Eight Reasons Conservatives Should Back J.D. Hayworth Over John McCain
Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona) is preparing to run against Senator John McCain for the U.S. Senate in this year’s Republican primary in Arizona. Some on the right, such as Glenn Beck, don’t agree with the decision of Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to campaign for McCain in Arizona.
Conservative angst over what Sarah Palin does or doesn’t do in Arizona does little good. Palin will go there out of a sense of personal loyalty to a man who brought her to national attention. Personal loyalty can run deeper than political ideology. And while personal loyalty can be to a fault, leadership is impossible without it.
The question isn’t: “What should Sarah do?” The question is: “What should conservatives do?” Whether it’s the tea party movement or the March for Life, conservatives can move from the grassroots, and the smart conservative move is for conservatives to support J.D. Hayworth.
Here are are eight reasons why:
Reason #1: It could work.
With Arizona voters, John McCain has a real problem on his hands: a lack of popularity. Super Tuesday 2008 knocked Romney out of the primaries and saw McCain’s big wins in California and New York, but the untold story may have been Arizona. McCain won Arizona’s primary, but with only 47% of the vote. Republicans across the country were willing to resign themselves to McCain to avoid a prolonged primary process, yet when the votes were counted in his home state, the majority of Arizona primary voters had voted against McCain. There’s a strong possibility they could do so again.
Reason #2: Hayworth is a plausible senator.
One big objection to a Hayworth insurgent win is what message this sends to moderates. The best message may be to run in districts where you suit the district’s ideology. If a religious conservative runs for office in Maine they would get shellacked. Party bosses don’t cry in their imported wines about the message it sends to religious conservative activists about their place in the GOP.
Hayworth isn’t running in Rhode Island; he’s running in Arizona. It’s true Hayworth’s record is unabashedly conservative. The American Conservative Union gave him a 97.50% ACU rating, which is only half a percent more than the state’s other senator, Jon Kyl, who has a 96.96% ACU rating. Kyl beat his last opponent by 10 points in a Democratic year.
A gregarious ex-sportscaster, Hayworth is sharp, eloquent, charismatic, and quick-witted. These traits will be endearing to Arizonans and make him a strong candidate in the fall.
Reason #3: Conservatives don’t owe John McCain anything.
McCain has given conservatives few favors in the last ten years, and even bringing Sarah Palin onto the national stage wasn’t that big a favor. Palin’s charisma and political talents would have brought her to the national spotlight eventually. Running in her own right, as Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney did, she would have been able to introduce herself to the American people on her terms and develop her own policy ideas. Palin saved McCain’s campaign from losing worse. (McCain had only a single-digit lead in Alaska prior to Palin being chosen and could have lost yet another state that hadn’t gone Democratic since 1964.)
Many on the right point to McCain’s 81% American Conservative Union rating as proof that he’s not that bad, but the lifetime rating is misleading. Through 1996, McCain had an 88% conservative voting record. Since 1996, McCain only had one year with an ACU rating greater than 80% (2001, when he had 81%), and four years he has voted less than 70% conservative.
McCain spent the first part of this decade playing media favorite by frustrating the aims of the Bush administration and backing amnesty and cap and trade. Sometimes he failed, as he did with opposing the Bush tax cuts. Other times he succeeded, as he did with his efforts to stop drilling in ANWR. We can be grateful that, due to the poor economy, gas prices are beneath their $4.00 + a gallon highs from two years ago. But the price of gas would be far lower if McCain hadn’t been a cheerleader against using America’s resources. His pandering to the far left on energy is taking money out of the wallets of average Arizonans, and voters should respond by making him feel their pain.
How much is JD paying his wife THIS time? Yeah, he’s a real prince.
http://www.fittrust.org
can independents vote in republican primary?
YES, Independents can vote in the Republican or Democratic primaries in AZ
For once, I agree with skeeziks. The fact is, there are no good Conservatives in the AZ race. THAT is why Palin backed McCain, because the other options were far worse.
McCain goes whichever way the popular wind is blowing. Look at his reversal recently on AGW. All during the 2008 campaign, he declared that AGW was real. Now, he laughs at it, as if he had been on the right side of this the whole time. as the gross opportunist he is, he can be counted on to be for smaller government… for a time. But, so can the other guy.
I wish Rep. Jeff Flake would challenge McCain. Now HE is a guy everyone could get behind. He’s never taken any pork or earmark. Never. But, he likes McCain, so won’t buck him. (sigh)
If JD’s run against McCain infuriates a creep like Skeeziks I have to say GO JD beat McCain like a rabid dog!
Yeah, McCain’s gotta go. I’ll contribute to any candidate that runs against him.
McCain’s a RINOsaur™, and needs to move on to fossil status.
Yeah, skeezer, almost as much a prince as Ted Kennedy, John Edwards, Bill Clinton. . . .Why should you care, anyway? Aren’t you a lefty liberal obama-lover? I guess that is why you like McCain. . .
About as much as senor McCain is paying his illegal gardeners I’d suspect, but Cindy’s actually writing the checks.
Does anybody need a reason to get rid of McCain? Bozo. Turkey. Spoiled Navy brat. Gigolo (hard to believe, but…).
Anyone and everyone who voted for that soul-sucking TARP bill needs to be unceremoniously sacked.
He was hounded over his decision to use his political action committee to pay his wife. BIG bucks. His constituents kicked him out of office because he lost touch with his conservative principles. I’ll be voting McCain.
