Connelly: Sen. Maria Cantwell is not a 'suspender snapper'

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell greets Billy Frank Jr.'s older sister Maiselle Bridges, 92, as she arrives at a dedication ceremony for the newly named Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and Medicine Creek Treaty National Memorial, July 19, 2016. less U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell greets Billy Frank Jr.'s older sister Maiselle Bridges, 92, as she arrives at a dedication ceremony for the newly named Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and ... more Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Connelly: Sen. Maria Cantwell is not a 'suspender snapper' 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., muses that she would like to tattoo one word on the arm of President Trump, where he would have to see it. The word, "Science."

The three-term Washington senator, favored for reelection this November, has credentials on the subject. She has worked on thinning Arctic ice packs and global warming, impacts of mines on salmon streams, volatile vapors in tank cars on oil trains and the legacy of lead contamination from the Tacoma Smelter.

Cantwell wants to be copiously briefed at all times. She is a member of three A-list Senate committees, and must put away information on topics ranging from Boeing's competition for Pentagon contracts to America's urgent need of a new Arctic icebreaker.

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With politician skills, it's another matter. Cantwell is not what the late House Speaker Tom Foley used to describe as a "suspender snapper." She is not one to rouse the crowd at a get-out-the-vote rally. She has held no announcement tour in her bid for a fourth term.

Want to see a contrast? Try the scene at Planned Parenthood last week, when Cantwell joined seatmate Sen. Patty Murray in opposing confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Murray was the fiery tribune on mistreatment of women and abortion rights. She hearkened back to the Senate Judiciary Committee's brutal treatment of Anita Hill in 1991. Indeed, tone-deaf guys -- Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley are still there -- caused the "mom in tennis shoes" to run for the Senate.

"It is important to the United States that we have due process," a much cooler Cantwell said.

She waited weeks to come out against the nominee and stressed issues such as Kavanaugh's expansive view of executive powers and the danger he would rule against Obamacare provisions that keep insurers from turning away people with pre-existing conditions.

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The cool in Cantwell is frequently on display. She has climbed Mount Rainier, the Grand Teton and Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro -- highest peak on the continent -- but journalists had to find out about each ascent.

On a trip to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Cantwell peered into a spotting scope and spied both a barren ground grizzly bear and a prowling wolverine, an incredible sight for a wildlife water.

"Is this unusual?" she asked.

She can be tough. As the Senate Finance Committee took up Wall Street reform legislation, Cantwell insisted on the creation of a federal consumer protection bureau. She held her vote until it was included in the bill.

Cantwell, 59, is an Indiana native, and arrived in Washington as a field coordinator for the stillborn 1984 presidential campaign of Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif. She was elected to the Legislature and assigned heavy lifting by House Speaker Joe King, helping craft the state Growth Management Act.

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She went to Congress in 1992, the "Year of the Woman," but lost to Republican Rick White two years later. Cantwell then rode the rise of Real Networks, and made a lot of money that she invested in a 2000 challenge to Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash.

The count from provisional ballots put her over by a margin of less than 3,000 votes, the tightest Senate race in the country.

Cantwell has twice breezed to reelection, outspending her 2012 opponent State Sen. Michael Baumgartner by a 12-1 margin. She took more than 50 percent of the vote against 28 primary foes, outpolling Republican challenger Susan Hutchison by a 2-1 margin.

Has this stopped Cantwell? Nope. She's not out glad-handing, but continues relentlessly to raise money.

She's held events from Mazama in Okanogan County to the Tacoma Convention Center. She recently welcomed colleague Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and on Friday hosted Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, for her Women of Valor awards luncheon.

Cantwell is following in a tradition of the late Sen. Henry Jackson, who once held the seat that Cantwell now fills.

"Scoop" Jackson had easy 1964 and 1970 reelection contests. He used the opportunity to campaign for Democrats in House races, and even cross the Washington-Idaho border.

Future House Speaker Foley was elected with Jackson's help, along with three other rookie Democrats. Jackson helped a Democratic reformer, Cecil Andrus, win the first of his four terms as governor of very Republican Idaho.

Cantwell used the Women of Valor luncheon on Friday to spotlight three women Democrats locked in close House races -- Lisa Brown in the 5th District, Carolyn Long in the 3rd District, and Dr. Kim Schrier in the 8th District.

She is spending part of her big war chest on a statewide voter registration drive.

She will continue to be a driving senator. If Democrats somehow capture control of the Senate, Cantwell will chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Cantwell and top Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have a fascinating relationship. They have crossed swords on the Arctic Refuge and Bristol Bay mining. But they've worked together on icebreakers and upgrading America's energy grid. The committee will likely revive the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund on Tuesday.

Oh yes, Cantwell will continue to be a demanding boss. She was tough at Real Networks, and has burned through staff in the Senate.

A few years back, an environmental lobbyist effused over assistance by Cantwell's natural resources aide in protecting the Middle Fork-Snoqualmie River.

The senator's response: "That's what I pay him for."