FIVE YEARS AFTER he offered to buy me lunch, I finally took radio commentator Dave Ross up on it. I just had to go to Seattle to do it.

It was well worth it. Not only is the big-voiced Ross (as I've said for years) the most talented and entertaining talk host in commercial radio today, his daily commentaries for the CBS Radio Network heard here daily on KCBS are always intelligent and insightful, and often funny.

As if I weren't a big enough Ross fan, I learned a few years ago that Ross shares my passion for Gilbert & Sullivan's brilliant comic operas. In fact, Ross is the star of Seattle's G&S troupe, playing big roles and doing all the funny patter songs (e.g., The Major General's song in "Pirates of Penzance").

But what many listeners of his don't realize is that unlike most in politically charged talk radio, the clever and witty Ross has actually been on the battlefield: Five years ago, at the urging of local Democratic leaders, Ross agreed to run for Congress in a suburban Seattle district against unctuous GOP incumbent Dave "The Sheriff" Reichert. (Reichert, a former cop, takes credit for solving the Green River murders).

Ross, who's reserved and thoughtful in person — and not nearly as tall as his big voice would suggest — lost that close race, but it taught him a lot about the reality of politics.

"When you go into politics," he shrugs, "you give people license to

Ross chuckles at one memory: "I'd just returned from visiting the troops in Iraq and was photographed. I hadn't showered in three days.

"In fact," he smiles, "I looked like a sex predator. Guess which picture the GOP used in their ads?"

Ross, who quickly returned to radio after his House loss (his radio home, KIRO-AM in Seattle welcomed him with open arms), smiles when he recalls one TV ad the Republican National Committee ran against him because of his opposition to the Bush "Star Wars" program — including the grizzled-looking photo, of course.

"It featured a shot of the Space Needle, a simulated nuclear winter and it said, 'You wouldn't want to live in Dave Ross' Seattle.'"‰" Charming.

The thoughtful Ross says, "That experience has helped me understand what politicians from both parties have to endure. It's a tough racket."

You can see Ross on camera doing his daily 90-second CBS commentaries at KIRO's Web site, www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=90. Ross's droll comments are carried on more than 200 radio stations nationally.

Ross also worked for CNET in San Francisco for several years doing high-tech reporting. His thoughtful daily KIRO radio show is a welcome tonic amid the coarse, combative world of talk radio today.

After Seattle's Boeing recently outsourced hundreds of aircraft jobs to union-averse South Carolina, Ross said on KIRO: "It's the first time Boeing planes won't be assembled here. Now Seattle workers here know how people in Detroit must feel."

Ross adds this of the recent banking and economic crisis: "Capitalism is its own worst enemy when it fails."

Reach Bill Mann through his Web site, www.dcweasels.com.