“This is America, where senators serve at the privilege of the voters. Serving in Congress isn’t an entitlement. Our elected officials work for us, not the other way around”.
This said it all for me, Mr. Graham.
I was blown away when people were referring to the Senate seat left open by the late Ted Kennedy as ‘Teddy’s seat’. Granted, he passed before his term was up and some are inclined to call it ‘his seat’, but I feel the same would have been said of that seat if he’d fulfilled his term.
As for McCain, there is not 1 Republican Senator more out of touch than McCain. The man is an appeaser first and foremost.
His ‘being out of campaign mode to help fix the economy’ was a laugher. Heck, send in a real business savvy person. Cindy McCain has more business sense than her RINO husband.
Sure, McCain’s POW time was horrific but how long can a person live off of their past? Not to put salt in the wound but McCain was a mediocre pilot, student though had the attitude as if he was the missing member of ‘The Right Stuff’!
Hawaii’s Lingle is gaining on Inouye for a grocery list of reasons. The one precocious example in my mind is his leanings toward native Hawaiians having a stronger ‘right’ to Hawaiian land than others.
Though I respect, appreciate Inouye’s military service – that was 3 generations ago!
Honestly.. Married with Children’s, ‘Al Bundy’ was a great football player in high school. Does this entitle the man to a lifetime of ‘kudos’ for successes of yesterdecade? Nope.
All of these are worthy reasons, if Hayworth is what he appears to be. But I’m a bit late to this party, so please tell us: Are there any extraneous factors, other than Hayworth’s voting record, that could tell against him?
– Marital lapses?
– Ethical compromises?
– Financial irregularities?
– Personal associations with unsavory characters?
Yes, it’s unfair that a murdering alcoholic and multiple adulterer can be a six-term senator because of his name and Democratic Party affiliation, while a conservative Republican with a tenth that many sins on his record would likely be jailed for life. Yes, it’s unfair that a good and decent president was accused of all manner of high crimes, while his lying, philandering predecessor walked away with half the White House silverware. Yes, it’s unfair that a simon-pure Republican governor was investigated as if she were Public Enemy Number 1, while a Democratic senator was given a pass on his almost continuous lies and misstatements. Yes, yes, yes…but until conservatives find a way to counter the pernicious influence of the Main Stream Media, it will be the way of politics in these United States.
Let’s be sure of J. D. Hayworth.
As a U.S. Marine veteran, I honor John McCain’s service and sacrifice, but there is little for conservatives to honor in McCain’s politics. From his alliance with Feingold on Campaign Finance to his alliances with Democrats in the gang of 14 – for Illegal alien amnesty, for Cap and Trade, for the Government Bail Out and for closing Guantanamo – McCain doesn’t represent me.
I’m an ex-cop. I’ve directed an Investigative Agency licensed by the Department of Public Safety for thirty years and I know McCain’s righteousness about political money has masked an appalling hypocrisy. As some of you know, I refer to McCain’s long-time, implicit and explicit reliance on Majority Leader, Burton Barr, convicted felon, Fife Symington, convicted felon, Charles Keating, disgraced Air Force imposter and Arizona Republic Publisher, Duke Tully and United Liquor magnate, Kemper Marley. Google their names with McCain’s – see for yourself.
McCain’s first campaign for Congress in Arizona was sponsored and funded by Majority Leader, Burton Barr. Barr helped McCain win a five-way primary by outspending everyone with campaign money generated through political and business friends like Charles Keating, Fife Symington, Darrow “Duke” Tully, Jim Hensley, and Hensley’s boss, Kemper Marley.
What’s wrong with Kemper Marley? In 1993, Bruce Babbitt, ex-Governor of Arizona was on President Clinton’s short list for a Supreme Court nomination. But, at my urging, the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed the 1976 car-bomb murder of newspaper reporter, Don Bolles. They saw that in October of 1976, a conviction of Bolles’ killer (and of the powerful man who paid him) was assured because confessed bomber, John Harvey Adamson, told Maricopa County Attorney, Don Harris, that millionaire, Kemper Marley, had paid him to plant the deadly bomb. Harris was about to call a grand jury on Kemper Marley, but Attorney General, Bruce Babbitt, suddenly took over the investigation. A grand jury was never called and Kemper Marley was never questioned. Babbitt was quickly dropped from the 1993 Supreme Court short list.
What about Barr? In 1986 Burton Barr ran for Governor to replace Bruce Babbitt. But we Conservatives exposed Barr’s pocketing many millions of dollars by selling land for the Phoenix Outer Loop Freeway to the state (using prior knowledge of the proposed route gained from his membership in the Maricopa Association of Governments). Barr was defeated in the primary by Evan Mecham – decorated WWII pilot (also a POW), elder of the Mormon Church and successful businessman. Mecham went on to become governor, but was impeached on charges that were later found to be false in court and was disgraced with the help of Barr, Babbitt, Symington, Kemper Marley and John McCain. The national press falsely accused Mecham of rescinding the MLK holiday due to racism, and more significantly, John McCain became the first major GOP politician to call for Mecham’s resignation. Ironically, the press has always declined to mention that McCain had voted against the MLK holiday in Congress (HR 3706) in 1983.
Conservatives resent his liberal views, but McCain spends lots of money to win primaries. His connections to Marley, Barr, Symington, Tully and Keating should have finished him, but the media allowed McCain to rehabilitate in spite of hundreds of thousands in cash and many gifts. Why? Because his POW status makes him impervious (so far) to attacks from the Right and he will apparently do anything to appease the Press and the Left. The Press loves John McCain for his righteous image and flaccid beliefs, but mostly reporters love McCain’s fear of the press.
