Posted on 01/24/2010 10:25:48 PM PST by pissant
Anyone who reads this site should know that I am anti-establishment to the hilt – to the point where I am often harangued as a “purgist”. Toomey over Specter – sign me up. Rubio over Crist – in a minute. Hoffman over Scozzafava – easy decision for Hoffman. Furthermore – I was one of the first out of the gate supporting Les Phillip over Parker Griffith, I’m pulling hard for uber-anti-establishmentarian Adam Andrzejewski in Illinois, and I’m already in the tank for Sarah Palin’s impending presidential run. Heck, I’ve even drawn fire for suggesting a Joseph Cao primary challenge to the ethically-challenged Sen. David Vitter.
So - now that I’ve established my credentials – can somebody please tell me what former Arizona congressman J.D. Hayworth is smoking? I will be the first to say that I’ve had my disagreements with John McCain – but the old maverick is hardly a Rockefeller Republican. Furthermore, he has emerged as one of the most forceful and eloquent critics of the Obama agenda and an invaluable resource in the U.S. Senate. He’s also doing yeoman’s work to recruit solid, electable Republicans in places where they normally shouldn’t win.
Let’s remember that McCain was the first senator visited by Scott Brown after his win in Massachusetts last week – but I don’t hear anyone calling for Brown’s head on a plate. In fact – Brown is widely seen as being decently conservative. He’s definitely the most conservative Massachusetts senator in recent memory – eschewing the hyper-moderate stances that have generated the few recent GOP victories in that state. And who is one of Scott Brown’s idols? John McCain.
Now, since I bring up Scott Brown – I will be the first to admit that McCain has no inherent right to re-election. It’s not the McCain seat – it’s the people of Arizona’s seat. I also think that primary challenges can be healthy at times, and that GOP Senators should always be prepared to face opposition from both the right and the left – that’s part of democracy. So, Hayworth has every right to present his case to the citizenry - but the rest of us have the right to let him know that taking out one of the country’s most respected Republican senators is a very bad idea.
I’m all for solidifying principles, but on balance, John McCain doesn’t really deviate from conservative principles all that much. Yes, he has cap-and-trade, he’s not a big fan of waterboarding, and he is staunchly in favor of comprehensive immigration reform (immigration being Hayworth’s signature issue). However, he’s also a strong voice for fiscal sanity and a strong national defense, In fact - while he did indeed have several run-ins with the Bush Administration - one of those run-ins was over the troop levels in Iraq (where he was attacking the administration position from the right).
John McCain is the reigning “lion of the Senate”, and frankly I would be more than happy to see him hold that seat for the remainder of his natural life. He’s a patriot, a hero, and a fine legislator.
Also, as a Palin supporter, I fully support Governor Palin’s decision to campaign for McCain. In fact, I was sincerely hoping she would. Yes, it will stick in the craw of some of her more rabid supporters. However, Palin owes her political career to McCain and counts him as a personal friend. He’s also publicly gone to bat for her many times both during and after the campaign. Campaigning for McCain is the honorable thing to do and the right thing to do. To throw him under the bus (or even stay out of the race) would be catty, mean-spirited, opportunistic, and classless after everything he did for her. If she deserted him now – then her entire 2008 campaign (and especially that brilliant convention speech) would be a lie.
For all of us who stand with Sarah (and especially those who were with her pre-Veep) - let’s remember that John McCain believed in us and our candidate when few others did. We should now return the favor by believing in him in the face of an ill-advised challenge from the right (even if Hayworth might be a little more in line with our thinking on certain issues).
J.D. Hayworth is a principled conservative, a strong orator, and could have been a key part of our party’s future. He would have made a fine Governor for the Great State of Arizona (a seat that happens to be hotly contested at the moment) and he could have done the party a great service by running to retake his old seat from Democrat Harry Mitchell. However, he is way off base in choosing to plant his flag against McCain. Not only has John McCain earned re-election to the U.S. Senate, but his ability to articulate the message to moderates makes him a key figure in the Republican Party’s 2012 comeback. If he is defeated in the primary - then I think we will lose many of the gains we would other wise have made and prove ourselves to truly be a small-tent party of ideologues (at least in Arizona).
Also – Arizona is a red-state – but it’s not THAT red. If McCain loses a bitter primary, we will have to spend valuable resources ensuring Hayworth can hold off a strong Democratic challenge. Right now, our resources are going to be spread thin for a GOOD reason in that we have the potential to bump off multiple Democratic senators (especially now that we are looking at challenging Senators Bayh and Feingold in the wake of the Brown victory). We do not need to divert resources out of purple states to make sure that Hayworth doesn’t lose.
By the way - for those of you backing Hayworth – I want you to meet Democratic Tuscon City Councilman Rodney Glassman. The 31 year-old Glassman has no real chance of taking out McCain in a year when the GOP is at it’s strongest, but as you will see in the video below, he’s a very marketable guy and I would expect him to get massive amounts of DSCC cash if Hayworth ousts McCain. Also – don’t tell me that a JAG officer can’t pick off a lot of bitter, disgruntled McCain loyalists in a general election.
