McGavick tells party the rules of his campaign

WASHINGTON -- Republican Mike McGavick, in town to raise money and build relationships that will be crucial in his race against incumbent U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., pledged Thursday to avoid highly negative campaigning that has become the norm in modern elections.

In an interview after meeting with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., McGavick said he is pleased with the progress of his campaign. Fund raising is going well, he said, and the early response to his candidacy for Senate has been positive.

"We were able to raise a fair amount of early money," he said. "That was no small feat. I think it said to the world this is a serious race with a serious contender," he said.

McGavick also said he collected assurances that his race against Cantwell would be one of the Republican Party's highest priorities this year.

He also confirmed that McCain would come to Seattle for a fund-raiser Tuesday. Cantwell will counter with her own fund-raiser Saturday by Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, a rising star in the Democratic Party.

The race is expected to be the most expensive in Washington history, with Cantwell and McGavick each expected to spend between $13 million and $15 million.

McGavick, a former insurance executive and chief of staff to retired Sen. Slade Gorton, emphasized that another important feature of the trip was to outline for senior Republicans the ground rules for what many believe will be a tight race.

"We have to make sure we're visible and understood," McGavick said, explaining one purpose for his four-day visit. "Here in this Washington, there's a lot of focus on partisanship and in the other Washington there's a lot of disgust about partisanship.

"Because they're so focused on partisanship here, they think the election plays in a partisan lens. And I'm here to tell them that's not the conversation in my state. The conversation in my state is a pox on all of you," he said.

Ironically, McGavick's last full day in Washington coincided with the Senate once again considering whether to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

ANWR is likely to be a central issue in both campaigns, with McGavick supporting drilling and Cantwell leading efforts in the Senate against it.

Cantwell lost Thursday when a drilling provision was included in a budget resolution that the Senate passed 51-49.

Cantwell promised to continue working to defeat the proposal. "I will use every tool at my disposal to keep up the fight on the Senate floor and in the Energy Committee," she said after the vote. "We need real solutions to our energy needs, not a backward-looking Band-Aid approach that would destroy an unspoiled natural treasure for a small amount of oil."

McGavick said he supports drilling because it can be done safely.

"I think it is common sense at a time of a desire for nation energy independent to be drilling in parts of the world where we've already proven we can drill safely," he said. "We have on the North Slope of Alaska. There are a variety of common-sense reasons for why we should do that."

P-I Washington correspondent Charles Pope can be reached at 202-263-6461 or charliepope@seattlepi.com.

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