As the fight over who really won the governor's race turns into a sort of Lawyer Olympics, we pause to award a bronze medal for snide tactics and political theater to the Building Industry Association of Washington.

The BIAW supports Republican Dino Rossi, who lost the race on a third count by 129 votes out of nearly 2.9 million. Trying to oust Democrat Christine Gregoire, the BIAW has poured cash and many staff hours into searching for voting problems, including votes by felons, dead people or double votes.

This quest has produced a sea of paperwork, and lawyers for the Democratic Party recently slapped the BIAW with a subpoena for all those records. BIAW "boxes and boxes" of documents, and said it felt sorry for whoever has to wade through all that stuff.

"As an extra incentive, BIAW buried $50 worth of gift certificates to Sizzler in the reams of documents," said the group's Tom McCabe. "If Gregoire's lawyers actually look through every page, some lucky worker will get a free lunch on BIAW."

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