We were surfing around on a chilly afternoon and came across this little nugget about the Washington State Attorney General race. From Crosscut out in Seattle:

But if Rossi needs excitement at the top, it’s different farther down the ticket, in the likely race of Attorney General Rob McKenna against Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg. The dynamics work the other way. An exciting presidential race and gubernatorial race would suck up money and media attention, making it harder for the challenger, Democrat Ladenburg, to compete.

Ladenburg told me this week that he’s waiting for a statewide Democratic poll in January before making his decision to run or go back to private practice as a lawyer. He ran before for the office, losing to Gregoire in the primary. This time, he doesn’t want to get into the race unless there’s a good chance of winning and ample funding. “I don’t want to get into a gunfight armed only with a knife,” he says. If Ladenburg bows out, there are no strong Democrats waiting in the wings.

It’s fascinating stuff indeed, and Ladenburg wants what challengers never get against popular and well respected incumbents – a clean shot at the top. How many candidates for public office come in and say – “Hey I’ll run, but only if I get all of the money I need for my race up front – I’m to gosh darned important to get my hands dirty meeting voters and raising money.”?

Over the years we’ve seen LOTS of candidates who look great on paper, but just don’t have the guts to put it all on the line – both Democrat and Republican. Maybe Ladenburg is smart – and knows that it’s going to take a mountain of effort from himself and his potential supporters to get close to having a chance to defeat incumbent A.G. Rob McKenna.

If we were advising Mr. Ladenburg we’d strongly encourage him to take a look at the number of incumbent attorneys general who have been defeated in recent history across the country – they all had significant image problems with their home state voters – think Peg Lautenschlager of Wisconsin, Charles Foti of Louisiana, and Phill Kline of Kansas. Incumbents just don’t lose, especially when they’re hard working, ethical, and popular like Rob McKenna.