The not-so-tenuous-point here is that McCain is a creature of hidden, tainted connections and the national press apparently chooses to keep the voters from knowing everything about him. McCain is, therefore, not beholden to his voters, but to the press who sustain him. Before you vote, do your homework, look it all up. It’s high time we Arizona voters set the record straight.
Bill Heuisler
I know both JD and Senator McCain. I am a strong conservative. I lived and worked in AZ state politics for years. You couldn’t pay me to vote for JD. The man is an idiot and isn’t liked or respected by his peers. He couldn’t even hold his seat losing Scottsdale, a bastion for Republicans, to an old weasel of a liberal, Mitchell.
McCain, for all his flaws, is a better man, more respected, more influential and a good friend to conservatives on many issues, such as spending and defense. And McCain has been one of Obama’s strongest and most impactful critics.
Ask yourselves why a man like Jon Kyl, whom most of deeply respect, prefers McCain to JD!
Also, I saw firsthand the things that McCain does behind the scenes to strengthen the Republican Party in AZ. I aided his efforts to convert a democrat state senator to a Republican as well as his reach out to rural AZ republicans to become precinct committee members and be more involved in party politics.
I am not, btw, a McCain partisan. I think McCain singlehandedly lost the Presidential campaign and would have lost by another 3 points had he not chosen Palin as his Veep. McCain’s handling of the economic meltdown handed the election to Obama. Regardless, JD isn’t even in the same class as McCain and would inevitably embarrass both the state and the Party.
McCain, war hero. Weazel politician. I appreciate Mark’s comments, but likely he is too close to see the “warts” and they are large. McCain has cost the Conservative movement and the GOP nationally BIG TIME. Time to go John.
If not Hayworth, then AZ needs to codem up with someone fast. McCain MUST GO AWAY. He is an embarassment to REAL Conservatives. As noted above if protozoa skeeziks defends him, then…. nuff said.
Francis W. Porretto said it best. If you’re going to call yourself a Conservative, you’re going to be judged by not only how you vote, but how you carry yourself.
I don’t personally require a saint for candidate nor would I find one, but I am not supporting some philandering and ethical compromise routine simply because I approve of the way they vote. I like the way Newt Gingrich votes, even think of him as a political intellect with some good ideas, but I don’t want him as leader either.
Arizona residents are getting the shaft in this election. Find a better choice of candidates, because McCain, his rotten wife, and the McCain idiot daughter sure aren’t it. Don’t believe J.D. is either.
‘maverick’ is marxist for ‘liberal republican’. McCain has been trying to have the best of both worlds, being a conservative for conservatives, and being a liberal for the media and the senate.
McCain has presided over two systemic meltdowns of our financial system, and has learned nothing except ‘too big to fail’ and bailouts. When the country wanted change, he could only offer more of the same republicanism that bush amply demonstrated is disasterous.
So, let’s unseat some incumbents. If we elect another bum, unseat them as well. While trial and error is not the best way to discover leaders, its better than perpetuating failure as we are doing now.
Mcain is a threat to the first amendment.Nuff said,DUMP him!
I will note in passing a humorous and bizarre phenomenon I have noticed in political blogs: Liberals advising the republican party on how to act–their righteousness removes all limits from their imagined authority. Its a sign of how completely republicanism has been compromised that liberals have a stake in maintaining the incumbency of republican politicians.
McCain’s got to go and he should take Juan Hernandez with him. Vote John McAmnesty out and the 31 Mayors who are supporting him in AZ.
@kdell – you wrote, “McCain has cost the Conservative movement and the GOP nationally BIG TIME.”
I couldn’t disagree more. McCain caused the Republican Party to lose the WH. On that we agree. But McCain ran as a center-right conservative who was also largely appealing to Independents. Yes not appealing enough but 2008 was a Democrat year, thanks to the incompetent leadership of W during his last 2.5 years in office.
Conservatives represent about 40% of the electorate and in order to win a Republican must not only appeal to the right but also to the Center (Reagan mastered this). In 2006, the Center abandoned the Republican Party en masse as did many conservatives. The difference is that the Right had no where else to go and simply stayed home whereas the Center voted Dem.
McCain may have been able to stop the bleeding but once the economy collapsed the wound had already been inflicted. The Center was very conflicted over their vote and ultimately went with Obama but their support was conditional and many remained personally respectful of McCain. In other words, McCain did not scare them the way Goldwater had. McCain helped to build a foundation that would allow Independents to feel comfortable about returning to the Rep Party. And return they have largely on issues that were McCain’s bread and butter (spending, earmarks, taxes, etc).
Even though I love him to death and would vote for him in a New York second, I highly doubt that Independents would have felt as comfortable voting Republican had Cheney been our nominee.
The Democrats are self-destructing before our very eyes because their Left refused to compromise with their Center. A governing majority cannot be sustained under such an environment, whether the Right or Left controls the Congress.
McCain needs to be ousted. Don’t some of you folks understand yet? What does it take? He said Americans wouldn’t pick lettuce for fifty dollars an hour”, so in love is he with illegal immigration. When angry, he said, Oh alright, I’ll build the damned fence. Sounds like a person who really cares about the citizenry, right? It doesn’t matter if Hayworth, or Donald Duck runs against McCain. That’s not the point. He needs to be removed. He is a useless, and worthless Washington insider who screws Americans every chance he gets. My God, do some of you people need to wake up and get out of your deluded state.
deguello @ #18 is spot-on. Two words should disqualify Senator McCain. They are: McCain-Feingold.
