248 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
now seemed “concerned only with winning, not with how you play the
game.”^42
In 2002, McGavick told the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce,
“We clearly need to raise the level of civil discourse in our community. If
I see one more of those negative 30-second ads, I’m going to throw up—
and I used to make them!” When he was running for the U.S. Senate
himself in 2006, McGavick said, “We let the (marijuana) ad finish its
week-long run. Though we never raised it again, we should have pulled it
once evidence mounted that the Daily article was not an accurate reflec-
tion of his views.” In 2010, McGavick told Gorton’s biographer, “Happily,
I finally had a chance to apologize to Lowry personally about that ad,
sometime after my own campaign. He was hugely gracious. The odd
thing is that our camp in ’88 always admired Lowry. He was, like Slade,
a serious policy guy, and he believed in what he said.”^43
AthewBL o BcK on the MARiJuAnA Ad prompted the Gorton campaign to
go positive, using Evans to testify to Slade’s environmental activism.
Abundantly clear was that campaign managers and image makers were
running the show. Lowry was practically tongue-tied when Joel Connelly
asked why he had agreed to only one debate. He turned to an aide and
asked, “Tim, do you know how I’m supposed to answer on this one?” If
anyone deviated from the script Kapolczynski was in their face. The next
day, Gorton seemed startled when asked about a fundraising piece that
featured his signature. “Latest Washington state opinion polls show my
lead slipping away,” the letter said. “In less than two weeks, Lowry’s vi-
cious smear campaign has made this race a dead heat.” Gorton’s brow
furrowed. “I would say we are modestly ahead.”^44
He was modestly behind, according to some polls. One thing they
knew for certain was that they didn’t want Reagan’s help, which angered
some state party officials and business bigwigs who argued that the presi-
dent would boost the party’s morale and coffers, as well as GOP candi-
dates in other races around the state. Shades of 1986. Eddie Mahe, coun-
seled against a visit and got no argument from McGavick or Gorton. Slade
could close his eyes and conjure up practically every moment of that aw-
ful Halloween in Spokane.^45
The Gorton campaign then performed what some saw as a sanctimo-
nious pirouette, mailing a “Biblical Scorecard” to 40,000 foursquare con-
servatives. Most were fans of TV evangelist Pat Robertson, whose sup-
porters had stormed the GOP precinct caucuses and state convention.
The flier said Lowry had voted “100 percent against family-moral-free-