"Senate race has national echoes"

Neil Modie:

Tran has worked for other Democratic candidates in the past and said she will vote -- but not actively campaign -- for Cantwell if the senator wins Tuesday.

Tran is the most vocal antiwar Democrat left in the primary since Cantwell put her harshest critic and primary opponent, Mark Wilson, on her campaign staff for $8,000 a month in July.

"Hong Tran and Mark Wilson successfully raised the question of the war within the party," state Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz said. "But Democrats are solidly united behind Cantwell."

Assuming she wins Tuesday, Cantwell will face two other antiwar opponents in November, Bruce Guthrie, a libertarian, and Aaron Dixon, a Green Party candidate, along with McGavick and an independent, Robin Adair. In a close Cantwell-McGavick race, Guthrie and Dixon could peel crucial votes from the senator.