So, just as a cautionary note to Hayworth die-hards, beating McCain would only be a warm up for you. If you win, this is what awaits you in the general, and don’t think this guy won’t give you a run for your money…
This is not just a race between Hayworth and McCain. There IS a Democratic candidate, and he may be overly optimistic but he’s no slouch. If you think you can beat him (and do it without national help), fine – but I do NOT want to be talking about Senator Glassman next January.
I believe that the Unconstitutionality and unfairness of McCain-Feingold will be a potent weapon for JD in his primary against McCain.
McCain tried to legislate a permanent election advantage for the Dems, and look at the results: Dems control all 3 branches of govt. Could they have done this without the UNCONSTITIONAL McCain-Feingold travesty?
Article by Adam PRICKLESS. Who helped him Steve NOBALLS?
Good night, pissant.
Sorry our teams aren't in the Super Bowl.
Did he want Barack Hussein Obama to win? It seems like it with his idiotic I'm-stopping-my-campaign-to-vote-with-Obama nonsense.
McCain does not deserve to be Senator simply because his plane was shot down (he crashed his planes three times, I believe). This creep has done us enormous damage. He turned the Democrat party over to another nut, George Soros, with his unconstitutional campaign finance reform.
I guess he survived captivity by crossing the aisle to appease the Communists, but he doesn't need to do that to the neo Communist Democrats now as he does not suffer the threat of torture in the Senate.
McCain has got to go. Maybe he can do a talkshow on tv with his daughter, talking about how cute the "messiah" is afterward, but he has got to go.
As a Senator, JUAN is a doofus.
Next year!
I’m all for Sarah, but I would rather have the good people in Arizona decide their own fate. In fact, I rather see JD in the senate than McCain. I understand Sarah’s decision, but I would like to see McCain leave the senate.
All right !!!
because it was McCain who went to Mass. long before the country ever heard the name Scott Brown and urged him to run and backed him all the way.
We have McCain, in a large part, to thank for what happened in Massachusetts.
I like J. D. Hayworth too, but we need the assurity we will hold that Arizona seat - we have just had the ultimate example of how crucial ONE SEAT can be. We need NOT to chance loosing one - especially one held by a seasoned and powerful senior senator. Even should J.D. win, as a jr. d=senator he would not wield much power - and like him as I do, he didn't seem to have the fight in him that is needed to push these Marxists into the sea. As I recall, he left the congress partly because of the way he was treated by the black caucus. He should have stood and fought.
The people who, noses high in the air, wouldn't vote for McC in 2008 - how's obama working out for ya?
Wow! I had to go check to see if it really was a Republican site - and lo and behold, another just don’t get it place of refuge for the Beltway Republicans (RINO’s for those indifferent Republicans - er voters).
You’re right, this is just another place that still does not get it! These beltway boys are up to their eyeballs in politics and corruption and know not what is coming...
McCain - get out or get voted out! You are history fellow but of course you would not know it because you’re one of the worshiped fellows in Washington. History and the internet has caught up to your antics. Unfortunately for you, we in the hinterland know of your past record and will put you out to pasture... Have a happy retirement.
I honestly don’t care if he had anything to do with Brown’s victory. McCain has made so many mistakes with his policies and voting record that he can NOT be retrieved.
He has become the Beltway Republican of favor for the MSM new channels because he is “moderate” (actually a bit on the liberal side). He can take his popularity with the media to his defeat.
Oh, and I would say the Obama’s election is working out just great! I would guess just because of him we might even take back the House and get very close to Senate majorities. Thank you for asking...
That’s gotta be one of the most unfortunate names ever!
At this point in time, with our country hanging by a thread, can we really afford 6 more years of an egotistical pampered Beltway Rino who violated the Constitution so our ENEMIES could have a permanent election advantage over us?????
6 MORE YEARS of McCain stabbing us (and the Constitution) in the back just to grab headlines and be the liberal media’s “go-to Republican”???
Bamm!!!
I don’t even have to look at the site: it’s also the “reasoning” evident in this ‘think-piece’ that illustrates what’s wrong with the party. I wouldn’t even
know where to start attacking it; he misses the whole point about Sarah Palin ‘campaigning’ for McCain , even while there’s a large grain of truth in the sense that it’s payback for “what he did for her”-—it should be remembered that what SHE did for HIM was give him several million more votes he wouldn’t have otherwise had-—it’s only right she’s coming out with her support-—even to lay off the race, as I figured she would, with a tersely worded statement to the effect that “Sen. McCain doesn’t need me to campaign for him, he’s a fine candidate and can win easily without me” would be exploited by the MSM as cowardice, malice against McCain, and an implicit endorsement of Hayworth, who she ALSO wouldn’t be campaigning for. She’s doing the right thing, ESPECIALLY if she is now really considering a WH bid down the road: supporting McCain takes some of the “rogue” element off her,
the very element she will re-apply a few years down the road when the time and timing is right.
Three strikes, you're out!
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