Marc Malone, your’e suggesting Jeff Flake!! Jeff Flake!! He would turn over this whole nation to Mexico, one of the most corrupt nations on earth. Thanks but no thanks.
Eight pretty good reasons to give Juan McAmnesty the heave-ho but you left out one: Keating Savings and Loan. McAmnesty was in this pile of dung up to his eyeballs. Arizona voters gave him a free pass. I hope they won’t be so stupid this time.
Just a correction to my earlier post: it was Lincoln Savings and Loan run by Charles Keating and ol’ Juan McAmnesty was one of the notorious Keating Five. A couple or three of ‘em went down but ol’ Juan managed to lie his way out and an obedient press let him get away with it.
Mac will beat the loud mouth big time…JD wants the money 50000 here and there….real scum bag…
JD is creepy and frankly, anyone who waves the flag of the birther issues (he believes Obama was born outside of the U.S. AND that his mother was not from Kansas; and he believes Trig is not Sarah’s son) should be run out of town on a rail.
It is no wonder that Sarah, Scott Brown and the tea party patriots are backing McCain.
All of you anti-McCain’s out there need to pay attention to what has just happened in Washington, DC! A highly respected middle of the road Democrat has just tossed in the towel out of frustration because the highly partisan Congress can’t get anything done! John McCain may be closer to Evan Bayh in his beliefs and actions than JD Hayworth, but at least he is realistic. He is trying to get things done! Vote him out if you want to because he’s served his time, but don’t replace him with a far right conservative. That won’t help things because while the Republicans may gain some seats, they won’t have a majority any more than the Democrats do now!
A far right conservative Republican and Congress will suffer the same defeat that Obama and the Democrat majority is suffering right now. We MUST have a middle of the road led government or this dangerous gridlock will continue.
Every pilot needs to know when to turn in his ticket. McCain served his country well for many years. He’s serving his country ill now. Retire. Start a charitable foundation. History has passed him by.
I’m no Hayworth fan but McCain is a dem lite. The ultimate RINO. He must be punished by voting him out. I’ll never forget fighting my so called conservative party, led by McCain, over amnesty. It’s time to pay the piper…
Bill Heuisler; you hit the nail on the head! The MSM gave McCain the “Maverick” moniker because he was always at odds with the Republicans; for us Conservatives, McCain is a “loose cannon”! Think about it… if JFK were running today, he’d be labeled as a far-right winged, religious zealot & McCain is certainly left of JFK.
Sarah… as long as you’re in AZ, why not endorse JD as well!!
I do not know much about JD Hayworth. However, I read a comparison between McCain and Hayworth on the American Thinker about their credentials. Based on that, I will vote for Hayworth. Its about time, senior senators retire and hand over power to new folks who are committed to advancing conservative causes. I honor and respect John McCain’s military service during the vietnam war. But its time to bid farewell after 28 years in the senate. I pray and hope the people of Arizona will choose wisely.
JD is a blow hard, abrasive man who had a few ethics question of his own did he not?
McCain voted 85% conservative… I’m not a big McCain fan… but I truly dislike JD. McCain is just a nicer person. I wish JD had tried to get his house seat back from the Democrat he lost it to because the voters in his district really learned to dislike everything about him.
There could be people I would vote for over McCain… and I voted for Romney over him in the Primary. But JD Hayworth is not one of those people.
JD is a blow hard wacko.
I’m usually with you on most things Adam, but JD is a nut case plain and simple. The interview he did on hardball should have done him in, while I’m not a big McCain supporter at least John McCain is competent unlike JD who is clearly delusional.
As an Arizona native, I will definitely not vote for McCain again. He has burned me too many times. While I will hold my nose to some extent when voting for JD, I will do that anyway to make sure that there is a conservative representing Arizona. While JD is irritating sometimes and has plenty of faults, he understands what conservatism is and why it works, and I doubt that McCain (or the Bushes for that matter) truly understands it. McCain can take his ‘bipartisanship’, and ride off into the sunset. There is a sharply partisan divide in this country for a very good reason. That being that opposing world views have become nearly completely incompatible (doesn’t bode well for the future). McCain doesn’t understand that on many/most things one cannot compromise with the left wing (largely because they will not compromise their goals). Republicans who try to do that get their pants taken down, as McCain and the RINOs have, time and time again, and they simply slow by a marginal degree the speed of the march to collectivism that this country has been on for about a century. We need to STOP that march, and turn it around, or all this blogging is ultimately in vain. JD will be more helpful in this than McCain even with his blemishes, and I will vote for him and try to prevent McCain from selling us down the river again.
Adam Graham writes like JD has no record. He’s voted for a handful of big government GWB programs that McCain opposed. There are some things he’s better on in my opinion than McCain. Still, he’s an Washington pol that was totally comfortable as part of the corrupt pay-to-play GOP of the Bush Era.
More importantly JD is no leader and thinker. If the Tea Party wants to attack a good man like McCain it should be for a truly sharp, principled conservative like Jeff Flake not for a mediocre talent like Hayworth.
the only thing ARIZONA should worry about is illegal immigration. That said who is more conservatve. Keep it simple folks and all will be well.
