old-school politics doesn't work in the state of Washington."

Paul Berendt, state chair of the Democratic Party, says the aspect of the four emerging GOP leaders to focus on is their ideology, not their personalities. "They are people who are far more conservative than their constituents," Berendt says. When it comes to abortion rights, education funding, transportation alternatives, and environmental protection, he says, the Republicans are increasingly at odds with the suburbs. "The Republican Party has been hemorrhaging in the suburbs for some time. They've decided to put some of these suburban Republicans in these key spots in a last-ditch effort to stem the bleeding." As examples of the political trend, Berendt cites the examples of Democratic victories by state Reps. Ross Hunter of Bellevue, Laura Ruderman of Kirkland, and Judy Clibborn of Mercer Island.

Rossi says it's the Democrats who are about to find themselves on the outs with voters, because they have mismanaged the state's economy. "You can't keep doing the same things we've been doing the last 20 years and expect to be successful. We need to improve the business climate. I do understand the free enterprise system. I'm going to figure out what is right and I'm going to go and sell it."

Rossi is a great salesman. He has made his living in commercial real estate, negotiating megadeals. He was elected to the state Senate in 1996, but he didn't have a chance to let his private-sector skills shine until last year, when he became chair of the Ways and Means Committee. The first thing Rossi did was hop in his car and drive around the state to meet with Democrats in their home districts. He made a decision to try to build a "philosophical majority, not a partisan one," to solve the state's $2.6 billion budget crisis. "I didn't want to do to the Democrats what they had done to mecram a budget down their throats. I decided to turn the other cheek." He says he passed 50 bills off the Senate floor related to the budget with bipartisan support and successfully closed the deficit without raising taxes.

The business community applauded his budget, and advocates for the disabled and seniors gave Rossi kudos for protecting key funding. Others, including unions, education boosters, and many human-services supporters, were not so pleased. Home-care workers protested Rossi's budget by singing, to the tune of "Frere Jacques," "Dino Rossi, Dino Rossi, cheap and mean!"

Rossi promises to continue his nonpartisan approach to solving the state's problems if he is elected governor. Earlier this month, he left the Senate so he could campaign full time. A poll of statewide voters by Mark Mellman shows that Rossi trails Democratic gubernatorial front-runner and Attorney General Christine Gregoire, 46 percent to 27 percent. Rossi remains unperturbed by such numbers, pointing out he is not well known statewide and only got into the governor's race in November. He hopes to raise $5 million to better acquaint Washington's voters. His first month's total of $300,000 indicates he will be competitive in the money race.