the coMeBAcK 241
McGavick and Gary Smith, the campaign’s communications direc-
tor, were pleased to see Bonker beating up on Lowry, although they also
worried that if he managed to win the primary he would be harder to
beat. By August, Bonker had no choice but to style Lowry as an un-
electable liberal ideologue, using the same themes the Gorton cam-
paign hoped would resonate with voters. Bonker railed that “when al-
most the entire Congress worked hard to pass a major anti-drug bill,
Mike Lowry said no.” He also “consistently backed radical budget pro-
posals that would slash defense spending $300 billion over a three-year
period. Scoop Jackson and Warren Magnuson would be appalled to...
hear someone say just what Mike said about being against farm pro-
grams and the Everett port.. .”
McGavick and Smith carefully indexed all those nuggets. When Bon-
ker also took a strong poke at Gorton, claiming better bona fides with the
agricultural community, the campaign immediately responded with ra-
dio and TV spots, but only in Eastern Washington. Bonker’s claim was
“hogwash,” the ads said. “We didn’t want to draw the attention of the Se-
attle media because we were afraid we’d set up an unwanted dynamic,”
McGavick says. “It was
amazing how much af-
fect that had on the out-
come of the primary. I
think if that hadn’t hap-
pened we would have
faced Bonker, and I think
we would have lost.”
Gorton was in good
hands. His campaign
manager was pursuing
victory with the agility
of an old pro and the
single-minded determi-
nation of youth. With
the primary looming,
McGavick’s wife went
The “new” Slade at the
Pacific County Fair in- Brian DalBalcon/
The Daily World