You forgot reason number 9: To get Meghan McCain to understand that RINO moderates are not as cool to young people as she thinks they are. That alone would be worth voting for J.D. Hayworth.
As a Tempe, Arizona conservative, I’ll vote for McCain over J.D. I’ve been very familiar with both, seen both speak in person, read McCain’s book and of course followed his Senate career and Presidential runs, and often listened to J.D.’s radio program. I’m in the business community in the Phoenix area, and know all I need to know about each man. J.D. is a blowhard…we call him Foghorn Leghorn. He was the main speaker at a Mesa Police Department Police Academy graduation I once attended and the average Joe, salt of the earth police families were giggling at what a blowhard he was. His creds are on illegal immigration and that’s about all. He spent with the worst of them back in his Congressional days, and then lost to Democrat Harry Mitchell in my district. McCain has actually moved in a more conservative direction, and with him and Kyl Arizona is solidly conservative yet balanced. No thanks, J.D…stay on the radio, it suits you better.
It’s time for McCain to go. His Democrat-like behavior and refusal do the right thing to clean up the illegal problem should anger all conservatives.
His current anti-Hayworth ads are disgusting.
As for Sarah, I’d really like to hear a recording of her ‘come to Jesus meeting’ with Kissinger in NY during the campaign. I am deeply trouble by her sit-down with this enemy of our nation.
Hayworth gave lip service to birthers. I don’t live in AZ, but if I did, it would have sealed the deal for me. People of AZ, please don’t put anyone who publicly acknowledges any birther claims on the ticket for the senate seat. Republicans need the seat.
Today I listened to Rush Limbaugh. I’m not a regular listener of his show. I don’t have the time, generally. What he said was interesting. He said that it amazed him, how so-called conservatives like McCain,(he mentioned him by name)are utterly soft of liberals and others, but are like rabid attack dogs against real conservatives like Hayworth, whom he also mentioned by name. That kind of said it all where I’m concerned. As one poster put it, McCain was given the label as a “Maverick” by liberals, because even they could see that he sure as hell is no conservative, so many times has he stabbed real conservatives in the back.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t JD Hayworth love earmarks?
GO MCCAIN!
I’m in Tempe too, and I have long familiarity with both these men. You think McCain isn’t a blowhard ? You like someone who ignores his constituents because he is hearing voices that nobody else can hear ? Then by all means, vote for McCain. JD’s conservative voting record is WAY north of McCain’s, and he was no more ‘porkish’ than his peers. You want to talk about shady dealings ? JD can’t hold a candle to McCain. So what if JD is a blowhard… tell me what politician isn’t. He is far from perfect, but he is safer than McCain, if you really care about a conservative agenda. Those of you who think they are going to get a conservative in McCain are drinking the kool-aid. What did someone famous say about repeating the same action and expecting a different result ? I think they called it ‘insanity’.
Check out Erick Erickson’s comments on this topic over at Redstate.
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/02/16/the-one-way-street/
Hayworth’s support of Bush’s big-government polices included voting for the No Child Left Behind Act; the paperwork- and red-tape-friendly (and business-unfriendly) Sarbanes-Oxley Act; the pork-laden 2005 highway bill that included the infamous “bridge to nowhere”; and, most expensive of all, a Medicare drug benefit that created more than $7 trillion in unfunded liabilities. What is more, his support for a monstrosity known as the 527 Reform Act, which was intended to close “loopholes” in McCain/Feingold, and which was arguably worse for conservatives than the original article.
I urge all conservatives in AZ to…sit this one out. Or demand answers and accountability from your elected officials. The time for Americans to stop settling for the “lesser of two evils” is long past due!
Come on, Arizonans! Hayworth is a slimeball – please don’t send him to DC. McCain has been busting his butt to recruit conservatives, and he has seniority in the Senate that we are going to need! I haven’t agreed with him on some policies, but he has 10X the integrity and character of Hayworth. He has been moving to the right, and he is much more trustworthy than Hayworth. Please, don’t shoot the party in the foot just because Hayworth is more conservative on immigration!!!!!!!
I don’t think McCain will win. I know some folks in AZ who used to support McCain, and no longer. He angered them for reasons that effect their lives, not the complex negotiations and manipulations of Hollywood, whoops, I mean Washington.
Conservatives don’t “owe anything to McCain” except a kick in the rear. There are questions about his war record if you watch the VVAM video. The man is old, unbalanced and hates conservatives more than anything. He’s been in office far too long. But what’s really alarming about McCain isn’t his pushing for Amnesty and other insanities opposed in large numbers by Americans…it’s his pac that is promoting and grooming young RINOs to run this year. Not one person McCain’s pac is promoting is a conservative. That should tell us something. The most important thing this year with the Tea Party power and voter anger is to throw as many RINOs out as possible and to elect Constitutional conservatives, not liberals and RINOs. If we’re successful, it will be the biggest revolution since 1994 but this time, it won’t have a traitorous leader like Gingrich. It will be the Movement that did it and that’s something the GOP muck-e-mucks fear more than anything–grass roots power removing them from power.
After reading all the comments here, I find that there are some who have short memories. Such as everytime, McCain is up for reelection, he runs as a conservative, after election, he becomes the maverick again. Isn’t it time we have a real conservative representing us in Washington? JD while not perfect, was rated by the American Conservative Union, consistently in the 90+ percentile, while McCain is around 80%. JD has been the constant conservative while in office, McCain is conservative when he has to get elected. We need new blood, conservative blood, in Washington. Hold your nose if you must and vote for JD. Send a message to McCain and send him into retirement.
