LANGLEY — Gov. Christine Gregoire visited Langley Monday afternoon and she had her fighting gloves on during her first official campaign stop on South Whidbey.

Her message was loud and clear: She wants to see Democratic leadership in the state Senate, the governor’s mansion and the White House.

“Are we ready for November?” Gregoire asked a crowd of roughly 150 South Enders.

The crowd enthusiastically shouted “Yes!”

“Are we ready to elect Barack Obama?”

“Are we ready to re-elect Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen?”

“I hope we are ready to re-elect Gregoire.”

The crowd emphatically shouted “Yes!” each time.

Gregoire had come to Useless Bay Coffee Company’s outdoor venue, where local Democrats held a rally for their local candidates as well as Gregoire and Haugen.

To kick things off, Gregoire held up a Bush administration “countdown clock,” and announced that it was only 182 days until a Democrat would become the next president of the United States.

The gimmick found a enthusiastic audience. Langley is traditionally a Democratic stronghold on Whidbey Island.

She had no kind words for her challenger Dino Rossi, who she narrowly beat four years ago after a messy ballot recount.

Gregoire repeatedly stressed that she sees virtually no difference between Rossi and the Bush administration, and that people should not buy into Rossi’s campaign theme of “change.”

While her opponent has attacked her most recently for the state’s spending since she took office, Gregoire offered no apologies.

Since Gregoire was elected governor, state spending has increased $8 billion — a 31 percent increase in the state’s two-year general fund budget.

“I am proud of the investments we made,” she said.

Gregoire said that the money was well-spent and was invested in what matters most: education, healthcare and public safety.

“What’s wrong with that?” she asked.

Gregoire stressed her commitment to environmental concerns, her plan to clean up Puget Sound by 2020, and praised improvements such as bringing the unemployment rate from the highest in the country to the lowest in state history and bringing healthcare to thousands of Washington children.

The crowd gave her a standing ovation.

Ready to fight

Prior to her speech in Langley, she took time out to speak with The Record about her campaign.

Langley was a welcome stop on her tour.

“Nothing can take away from the beauty of this place,” the governor said. “The beauty is breathtaking. The sense of community is breathtaking.”

But that’s not the only reason why she enjoyed South Whidbey.

“We’ve got a great Democratic base here now,” she said.

In the four years since she last competed for the job of governor with Rossi, the political landscape had changed, she said, in her favor.

“People now know me and have seen results of my work,” Gregoire said. “We’ve made huge steps forward.”

In 2004, Rossi picked up more votes in Island County than Gregoire and carried 51 percent of the vote.

That, however, won’t be the case this time around, she said.

“Voters here know now how much I respect them.”

In Island County, she partnered with local politicians to aid in economic growth and she said everybody in Olympia has worked hard to help the troubled ferry system.

Gregoire also said voters are through with the Bush administration and the things the administration and her opponent represent. People want a strong partner in Olympia who is ready to work effectively with the next president, whom she says will be Obama.

Gregoire said Rossi is trying to piggy-back on the positive vibe of Obama’s change slogan by making change his theme as well.

But voters won’t fall for that, she said.

“Mr. Rossi will change things I’ve done to failed policies we’ve seen from the Bush administration,” Gregoire said. “That’s the last thing voters in Langley, voters on the island, want.”

She stressed that Rossi has no real answers and that’s why he’s never answered any critical questions.

To gain power, Gregoire said, Rossi is willing to go as far as to play one side of Washington against the other.

Recently signs popped up in Eastern Washington warning voters not to let Seattle “steal the election.”

The signs are designed to divide, Gregoire said.

“It’s terrible. We’ve been trying to unite Washington and take down this so-called ‘Cascade curtain,’” she said.

She added that both parts of Washington have always helped each other. During the recent fires in Eastern Washington when more than 500 homes had to be evacuated, Western Washington firefighters came to the rescue.

Rossi’s tactics are despicable, she said.

“Shame on them. Shame on my opponent.”

Stroll through town

Gregoire spent about two hours in Langley.

After giving her speech at the Useless Bay Coffee Company, she toured Langley’s First Street. Escorted by Langley Mayor Paul Samuelson, Gregoire talked with shop owners and visited with customers from Island Drug on one end of Langley to Karlson/Gray Gallery at the other.

“How’s business?” Gregoire repeatedly asked shopkeepers, who mostly said it was quite good.

Gene Felton, the owner of the Star Store, said he unfortunately did not have much time to visit, but he gave her an overview of the store’s history.

“I was pleased to shake her hand and meet her,” he said about the “biggest celebrity drop-in” in recent history.

As she stood outside the Star Store, a van on First Street came to a stop and a passenger leaned over to yell through the driver’s window, “We love you, governor!”

She was often stopped by passersby during her walk; some from Whidbey, others were tourists in town. Some thanked her for working on veterans’ affairs, while others asked for help on healthcare, family services or other issues.

Some just wanted to make small talk. After presenting the governor with a barbecue apron from Choochokam Arts, Langley Chamber of Commerce president Fred Lundahl told Gregoire how he was one of only two men at the big “Sex in the City” shindig the night before. The governor gave him a puzzled look, but laughed a few minutes later when she passed The Clyde Theatre and saw a poster featuring the film.

“That’s what he was talking about!” Gregoire said.

Local business people shared with the governor what Langley has to offer.

At MUSEO, Gregoire stopped to admire glass bowls created by Richard LaLonde of Freeland, and at Karlson/Gray, she listened intently as Haugen pointed out sculptures by Clinton-based artist Georgia Gerber.

At Café Langley, Gregoire sampled signature desserts such as baklava, chocolate pots de crème and Russian creme with raspberries before ending back at the Useless Bay Coffee Company for a latte — soy not milk, please — and the ferry.

It was a busy day for Gregoire. Before her stop in Langley, she had spoken at a luncheon in Coupeville and had visited two other counties earlier in the day.