J.D.Hayworth to challenge John McCain in GOP primary

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Capitol Times reports Arizona Capitol Times » Blog Archive » Hayworth tells Arizona GOP he’ll take on McCain:

Former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth has told fellow Arizona Republicans that he will run against the state’s senior senator, John McCain.

Hayworth has spent the past month hinting about a possible candidacy, but he’s now made it clear that he will indeed take on the former Republican nominee for president. He has yet to file the paperwork.

“Soon, I will announce formally my candidacy for the United States Senate,” he said at the annual Arizona Republican Party meeting on Jan. 23.

The day before, he announced he was leaving Clear Channel’s KFYI, where he had hosted a talk show for several years.

When he took the stage, he was greeted with chants of “J.D.! J.D.!” from a segment of the party’s grassroots volunteers.

McCain addressed the crowd earlier in the day and was greeted with a standing ovation, although a smattering of boos could be heard.

Hayworth is supported by Republicans who disagree with McCain’s moderate views on illegal immigration and other issues. They view Hayworth as the more conservative candidate.

Battle lines between McCain and Hayworth already have formed.

Jane Lynch, a party volunteer from McCain’s Phoenix legislative district, showed up at the meeting wearing a John McCain campaign button and said she was disappointed Hayworth is entering the race.

“I think he’s hurting the state of Arizona by what he’s doing,” she said. Republicans have a tendency to bloody each other up in primary elections, even if that hurts their ultimate chances against Democrats, she said.

Plus, Hayworth is too “right wing” in his views.

“That’s not who wins the general election in Arizona,” Lynch said.

Others welcomed Hayworth’s announcement.

“I think it’s way overdue,” Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. “He’d make a great U.S. senator.”
Hayworth frequently lauded Arpaio on his radio show for the sheriff’s willingness to enforce state and federal illegal immigration laws.

Arpaio has a history of clashing with McCain. In 2008, Arpaio endorsed GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney instead of his senator. In 2000, he backed George W. Bush over McCain. In December, Arpaio hosted a fundraiser to benefit Hayworth’s legal defense fund.

State Sen. Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican and outspoken critic of McCain’s stance on illegal immigration, called Hayworth a “good-spirited patriot” and applauded his decision to enter the race.

McCain, Pearce said, has “strayed from the basic principles (Republicans) believe in.”

But the campaign will be about more than just illegal immigration, McCain supporters said.

“Amnesty isn’t the only issue,” said Paula Bouthillier, a Peoria Republican.

Many Arizona Republicans who hold elected office said they would avoid endorsing either candidate, for fear that taking sides could lead to problems in their 2010 campaigns.

“I don’t want McCain and Hayworth to get in the weeds in District 30, so I’m not going to get involved in their (race),” said state Rep. Frank Antenori, whose district includes part of Tucson and southeastern Arizona.

McCain has not lost an election since first being elected to Congress in 1982 and later to the Senate in 1986.

For the past 28 years John McCain has played a role in dismantling the American economy and shipping American jobs overseas in favor of an unregulated "free market" investor class that turned our economy into casino capitalism and Wall Street into the greatest Ponzi scheme the world has ever known. McCain has played a role in destroying the American middle class in favor of transferring the wealth of the nation to the gambler "investor class" plutocrats in a new Gilded Age. McCain was a patron of Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress that provided the U.S. bogus intelligence and advocated for war with Iraq years before this unnecessary war and unnecessary loss of life. McCain also advocates for war with Iran, and intervention in Georgia. And the gambler McCain was willing to risk the national security of this nation by selecting an unqualified and unvetted Sarah Palin as his running mate.

McCain is touting this as experience and his campaign theme laughably is "character matters." Arizonans can no longer afford their experience with John McCain. Character matters, and John McCain has demonstrated time and again that he is sorely lacking in character and judgment. It is time for Arizonans to send this tired old ideologue into long-overdue retirement.

Gasbag bloviator J.D. Hayworth challenging John McCain presents a golden opportunity for Democrats. 5 Reasons Dems Should Hope J.D. Hayworth Challenges McCain | Mother Jones:

Five reasons Dems should hope J.D. Hayworth enters the race:

• Hayworth has been investigated by the US Justice Department for accepting cash and gifts from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his cronies. This shady connection contributed to the loss of his House seat in 2006.
• Hayworth has been accused of antisemitism. In his 2006 anti-immigration manifesto, Hayworth praised Henry Ford's "Americanization" vision. Ford used this term to describe "the Jew" who "inveighs against Americanism" for refusing to assimilate. In February, Hayworth appeared on Hardball claiming that Sen. Chuck Schumer and George Soros—"the guy in the background…manipulating all of the currency," a reference which Steve Benen says is highly problematic—should be blamed for the financial crisis instead of the Bush administration. He also has ties to Neo-Nazis.
• His connection to "Birthers" and love for Orly Taitz. He once hosted Taitz on his radio show, calling her "Doctor" and treating her like a legal expert, instead of the supposed perjurer she is.
• His close relationships with Arizona's most notorious anti-immigrant crusaders. [In December], Maricopa County’s infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio will host a fundraiser for Hayworth's "Freedom In Truth Trust." [Since then Sheriff Joe Arpaio has become the focus of a federal grand jury investigation.]
• And finally, look what happened to Dede Scozzafava and Doug Hoffman in NY 23.

Arizona Democrats had better get serious about a Senate candidate this year. This "sing-a-long with Rodney Glassman" exploratory sideshow has to end – now. If you are serious about running for Senate kid, in the words of my dear departed father, it's time for you to shit or get off the pot. Democrats need a serious candidate who is running hard – now. J.D. Hayworth is a fate far worse than John McCain.

H/T to Tedski at R-Cubed for the photo of "Tank Boy."