I am at the KING 5 studios and will be attempting to blog through the taping of the debate between Sen. Maria Cantwell, Republican Mike McGavick and Libertarian Bruce Guthrie.

As long as my phone connection is good I'll try to give at least highlights of the debate that will air tonight at 9 p.m.

The panelists are Times editorial writer Joni Balter, KING 5's Robert Mak, public radio's Austin Jenkins and Nadine Woodward of KREM TV in Spokane. KING 5's Dennis Bounds is the moderator.

There were no opening statements. The first question was from Mak, who asked who each voted for president in 2004.

Cantwell said she voted for John Kerry. "I thought he matched our northwest values, by that I mean he understood the importance of trade. ... He certainly understood how important our environment was."

McGavick said he voted for President Bush who he said was focused on the most important issues, not what he said were the more minor issues mentioned by Cantwell.
"The single most important issue facing America was the war to defeat radical Islamic terrorism. ... I also felt it was most likely given his record that he would do more to reduce the debt than John Kerry."

He turned the question on Cantwell, saying he knows why Cantwell supported Kerry because he supported higher taxes and spending.

Guthrie voted for the Libertarian candidate, Michael Badnarik. "The American people could see the choices we had were terrible."

MORE: Asked about Iraq, McGavick said, "I believe that we have to get to win the war against radical Islamic terrorism." Again, he turned his answer as a criticism of Cantwell, saying, "Until this election she was a strong supporter of the war." He also said, "I believe to suddenly withdraw from Iraq would give your enemy heart."
McGavick has tried to make that sound like Cantwell's position, though she has not supported a sudden withdrawal.

Guthrie said that "currently in Iraq we have a civil war." He said the only thing the U.S. could do to stop that from spreading is "set up an oppressive regime almost as bad as the one we took out."

Cantwell said, "We do need to change the course in Iraq and to say that we are going to stay there as long as it takes, or even indicate we might have permanent bases is not the direction we should be giving the new Iraqi government."

MORE: The debate was stopped for a bit a few questions in when a camera operator passed out in the studio during the candidates' answers to a question about North Korea. The debate was continuing until McGavick asked that they stop while the man was tended to.

MORE: On a question about what to do about nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, McGavick said he supports the Bush Administration's refusal to deal directly with North Korea. "I believe the president has responded appropriately because the critical thing here is the country with the greatest influence over North Korea is China."
He said the U.S. needs to "drive a wedge" between China and North Korea and between Russia and Iran.

Cantwell repeated her support for direct talks, as well as six-party talks with North Korea. "I think it's important because this issue is so severe that we have direct communication with them."

Guthrie, said, "The Democrats and Republicans have both failed us in the past, through the particular concessions that they've given foreign countries developing nuclear power and nuclear weapons they have given dictators incentives to develop nuclear programs."

MORE: On abortion, Guthrie said he believes in "medical freedom" and that includes access to abortion. He also said he supports more education about birth control and changes to make adoptions easier.

McGavick said "I find myself in the middle" of what he said were two extremes in the country between those who want a Constitutional amendment to ban abortion and those who want wide access to government-funded abortion.
He said he believes "choice should exist" but he opposes any taxpayer-funded abortion and supports parental notification laws.

He said that Cantwell is "more in the extreme view that women, children, taxpayers, should all be involved and I think that is why she marches at the front of the NARAL parade."

Cantwell answering the specific question about Roe v. Wade, said she supports the court ruling on legal abortion and said "It's the law of the land" and has been endorsed by initiative in Washington state.

A note: McGavick mentions Cantwell in most of his answers and criticizes her position on the issues. I don't think she has mentioned him by name or reference yet. McGavick also looks at Cantwell while she's answering questions, sometimes appearing to nod in agreement. Cantwell and Guthrie mostly look straight ahead.

MORE: Cantwell aimed at McGavick in response to a question about federal spending. She said that McGavick's campaign attacks on her are incorrect and raised the issue of his time as CEO of Safeco: "I ask you, do you want to send someone to Washington who is willing to cut thousands of people off his own payroll and take a" large payout when he left the company.

On the drug war, Guthrie showed libertarian leanings and said marijuana should be decriminalized, at least as an experiment. "If there is widespread social chaos, we'll back up from there." Speaking of his late wife, he said that medical marijuana laws should also be defended so people like her could have access to drugs to minimize pain.

As an aside to another answer, Guthrie said about McGavick's call to drug test some welfare recipients, "I support drug and alcohol testing of members of Congress and the Senate."

Cantwell said she would not support legalizing any drugs and wants tougher laws for meth.

McGavick turned the question into one about border control, criticizing Cantwell's support for better technology at border crossing as "taking pictures" of people crossing the borders illegally. He also said that laws about drug dealing are too lenient.

MORE:The candidates were asked, "Each one of you is a millionaire, how are you able to relate to the average Washingtonian who you represent?

Cantwell talked about her upbringing in a working class family and said she had to use financial aid to go to college. She said that in her 2000 campaign her mother, who was watching from the front row during the taping, grew frustrated at Cantwell being called a millionaire. "Remember, she's much more than that," Cantwell said her mother told one caller.

Guthrie said, "I got here through luck and frugality and work. I'm, by the way, the poorest millionaire up here today." He said that Cantwell and McGavick have far more money than he has in their campaigns and said that other minor party Senate candidates should have been allowed to participate in the debate.
"The other candidate, shouldn't have been excluded just on the basis that they weren't millionaires," he said. Having about $1.2 million in campaign funds was one of the ways to qualify for the debate.

McGavick said Cantwell's Irish-Catholic upbringing sounds a lot like his, too. He said he created success at Safeco and said he could create success for the American people from the Senate.

Only McGavick said he'd support a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He said he'd support it only if state courts continue to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples.

CLOSING STATEMENTS: "The Democrats and Republicans have both failed us," Guthrie said. "They've left us with massive debt and deficiet spending. They've violated our Constitutional liberties and they led us into an unpopular war with no plan to win. .. if you're ready for a real change, then vote for me."

McGavick, echoing his latest ad campaign, said, "We live in an unsettling time. The war isn't making us feel safer. The deficit is growing out of control and Social Security is going broke. .. Reform is what we need and reform is what I know."

He said that Cantwell has achievements, though he belittled them as "at the periphery of what's important" and "what's keeping people up at night."

Cantwell thanked her opponents and the voters, saying she has been their voice in Washington, D.C., while "never forgetting who I was sent there to represent." She said that's why she has pushed on Enron and opening up agricultural markets and "why I worked so hard on border security and law enforcement issues."