@ 28. jarjar;
“It is no wonder that Sarah, Scott Brown and the tea party patriots are backing McCain.”
Sooo, which Tea Party patriots do you claim are supporting McCain?
I don’t vote in AZ, don’t live there, so I’m harmless for AZ elections. But aside from that, I still have a McCain opinion – PSEUDO-Republican (term used before we coined RINO – and I’m old enough to use either).
Though I won’t itemize his many faults, others have done that for me in this thread many times, McCain just flat doesn’t sit well with me! There has been too much waffling entirely!
Though I don’t know bunches about JD, I know he speaks quite well when interviewed on FoxNews occasionally. From what I’ve listened to, sounds quite conservative.
I’ve seen him called a “Birther” before this thread, I know what that is, don’t understand all the allegations over this too well, too little interest. But… If Obummer hasn’t displayed an official VALID _birth certificate_ to some official agency in this country, he should right now to end the speculation. I did read other places he had two different passports from two different countries. I still recall quite well the passport mess I had to go thru in ’07 when I wanted to go visit some Swede friends. I was fortunate, I had a certified copy of my birth certificate that I could give to our State Department (via Post Office agent) and pray it got returned as they said it would.
I myself don’t like Obummer for may reasons, birth certificate is a small issue to me.
But I would like you to address my initial question on Tea Party Patriots supporting McCain! I’ll look back tomorrow. I have doubts on that part of your comment. I _am_ a Tea Party Patriot, and The912Project, there is NO uphill/downhill structure to these groups – pure grassroots with enough structure so at least postings to a social network or email sort of make sense. I myself would probably prefer a more formal structure, to at least understand IF I’m sending an email off to a local, district, state, or national level…
But I’m the dinosaur Linux-geek of the groups… Who’d ever of thought a Linux-geek would be a conservative as well, eh?
CHANGE THE NUMBERS: http://www.numbersusa.com/change/immigration/numbers/
Hmm, I can’t quite agree with you on this one.
I’m a lifetime Arizonan (until recently becoming an expat, but I’ll go back). I lived in Hayworth’s district for a while, and even voted for him, because he bothered to pay attention to his constituents. Still, I have to tell you, the man is an embarrassing blowhard.
McCain has his faults. He has been party to some rather noxious bi-partisan shenanigans. Several years ago, a citizen’s group that included a relative of mine tried to visit him in Washington, and he couldn’t be bothered to even meet with them (not so John Kyl, who is very responsive to his constituents, and is such a good senator that we should clone him).
However, McCain has been reliable on the most important things when the chips were down. Ralph Peters, whose opinion I greatly respect on military affairs, has always had high praise for him. And we all know that the current monstrosity of a health care bill wouldn’t have even have stood a chance of getting signed by a President McCain.
What I would have liked to see for all these years is a McCain who paid a lot more attention to his constituents, rather than savoring his political celebrity.
Mr. Graham, your list is more a list of what is wrong with McCain, not what is right about Hayworth. And I’m telling you, as a lifetime Arizonan, the guy will bring nothing but embarrassment.
And to be from Arizona is to be an expert in political embarrassments.
13. Bill Heuisler: – Thank you for the history lesson. Having lived here since ’99 it provides important background insight. While most posts here have been either agnostic or antagonistic towards Hayworth, I’m one arizonian whose grateful that J.D. decided to mount this challenge as a way to try and re-establish a poltical career.
(It will be very interesting to see how J.D. does raising money from out of state non-voters like Brown and others have – a true litmus test for the opinions expressed here and elsewhere in the blogosphere)
The reason I’m glad McCain is being challenged is because of what’s happened here in Arizona in the past five years or so. It’s very clear to me in my time in Arizona that Arizona has done a lot for John McCain – since he’s mounted two runs at the Presidency. But in contrast to John Kyle it is NOT CLEAR WHAT JOHN MCCAIN HAS DONE FOR ARIZONA – at least in my past ten years here.
The warfare that has been ongoing between unelected officals in Maricopa county (county supervisors & the Judiciary) and the Sheriff & county prosecutor Andrew Thomas is a dynamic that those who don’t live here can’t fully appreciate.
I don’t believe I’m alone in believing that while Senator McCain has been off trying to solve the problems of the world local issues were growing progressively worse. That he – esspecially on immigration (which, besides the funding crises, is at the heart of said county warfare) has been exacerbating rather than solving these problems.
McCain obviously believes he has many more good years to offer on the national stage – even though he’s in his mid-seventies. It’s clear that he loves being the ‘maverick’ and is determined to fight hard to stay in his job. He’s certainly come out swinging.
But right now – all I hear from his camp is echoed in some of the posts here; J.D is a blow hard foghorn leghorn. What I’m not hearing is what he is going to do to solve the very big financial/economic problems we are facing.
It all smacks of a bit of arrogance – as if this is ‘his seat’ and he’s earned the right to serve as if he was a Supreme Court appointee.
And I do think he’s elevating Heyworth with all the invictive.
All politics is local. John McCain has to prove he deserves the oppertunity to serve until he decides he’s no longer vital enough to perform at the highest level. Thus far he’s not been particularly convincing.
But it’s very early. Next to spring training and the crack of the first bat, this is the best entertainment in town. Just as we have the Catcus League tourism (much welcomed of course) there are a lot of ‘drive by’ posts here.
