Libertarian is center stage as Cantwell and McGavick joust

Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican challenger Mike McGavick exchanged mostly familiar verbal blows Tuesday in an hour-long debate, a sedate event except for a barbed zinger by Cantwell about her opponent's tenure as Safeco's chief.

But if anyone "won" the televised exchange -- Cantwell's and McGavick's second and final formal debate -- it was a third candidate, Libertarian Bruce Guthrie, just by being there.


		Meryl Schenker / P-I
	Libertarian Bruce Guthrie, top left, Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Mike McGavick are shown on a screen Tuesday for the live audience at a Senate debate at the KING/5 studio in Seattle.

McGavick accused the senator of being "the biggest spender" in Congress in 2003 and 2004, of opposing what she terms tax cuts for the wealthy, and talking about "peripheral issues," not "the issues that keep us up at night." The front-running incumbent ignored or brushed off most of his charges.

The two major candidates disagreed, as they have before, about abortion rights, immigration, border security, oil drilling in the Arctic, how to keep Social Security solvent and how to decide whether and when to start pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.

But they had to share the podium at the KING/5 studio in Seattle with Guthrie. It gave the polite, well-spoken Libertarian a forum for an earnest presentation of his sometimes out-of-the-mainstream views, a gift of TV exposure and equal footing with two major-party contenders that a third-party hopeful rarely gets.

In the process, it probably boosted his potential for peeling away votes from the two major candidates, more likely from Cantwell's Democratic base, given his platform: anti-war, pro-gay-marriage, pro-immigration and pro-marijuana-legalization.

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A fourth Senate candidate, the Green Party's Aaron Dixon, was also there, sort of. He and a contingent of sign-waving Greens showed up at KING/5 studios, demanding that Dixon be included. KING officials said neither he nor independent candidate Robin Adair met their criteria.

When Dixon refused to leave, police arrested, handcuffed and took him away as his angry supporters protested.

McGavick, as he has before, criticized Cantwell's Senate votes for spending and against tax cuts, cited his own success at saving Safeco from potential bankruptcy after becoming the insurance giant's chief executive, and remarked, "We cannot expect a reform in the (federal) deficit if we keep sending the same people back" to Congress.

Cantwell, who previously has criticized the Bush administration and the GOP-led Congress more than she has McGavick, fired back.

"I ask you," she said, "do you want to send somebody to Washington who's willing to cut thousands of employees off his own payroll and take a cash bonus as a reward for that? I want better fiscal responsibility and accountability in Washington."

That was a reference to the 1,700 employees Safeco laid off during McGavick's successful effort to return the company to profitability before retiring in February with $28 million in salary, stock options and other benefits.

McGavick afterward called the comment a "personal attack." But Cantwell said, "For me, it was just a characterization about (McGavick's) budget priorities that had to be made."

It was the two major candidates' last but most widely viewed joint public appearance, a point of frustration for McGavick, who has criticized Cantwell's refusal -- typical for a poll-leading, better-funded incumbent -- to agree to more than two debates, the only other one a half-hour event in Spokane last week.

With the Libertarian taking up one-third of Tuesday's debate, diluting the time for the two major candidates, McGavick said it meant he and Cantwell spent only 70 minutes facing each other in public in the two debates.

Guthrie, a part-time college lecturer, was allowed in by meeting KING's criteria for what constitutes a serious candidacy. He did so by mortgaging his home and depleting his savings to loan his campaign nearly $1.2 million -- mainly, he has admitted, to qualify for the debate.

Cantwell became wealthy, too, as a former RealNetworks executive. When one of the panel of four journalists who questioned the candidates asked how three millionaires could relate to the needs of regular voters, Guthrie replied, "I'm, by the way, the poorest millionaire up here." He added, "Money plays too big a role in politics."

These were some of the issues that divided the candidates:

Iraq: McGavick proposed forming a congressional select committee to seek a way out of the war but said it is wrong to set an "artificial timeline" for pulling out U.S. troops because it would "give our enemies heart."

Cantwell, who voted to authorize the war, said the U.S. can't leave Iraqi leaders with the impression "that we will stay there indefinitely." She said the Bush administration should be held responsible for holding the Iraqi president to his assurance that his troops will be able to take the lead in the war by year's end. Guthrie said, "We need to bring the troops home as soon as is consistent with their safety."

North Korea's and Iran's nuclear threats: Cantwell said she supports United Nations sanctions against North Korea and direct talks between the country and the U.S. McGavick said multiparty talks should resume between North Korea and its neighboring countries, and the main negotiating with North Korea should be done by China, and with Iran by Russia.

Guthrie said, "The Democrats and the Republicans have both failed us" in dealing with the nuclear threat.

Abortion: McGavick called himself pro-choice but said he opposes so-called partial-birth abortion and federal abortion funding and favors a parental notification requirement for underage girls "as long as that child lives in a loving home." Cantwell said she supports abortion rights and federal funding and is opposed to restrictions. Guthrie said he is pro-choice.

Social Security: Cantwell said she opposes private or personal investment accounts and that the revenue lost in tax cuts for wealthy citizens would have kept the system solvent. McGavick called for optional, government-managed personal accounts and said Cantwell offered no solutions but recited "only a list of things (she) opposes."

Immigration and border security: Cantwell opposes and McGavick supports the plan for a fence along most of the Mexican border. Cantwell called for more border patrol personnel and surveillance. McGavick called her weak on illegal immigration. Guthrie said legal immigration should be made easier.

Arctic oil drilling: Cantwell and Guthrie spoke against it, McGavick for it.

P-I reporter Neil Modie can be reached at 206-448-8321 or neilmodie@seattlepi.com.

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