Early in Gov. Gary Locke’s first term, I started keeping a list titled, “Reasons why Gary Locke will be re-elected in 2000.”

The complaints had already begun yes, from me too — about his lack of leadership in Olympia, and not just from Republicans but Democrats, privately, of course. They were frustrated over his tendency to leave controversial actions and decisions to others while he waited to see which way the wind was blowing with the powerful special interests whose approval he courted. He’d make a deal and then back out at the last minute, for fear the consequences would aggravate the wrong people. I wrote that the reason he waited so long to get married (for the second time) was because he couldn’t find a girl the Washington Education Assn. liked.

“Gary has two flaws,” one of his cohorts said of him. “Buyer’s remorse and amnesia.”

A lot of his indecision, I felt, was that he was shooting for not just one and not just two, but three terms as governor. He didn’t want to make any waves too early in his 12-year plan. He already had the advantages of being a good-looking, personable man with a good-looking wife and, eventually, two cute kids, and his place in history as the first Chinese-American governor on the mainland.

Nobody questioned his intelligence or abilities, he was just cautious to the point of near paralysis when it came to being out front, rather than minding the store. But things happened that convinced me he wouldn’t be kicked out of office because he pleased large constituencies.

He pulled out of giving a commencement speech at The Evergreen State College at Olympia on the same program as a convicted cop killer He came to the rescue of the boat lady, who was found on her husband’s sailboat, badly injured and housed with his dogs. He opposed the killing of whales by the Makah Indians. He got a $30 car license tab bill passed when its constitutionality as a successful initiative was in question. He supported three strikes for criminals and filed suit against the Yakima Indian tribe for trying to tax non-Indian businesses on the reservation.

He was re-elected more for showing compassion than leadership, but popularity is as important as getting a good report card. Remember Booth Gardner? Warm and fuzzy image, terrible governor, as indecisive as Locke. Nobody ever called him a leader, but the people liked him.

Locke is quitting just as he seems to be growing into the job. He turned the corner when he stuck to his no new general taxes budget, an un-Lockely thing to do. So why isn’t he running? I think the polls convinced him to have it be his idea, not the voters.

Independent pollster Stuart Elway has been doing a Locke poll every six months, and I can see why Locke got cold feet. He took office in 1997, and in June 1998, got a 67 percent positive ranking on his overall performance. In 2001, after considerable growling over his lack of leadership, he had plummeted to 45 percent. In 2002, it was 45 percent in January and 47 in June. This year, it was 30 percent in January and 33 percent in June. But the real shocker was that 36 percent said they would almost certainly vote no for a third term for Locke, and 22 percent said they were inclined to vote no. Only 11 percent said they would vote for him.

I thought he had a real good shot at a third term since there was no top drawer Republican or Democrat stalking him, but after Locke’s announcement, a state employee said to me, “Did you see where Gary Locke had the gall to say that he thought he would win if he had run again?”

I think he would too, I said, why don’t you? Would you have voted for him? “No,” she said. “He didn’t show the leadership we needed. I don’t blame him for the revenue shortfall, the people did that to themselves, but he did nothing about it when there was still time. That was his job and he did nothing.”

Well, I can’t disagree. I’ve said it often enough. But looking at some of his potential successors, I have a feeling that, in time, we may wish we had that conservative old Gary Locke back.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69, Hansville, Wash. 98340.).