I assure you, given how dire things are in Arizona today, this is going to be a very nasty and contested race – in my view – exactly what this state needs. I do know it could be worse.
Janet Napolitano could be running against the winner of this cat fight. Thank heavens shes still fumbling around at H.S. playing big SIS. These days in Maricopa County you gots to take your relief where you can finds it~!
McCain is unstable, ran a bad presidential campaign, is a Republican in name only, he demonizes Conservatives and only uses them when he’s desperate (Sarah Palin). His bizarre, loony daughter is a chip off the old block, McCain has been in the way for 28 years. It’s time for Arizona to kick him to the curb for doing nothing for Arizonans. He voted for the TARP and stimulus, which was packed with PORK then says he doesn’t vote for pork. His McCain Feingold just got properly shot down after it helped the Democrats in their elections. He’s never held a real job in his life. The man has outlived his usefulness, if there ever was any. He and Lindsey Graham should open up a school for mavericks somewhere in the Sonoran desert. McCain also told Obama that Janet Napolitano was a “great choice” for Homeland Security. She’s an open borders traitor just like McScamnesty.
I’m with you Phoenix48. And for that matter, I remember all the same stuff you do, Bill Heuisler, and you are dead right. But Hayworth is a terrible option.
Once again, what we really need is another John Kyl.
I am a VN Vet and live in Mich, l don’t know JD very well but l can’t stand that RINO mc cain, Mich did not go for him and chose Rommney instead, thats why he abandon Mich in the election, l have sent JD a check already and will each month to see him win this election, we need to send the message to these bums, and Kyl too, Scott Brown will be voted out just as easily as he was voted in if he don’t vote fiscal in office.
Randy Thaxton wrote: “After reading all the comments here, I find that there are some who have short memories. Such as everytime, McCain is up for reelection, he runs as a conservative, after election, he becomes the maverick again. Isn’t it time we have a real conservative representing us in Washington?”
That is factually untrue. McCain did not move to the left after the 2008 election – he actually moved to the right( i.e. cap & trade).
While you are correct that JD may have a slightly more conservative rating than McCain, so what? There are more important factors than just some lobby group’s ratings. Integrity and intelligence are a couple of examples that come to mind. Not to mention leadership and influence.
Many of you so-called “conservatives” seem to define your rightwing credentials by your love of anti-immigration measures. Need I remind you that McCain was not the main sponsor of immigration reform in 2007? It was actually Arizona’s other senator Jon Kyl. In fact the bill was largely written by Arizona’s Republican delegation with Flake taking the lead in the House. The bill was a good conservative bill that went down in flames because of the stupidity (and often racism) of so-called right wingers. These mindless morons are easy to identify – they are the types who are so quick to label McCain a RINO.
If a Senator and war hero serving as a Republican for decades with a conservative rating that hovers in the 80s is now reduced to being a RINO then there is no hope for the Republican Party. The mindless radical extreme will simply ensure the Republicans stay in the minority for years to come. AND don’t fool yourselves – these idiots are not true conservatives. Such radical closed-minded group-think is far more analogous to the mentality and dogma enforced by socialists.
58. Mark: No Mark YOU want to define ‘so-called conservatives’ – who have the temerity to even consider not re-electing the Mac Daddy – as being obsessed with that single issue.
Yes – it’s a huge issue here. Would this state have been so screwed up by the building boom -both commerical & residental – were it not for this state turning into THE SANCTUARY gateway state under Janet Napolitano?
Napolitano always used the pretense of civil rights to placate Mary Wilcox and the open borders folks – the same way she used enlarging government to bolster her governing coalition – the two primary ways to grow democrate party voters – import them or hire(bribe) them.
And your way off on the Kyle/Cornyn immigration attempt – the heart of their proposal was that illegals had to voluntarily repatriate – a requirement scoffed at by all the ‘comprehensive reform’ folks. Whether it was cheap labor junkies at the corporate level or small biz folks here – (Could that be you Mark? Sounds about right with you needing to play the smear card).
The fact is that Kyle has stepped up concerning ALL the major issues this state has faced since I’ve lived here – from Water issues to immigration to ranching/Ag issues to Indian Gaming to you name it.
Could you help us here Mark? Why should we vote for this guy again? You’ve been real clear as far as the same kind of negative finger pointing that we are hearing from the McCain folks on the radio and TV.
How about giving us a list of what the Mav has left us as a legacy. I mean I don’t have any question in my mind what GOLDWATERS legacy was. I could give you another 500 words just for starters.
I can honestly say I don’t know what the McCain legacy would be should he find himself looking for work.
Again, can you help us with this Mark?
I cannot believe the lunacy of people in Arizona, a state overrun because of illegal immigration and total lawlessness, who would actually vote for John,”Americans wouldn’t pick lettuce for fifty!! dollars an hour”, McCain. He told this to a group of hardworking American citizens. Uh, what else would he have to tell you people to where you finally realized what this bum is about? Would he have to personally kick you in the teeth? Go vote for the creep, STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES. It isn’t about Hayworth either. If you people that are going to vote for McCain had any self-respect, you’d vote for Mickey Mouse, over McCain. Sigh!!..
