For those with doubts about whether the state Democratic Party's lawsuit over "GOP" versus "Republican" on the ballot matters, pollster Stuart Elway offers some interesting results from his recent polling. (Elway's appearing on a panel here in Blaine this morning.)

Elway's work has shown a strong lead -- more than most polls -- by Gov. Chris Gregoire over challenger Dino Rossi. (Elway attributes that to his "softer" questioning, which he said allows for more nuance in the answers.) But there's a marked difference, he said, between how the governor does when matched against a "GOP" opponent or a "Republican" candidate.

Rossi and the state Republican Party say the lawsuit's pointless, and that just about everybody knows that the GOP and the Republican Party are the same thing. Rossi points out that he's long identified himself in ads as a member of the GOP.

But here's that interesting result from Elway's poll: "When it is GOP Rossi, she (Gregoire) leads by 4 points. When it is Republican Rossi, she leads by 9 points."

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