The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

250 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
ad, especially the kids watching the truck roll by. Branding it “outrageous
and sleazy,” he says it reminded him of the infamous commercial LBJ ran
briefly against Goldwater in 1964: A little girl is plucking petals off a daisy,
“1, 2, 3 . . .” as the image morphs into the countdown for a nuclear blast.
The Lowry ad also insinuated that Gorton bilked the taxpayers by accepting
$60,000 in legal fees to work on the conversion proposal, Evans added,
when “he earned it.” Asked if Gorton’s marijuana ad wasn’t also over the
line, Evans told reporters he would have publicly chastised his friend if
“Slade had brought up that ad three days before the election.” 49
Evans phoned McGavick. He wanted to do “something powerful” to
respond. McGavick and Gary Smith came up with what became one of
the most memorable political ads in Washington State history. Gorton’s
young handlers worried, however, that Evans might think their visual
punch line was over the top. So they sent him into the studio with Mike
Murphy, a producer who had done solid work for the GOP Senatorial
Committee. Murphy’s job was to see if he could subtly sell Evans on a
zinger.
Evans gave the script a read-through as Murphy sized up the lighting
and camera angle. “Come on, Mike Lowry, clean up your act,” Evans said,
delivering the line with a disgusted, give-me-a-break lilt that was spot on.
“Your negative TV ads distorting Slade Gorton’s good record embarrass
this state. You’d have us think that Slade opposes all environmental legislation
and that he would sink Social Security. Actually, he’s passed more
environmental legislation than you have. And when Social Security faced
bankruptcy, Slade helped to save it.”
Excellent, Murphy said. But he had an idea for a punchier ending. It
might be corny, but it was worth a try.
“I’m game,” Evans said.
The accessories were conveniently at hand, borrowed from McGavick’s
grandfather. They rolled film. “Mike, you’ve been spreading so darn much
stuff I’ve had to change my shoes,” Evans declared, senatorial in suit and
tie. Then the camera pulled back. Evans lifted a leg to reveal he was wearing
hip boots. 50
He nailed it on the first take. Looking back, Evans muses, “If I’d had
24 hours to think about it, I probably wouldn’t have agreed.” Smith believes
“Hip Boots” was the pivotal moment of the campaign. Evans is dubious:
“A good many people had already voted. I doubt very much that
there was a significant shift towards Slade because of the ad alone.” Mc-
Gavick and Smith say that’s just Evans being modest. 51
For whatever reason, a large bloc of undecideds swung Slade’s way