Evergreen State Showdown
Washington State's U.S. Senate race is a knock down, drag out fight in the Pacific Northwest that's going down to the wire, reports CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen.
Internet millionaire Maria Cantwell hopes to pull off an upset over Slade Gorton, the veteran incumbent who's hearing echoes from his first campaign 20 years ago when he was the young challenger.
"She has the money. She has the experience. She's young. She's a woman. She has a lot going for her in this race," said David Olson, a political analyst at the University of Washington.
It's a dead-even race between the 41-year-old Cantwell and 72-year-old Gorton - where age is part of the whisper campaign and campaign financing makes headlines.
Democrat Cantwell is spending her own money for what's estimated to be an eight million dollar campaign. Republican Gorton could match that - and he scoffs at rejecting PAC donations or soft money as Cantwell has.
"I'm faced with a candidate who can literally write an unlimited number of dollars in her own checks," said the senator.
"You don't defeat an incumbent U.S. senator very often, and you usually don't do it by very much," said his challenger.
The two Senate candidates follow the party line on the issues - Social Security, health care and taxes - and they saturate the airwaves with negative ads. His target: her single term in Congress. Her target: question his loyalty to the home folks.
In a race this tight, it may come down to the odd local issues. Gorton has offended Native Americans - and the senator "has carried that to a level of hostility that has alienated non-American Indians," said the University of Washington's Olson. But Gorton gave Seattle Mariners fans something to cheer for: he kept the team from moving - and he doesn't mind reminding his baseball-loving constituents about that.
As for the top of the ticket, the presidential race isn't likely to help either Senate candidate. Thanks to Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, the Evergreen State is an electoral battleground between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. Moreover, Washington State voters have a reputation as ticket splitters who are very independent minded about who they send to the other Washington.