Washington State Senate Debate Results

Washington Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell had a televised debate tonight with her Republican challenger, insurance executive Michael McGavick, and a libertarian candidate.  Polls have shown Cantwell to be leading the race ever since it emerged that McGavick covered up a drunk driving conviction. This debate was one of the McGavick's last chances to redeem himself while facing a national political environment that is increasing favorable to Democrats .

Unfortunately, the debate format allowed no real face-to-face interaction between candidates. It was also puzzling that Libertarian candidate Bruce Guthrie participated in this debate even though he has little to no chance of winning the election.  But despite the constraints of the format, a clearer picture emerged of both major candidates.

I have volunteered for Senator Cantwell's campaign, and though I have never met her and though I disagree with her on some issues, in the debate I found her to be articulate, informed, and in touch with key Washington State issues like the Hanford nuclear reservation, the methamphetamine epidemic, and environmental concerns.  I liked her suggestion to reward veterans with a "GI Bill for Life" - if you serve your country, you should be entitled to education for the rest of your life without the benefit expiring.

McGavick, who said he voted for Bush in 2004, agreed with many of Bush's policies, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He proposed a bi-partisan study group to get further ideas on Iraq, apparently unaware there was already one being led by James Baker and Lee Hamilton.  As a former insurance company executive, he suggested that his experience working in that industry has given him several ideas about how to deal with health care, though he did not make specific proposals.

On North Korea, he said it "reminds us of what an extraordinarily dangerous world we live in."  Both candidates favored diplomacy with North Korea, with McGavick supporting Bush in outsourcing our diplomacy to China and other Asian nations.

On Social Security, McGavick apparently wants to privatize Social Security while having the government manage the program (as Bush has done with Medicare), though there was not enough time in this debate for him to flesh out this proposal.

The question for McGavick now is whether his performance was strong enough to keep the national Republican party from withdrawing funding from this race in order to defend seats it has a better chance of winning.  The GOP has withdrawn from Ohio for similar reasons. According to today's New York Times,

Republicans are now pinning their hopes of holding the Senate on three states — Missouri, Tennessee and, with Ohio off the table, probably Virginia — while trying to hold on to the House by pouring money into districts where Republicans have a strong historical or registration advantage, party officials said Sunday.