By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 17, 2006; A05
TACOMA, Wash. -- As he pushed his way into the Senate race in Washington state last week, Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska) did not wear the "Incredible Hulk" necktie that on Capitol Hill signals his readiness for close-quarters combat.
The Senate's longest-serving Republican sounded more wistful than wound up. Stevens reminisced about an era when he could trust Democratic senators from Washington state. He recalled that the late senators Warren G. Magnuson and Henry "Scoop" Jackson had "adopted" him and had always done right by Alaska.
"Warren called me 'Son,' " Stevens, 82, said at a breakfast in this port city with executives whose companies depend on trade with Alaska. "I have not forgotten."
Fond memory, though, has given way to bad blood between Alaska and Washington -- and Stevens blames much of it on Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who faces reelection this fall. She has lead Democratic opposition to Stevens's long-frustrated crusade for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
When Cantwell again worked last December to torpedo the drilling, Stevens warned on the Senate floor that he would go to her state and "tell them what you've done." And so he did last week, but more in sadness than anger.
"I can't remember until these past few years any senator from your state who wasn't a close friend of mine," Stevens said. "That is a problem."
The problem, though, does not appear to be costing Cantwell voter support. Polls here show that the public is opposed to ANWR drilling and increasingly frustrated with Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.
Stevens's ire, in fact, may prove a political windfall for Cantwell, who squeaked into the Senate six years ago with a winning margin of just over 2,000 votes and whom some Republican strategists have described as beatable.
In the past year, Cantwell's knack for getting Stevens's goat has won widespread attention across this Democratic-leaning state, garnered favorable local press coverage, partially drowned out the campaign of her formidable Republican challenger and, polls suggest, may help her win reelection.
"All over this state, the ANWR vote has definitely had more resonance than any issue in the last couple of years," Cantwell said in an interview. "People here told me thanks for standing up for something we care about, thanks for standing up to oil companies, thanks for standing up to that guy [Stevens]."
That guy -- along with fellow members of the Alaska congressional delegation and a gaggle of oil executives with deep pockets -- hosted a fundraiser Thursday night in Anchorage for Mike McGavick, a former insurance executive and Cantwell's Republican challenger.
McGavick, who supports ANWR drilling as "as a piece of the puzzle for how we reduce the influence of foreign oil," was pasted last week in the local press for traveling to Alaska to collect money from big oil.
In an interview before his trip north, McGavick -- a moderate Republican who carefully distances himself from his party's right wing and has a reputation for pragmatism -- sounded incredulous at the criticism.
"I find this the most astonishing lack of news I have ever seen," McGavick said, referring to front-page stories about the fundraising dinner. "Now tell me, who is it you thought they [oilmen and Alaskan politicians] would support? Gosh, I have a position they agree with."
McGavick said that close trade links between this state and Alaska -- 70 percent of Alaska's sea freight moves through the Port of Tacoma -- mean that Alaskans "have been involved in Washington state races forever. It is part of how you put together the money."
As for Cantwell's chronic squabbling with Stevens, McGavick said voters are the victims.
"To lead the fight against your neighbor is a mistake," he said. "If Senator Cantwell had put one-tenth of the energy that she put into ANWR into trying to solve our water and fish issues down here, this state would be way ahead."
In his campaign, McGavick is trying to sell cool-headed nonpartisanship and problem-solving pragmatism as his competitive advantage over Cantwell. He has promised to run a positive campaign, and his early TV ads emphasize an urgent need to close the country's partisan chasm by "taking responsibility and solving problems."
McGavick, 48, has experience in politics and big business. He was chief of staff to former senator Slade Gorton (R), whom Cantwell defeated in 2000. Until recently, McGavick was chief executive at Safeco Corp., a Seattle-based insurance company that he is credited with reviving. His years at Safeco made him a rich man.
In his interview with The Post, McGavick said he rejects the conventional wisdom here that strong statewide opposition to the Bush administration -- the president consistently polls several points lower here than he does nationally -- is hurting his chances of beating Cantwell. Although voters may be angry with Bush, McGavick said, they are angrier with politicians from both parties who refuse to work together to solve problems.
"The American public is flat fed up with partisan nonsense in Washington, D.C.," he said.
So far, though, McGavick has found little traction with this issue, according to Stuart Elway, an independent pollster in Seattle who for 30 years has been tracking electoral politics in this state.
In a recent poll, Elway asked questions focused on McGavick's goals of bringing civility and ethical reform to Congress.
"A substantial majority said Cantwell was more likely to solve these problems than McGavick," Elway said. "Cantwell was drubbing him on his own issues."
As for the senior senator from Alaska, even McGavick has been careful not to embrace him too closely. When Stevens proposed a law last year that would increase oil tanker traffic in Puget Sound, the beloved Washington estuary around which 4 million people live, McGavick joined Cantwell in saying this was a terrible idea.
McGavick quickly met with Stevens, urged him to reconsider and then pestered him with phone calls and follow-up letters. When Stevens changed his mind, McGavick claimed much of the credit.
"For the first time in his career, he went on the floor of the Senate and declared he would not pursue a piece of legislation he had introduced," McGavick said. "It is very rare. I am very proud of this."
