Sen. McCain faces toughest re-election challenge

PHOENIX (AP) - Defeated just two years ago as the Republican presidential candidate and with his bonafides as a true conservative again being challenged, John McCain finds himself in a struggle to get even his party’s nomination for another term in the Senate.

Conservatives, independents and Tea Party activists are lining up behind Republican challenger and former talk radio host J.D. Hayworth, reflecting a rising tide of voter frustration with incumbent politicians. Only 40 percent of Arizonans have a favorable view of McCain’s job performance.

Faced with his toughest re-election battle ever, McCain has moved to the right on several hot-button issues, like gays in the military and climate change, and has built a campaign war chest of more than $5 million. Former running mate Sarah Palin and newly elected Republican Sen. Scott Brown, both popular with conservatives, are pitching in.

Hayworth, who will officially launch his campaign Monday, began using his talk show on conservative radio station KFYI to drum up opposition to McCain.

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Sen. McCain faces toughest re-election challenge

Sarah Palin and Scott Brown are supporting the biggest RINO in the Senate. Isn’t that special?

I think it speaks quite well of both of them, and it gives the American voter a chance to see the Conservative bonafides that neither have! Supporting McCain is NOT sitting well with many on the REAL Conservative side of the equation.

“You have a consistent conservative challenger and an incumbent who calls himself a maverick but in fact is a moderate,” Hayworth said, outlining what he views as the central choice for conservative GOP primary voters in August.

I would have to disagree with Mr. Hayworth on one minor point here, calling John McCain a moderate is a bit of a misnomer. John McCain is a RINO, and when I say RINO I am referring to Republican In Name Only. And even that is a bit of a misnomer itself. John McCain is what I call a Republican when it’s convenient. John McCain is a Republican when it suits HIS purposes. I am convinced that he can’t even spell the word Conservative.

The four-term senator and his allies also are taking aim at Hayworth. In December, they filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing that the talk show host was a de facto candidate and his radio station was providing a corporate gift by allowing him to campaign on the air. And they’re attacking Hayworth’s 12-year record as a congressman representing the eastern suburbs of Phoenix.

In other words, McCain and Crew are scared.

“When Arizona voters are reminded of Mr. Hayworth’s long record in Washington of liberal spending and questionable ethics, he will be defeated again just as he was in 2006,” said McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers.

C’mon Mr. Rogers, surely you don’t really want to go there? Accuse someone of having a liberal record? Your man McCain has never met a libber he didn’t side with. That ploy is going to take a lot of spinning to make viable, and could very well blow up in your face.

Democrat Harry Mitchell defeated Hayworth four years ago, winning the GOP-dominated district amid a rough national climate for Republicans and questions about Hayworth’s dealings with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Hayworth ran a conservative campaign emphasizing his opposition to illegal immigration, but he was dogged by a reputation for being an angry and combative partisan, highlighted by an editorial in the state’s largest newspaper recommending “Mitchell over the bully.”

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