I spend the night in an emergency room last night (potential coronary issue with wife)in west Mesa. We and four other people were the 6 anglos amid about 200 (no kidding) people. The majority of them (I’ve lived in Az all my life, I can pretty accurately tell the difference) were illegal. It was a madhouse. We were there for 16 hours in what should have been a 3-4 hour visit. This is a real and intolerable effect of our joke immigration policy/enforcement, or lack thereof. This is not meant to have racial/cultural tones, but I don’t give a crap if it is taken that way because I don’t care any more about PC. For me, this is an ECONOMIC
I think Mark works for McCain. You can bet, given the absolutely sleazy ads we are hearing and the $$ McCain is spending, and his absolute pooping fear that the game could be over for him because his true nature cannot be hidden any more, that he has people working the blogs, working the local meetings, working anything they can work.
Let’s retire him in the primary !!!!!!!!
John McCain should be given the Ambassadorship to the planet Mars and sent there immediatly.
We need a Martian Embassy right now and no one deserves to be sent to Mars more than John McCain! Think of it as a lifetime Achievement AWARD. He has earned this!
Personally, I have looked forward to the day that McCain would be launched into space for over a decade (and I know I am not alone). Please help me send McCain to Mars. And then we can give him back the ‘one finger salute’ that he has so proudly given the Republican party.
P.S. please send his daughter Megan with him. Mars needs her
JD is no conservative. REALLY dig into his congressional voting record.I wouldn’t vote for JD or McCain. There is a more conservative candidate that is not publicized but will get traction soon.His name is Jim Deakin. Check him out. If you are wanting to have a Senator who will adhere to the Constitution, force the Senate to be Constitutional and protect the will of the people. he is the man.
I know right? -> “How much is JD going to pay his wife this time?” oh the reg.. couple thousand. JD has to take care of his legal troubles first – Washington doesn’t need anymore corruption. If he were true, he wouldn’t have become embroiled in the Abramhoff, and other scandals. He’s an angry and combative partisan
Jerry A. Stein wrote: JD is no conservative….
AskAli wrote: Washington doesn’t need anymore corruption….
I am unfamiliar with JD’s legal troubles or his voting record but how could he be worse than John McVain? How could anyone, even a liberal be worse than John McCain? The Mad Maverick has done far more to hurt the United States of America than Tom Daschel, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry combined.
FACT: Over the years McCain has sided with the American Left on most key issues.
He has repackaged himself as pro-Christian, and anti-gay marriage several times when the facts prove otherwise.
The McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act is perhaps one of the more left-wing acts of Congress in the past twenty years.
The Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act is more Lieberal Hogwash aimed. He is another Global Warming KOOK!
and McCain-Kennedy, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 is…..
Do we really have to go down the list of McVain’s LIEBERAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
Geeeeez!! He was on George Soro’s payroll a few years ago!! Are you people nuts?
If the Republican Party backs the re-election of Senator John McCain than it doesn’t deserve to exist anymore
This is a no brainer. Mc Cain is an undisciplined political gadfly. He’s always sucking up to the Washington press corps by splitting the difference in legislation and selling out Conservative principles.
In fact he LOVES to attack conservatives. He’s not one of us. Sarah Palin mentioned that she didn’t understand why Mc Cain foolishly chose not to attack and make America aware of his Rev Wright connection. Yet he’s hammering Hayworth for a month with negative advertising.
Hayworth has his faults but only a Republican fool will vote for Mc Cain. Didn’t anyone listen to Mc Cain in last years debates? He’s FOR Cap & trade, he’s FOR legalizing illegals ( and giving 20 million votes to Democrats that means border states will never elect another Republican and disenfranchising tax paying voters) and of course the arrogrant SOB said that the debate over global warming is over and sides with the lying environmental Wack jobs.
Go vote for Mc Cain. He will once again team with with his moronic side kick Lindsay Graham and stick it to conservatives
after the election. This man wanted to name Joe Lieberman as his VP!! Wake the hell up Arizona & America.
The future of our countryn is at stake. We can’t afford to elect undisciplined “mavericks” who votes we can’t rely on. There is too much at stake. Vote for Hayworth.
To argue that Hayworth isn’t conservative enough and therefore we should support McCain is the logic of 3rd graders (no insult to 3rd graders intended).
As a Republican party precinct captain, I will campaign for the democrat that runs against McCain if McCain is the party’s nominee. Furthermore, to the extent I can, I’ll work against the election of any other Republican state elected officials that endorse him.
In his position of power in the Senate, McCain does harm not to just Arizona, but the entire nation. He is undermining conservative and Republican principles in Colorado, Florida and other states where we’re trying to elect conservatives that will engage and defeat the communists that control Washington.
A weak freshman Democrat is better than a powerful incumbent Republican doing the democrat party’s work (McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform, McCain-Kennedy amnesty for illegals, and McCain-Liberman cap and trade). Can anyone name any other significant legislation McCain has sponsored?
We elect JD (or some other conservative Republican) or we elect a Demonrat if that’s what it takes to get the message across and be rid of McCain. Benedict Arnold was an American hero right up until he betrayed his country. Each of McCain’s signature legislative efforts equate to treason as far as I’m concerned and are reason enough to be rid of him no matter the short term cost.
Agree with AZ Rick; as a former Arizona resident (that AZ heat was bit too much for me) I still miss the desert and yes dry heat) you can keep the mild-even-tempered John McCain. He virtually laid down in his campaign to hold up his public image,as a what I don’ know, it’s time for him to retire. As soon as I heard that Hayworth announced I sent him a contribution since I have no vote in the primary. The very best to my friends in Arizona. Please retire Mr. McCain and his ego.