Keeping Washington in Gregoire’s hands is a top priority for the Democratic Governors Association, says Nathan Daschle, the organization’s executive director (and son of former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.)We are doing everything we can to make sure Chris Gregoire gets re-elected. While the race is close, the truth is it’s exactly where everyone knew it would be a year ago. This is a rematch of one of the closest races of all time. The difference this year is that Chris Gregoire has a strong record of accomplishment on which to run. She took the state from a deficit to a surplus, created 200,000 new jobs, held crime to a 14-year low, and expanded health care coverage for kids. I could go on. Rossi’s campaign, on the other hand, is a cheap stunt. He’s a Bush Republican who runs when the going gets tough.Daschle predicts, of course, a Gregoire win. His comments came as an answer to a question from Seattle Weekly during an election preview Web chat this morning. Other states the DGA is keeping an eye on include: North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, Vermont, and Delaware. “I feel best about Delaware,” Daschle says, “and I am confident that Missouri will be a pickup. We have a fight on our hands to defend Washington and North Carolina, but the trends suggest we’ll hold onto these seats. Keep your eye on Indiana and Vermont because these could go our way as well.”He says the recent ads funded by the Republican Governors Association attacking Gregoire for losing track of 1,300 sex offenders are kitchen-sink stuff. “I think we have seen a new rule in politics being created: whenever somebody runs sex offenders ads in the last few days of an election, you know they are desperate.”