Partially due to the unpopularity of the bill with voters, recent polls have shown Murray to be vulnerable in her re-election efforts. However, the polls were done in a hypothetical race between Murray and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi. So far, Rossi has not announced his candidacy. Six Republicans have signed up to run against Murray, but none of them have statewide name recognition.

McKenna's actions today are interesting in that they could help Dino Rossi in a race to unseat Murray OR they could help McKenna himself in a race against Murray. So far, all of the rumors about McKenna's political future have centered around him running for Governor in 2012. The Murray race appears to be quite winnable though and McKenna would still have a job, if he lost the race. One has to guess that Republican State Party Chair is quietly encouraging either Rossi or McKenna to enter the race against Murray.