Some Republicans have criticized Daschle and Pelosi for their pre-emptive strike against Bush. Well, the RNC has come out with a pre-emptive strike against Gary Locke, the man the Democrats have tapped to give the response to Bush's speech.

GOP sees easy target in Democratic responder Washington governor to respond to Bush From John Mercurio CNN Washington Bureau Tuesday, January 28, 2003 Posted: 8:24 PM EST (0124 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Searching for a strong response to President Bush's State of the Union address, Democrats made a curious choice. They turned to Washington Gov. Gary Locke, an obscure, two-term executive at a political low point, whose state is grappling with one of the nation's highest budget deficits ($2.5 billion) and rates of unemployment (6.8 percent). Republicans didn't have to dig hard to craft a comprehensive hit piece on him. Shortly after Democrats said Locke would deliver the 10-minute response to Bush's speech, the Republican National Committee fired off an e-mail attacking his leadership skills and vision, areas which even state Democrats concede he is weak in. The RNC criticized his handling of the state budget and his plummeting poll numbers.

They criticized him for plummeting poll numbers? What cheek!