SPOKANE – Washington State Republican Party leaders say they want party unity, but they torpedoed unity, at least for a bit, all for the sake of attempted control. When it became evident at their April 18-20 party convention in Spokane, that the more than 1,800 delegates overwhelmingly favored Semi Bird over Dave Reichert for governor, leaders announced there would be no endorsement for governor. They had suddenly decided that Bird, a former Richland School Board member, had not been forthcoming in their candidate-vetting process.