TV spots for Senator Maria Cantwell are blanketing the cable channels, a sign that her high-priced reelection campaign is finally underway. But what about the ground campaign?
A 500-mile roadtrip around southwestern Washington this weekend found a single Cantwell sign (just outside South Bend, in Pacific county). That puts the ratio of her signs to challenger Mike McGavick's at roughly 1 to 500+, at least in the state's southwest.
This week's edition of the Pacific County Press, the local weekly, has a photo and small story of McGavick's visit with loggers in the area in early July. His campaign Web site has detail on the visit and the how to get involved. Cantwell's new site shows no sign of any organization in the area.
Clearly Cantwell doesn't expect to win rural counties, instead planning to use advertising to win big in the Seattle area. But with McGavick making a challenge in King County, will that hands-off approach be enough?