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Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) is unlikely to run in a GOP primary against Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), let alone win, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Monday. Kyl, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said he expects the former congressman, who's been mulling a primary challenge to McCain's right next year, to carry on his activities as host of a radio show, and not as a candidate.

John McCain may have been the Republican Party's national standard bearer last year, but now it looks like he may have a hard time just hanging on to his Senate seat. A new Rasmussen Reports poll of likely 2010 GOP primary voters in Arizona finds the longtime incumbent in a virtual tie with potential challenger, J.D. Hayworth. McCain earns 45% of the vote, while Hayworth picks up 43%. Another candidate, anti-illegal immigration activist Chris Simcox, is picking up 4%. Hayworth, 51, a conservative former U.S. congressman who now is a popular radio talk show host in Phoenix, is reportedly interested...

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman have been working overtime to craft a climate bill that can attract significant GOP support. But they aren’t exactly scoring points with their mutual best friend in the Senate, John McCain. “Their start has been horrendous,” McCain said Thursday. “Obviously, they’re going nowhere.” McCain has emerged as a vocal opponent of the climate bill — a major reversal for the self-proclaimed maverick who once made defying his party on global warming a signature issue of his career. Now the Arizona Republican is more likely to repeat GOP talking points on cap and trade than...

Former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said Thursday he has read Sarah Palin's book and has no regrets about picking her as a running mate. (snip) He also said if Mrs. Palin decides to run for president in 2012 and becomes the Republican Party nominee he would vote for her. "I hope she has every success," Mr. McCain said. "She's still pretty popular."

Here is video of the authors of a new book on Sarah Palin claiming in an interview on CBS that McCain Campaign officials actually had the lights turned out on Palin the night of the election to prevent her from giving a concession speech. Authors of "Sarah from Alaska" - Scott Conroy and Shoshanna Walsh - say Palin had planned to give a concession speech on Election Night, but Sen. John McCain decided against it. Later in the evening, Palin reportedly returned to the stage with family to have some pictures taken, and McCain Campaign people thought she might try...

Earlier this month, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stirred up a tempest when they announced that they could overcome their political differences and agree on the critical need for a national policy that addresses the threat of climate change and moves the United States toward energy independence. Since the publication of their opinion piece, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)” in the New York Times, pundits and policy experts alike have declared the Senators’ announcement a “game-changer” and possible tipping point that could lead to the passage of a bipartisan climate change bill — maybe even...

"Blue dogs bark but never bite"

Senator John McCain made clear that he and the Republican Party should send the message that they support whatever President Obama's strategy in Afghanistan ends up being, rather than send messages that the U.S. is "waffling" or "dithering." In response to former Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remarks, in which he said, "signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries," McCain said, "I wouldn't use that language." Speaking Wednesday evening while accepting an award from the conservative Center for Security Policy, Cheney said, "The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in...

This morning, in an interview with CNN's State of the Union, Sen. John McCain (RINO-Ariz.) apparently used some rather choice language to describe the fairly evident future political aspirations of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Ak.): "Will Sarah and I - did we always agree on everything in the past? Will we in the future? No. But let's let a thousand flowers bloom. Let's come up with a winning combination next time."—http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2360310/posts With only a cursory glance, it appears from McCain's language that he is merely asking for a second chance -- in 2012? -- with Palin. [And, at first...

(snip) Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," the Arizona Republican said: "When we selected, or asked, Sarah Palin to be my running mate, it energized our party. We were ahead in the polls, until the stock market crashed. And she still is a formidable force in the Republican Party. And I have great affection for her. Will Sarah and I - did we always agree on everything in the past? Will we in the future? No. But let's let a thousand flowers bloom. Let's come up with a winning combination next time." (snip)

(snip) JOHN KING: The president of the United States, who a year ago this weekend was your campaign rival heading into the final month of the campaign, is the Nobel Peace laureate for 2009. Deserved? SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: Oh, I’m sure that the president is very honored to receive this award. And Nobel Committee, I can’t divine all their intentions, but I think part of their decision-making was expectations. And I’m sure the president understands that he now has even more to live up to. But as Americans, we’re proud when our president receives an award of that prestigious category....

(CNN) — Arizona Sen. John McCain said Friday the Nobel Committee's decision to award President Obama the Peace Prize was likely based on expectations, not accomplishments. "I can't divine all their intentions, but I think part of their decision-making was expectations," McCain told CNN's John King. "And I'm sure the president understands that he now has even more to live up to." But Obama's former rival for the White House said he was happy with the decision.

Conservative radio commentator and former Scottsdale congressman J.D. Hayworth is consider a run against U.S. Sen. John McCain in next year’s Republican primary. A source in Arizona who asked not to be identified said Hayworth is pondering the move. The possible challenge also was reported Monday in the Washington Post.

Fresh from a humbling loss in last year’s presidential election, Sen. John McCain is working behind-the-scenes to reshape the Republican Party in his own center-right image. McCain is recruiting candidates, raising money for them and hitting the campaign trail on their behalf. He’s taken sides in competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial primaries and introduced his preferred candidates to his top donors. When the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy created a vacant Senate seat in Massachusetts, McCain went so far as to solicit former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling to run for the seat. It’s all part of an approach...

Mark Levin expressed his disgust with Glenn Beck's fascination with Ron Paul and comments about McCain on with Katie Couric (audio at the jump).

Saying she was "alarmed about the direction our nation is headed," former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton officially launched her bid today as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Surrounded by hundreds of supporters in a ballroom at the Marriott Tech Center, Norton, who has been serving as the executive director of the Denver Police Foundation, said she wanted to stop what she saw as an out-of-control government in the nation's capital. "At every turn, Washington's giant hand seems to be grabbing everything in sight," said Norton, who served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Bill Owens. "Seizing control of...

The First Amendment, as rewritten under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except if it is funded by a corporation, unless it is a media corporation, or if the speech occurs just prior to an election, unless it is in the form of a book, which, even though the law covers books, too, the Federal Election Commission would never apply that law to books because we say so, though we said something entirely different a couple of months ago." In an apoplexy of righteous indignation over...

(snip) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, I thought the president is eloquent. I thought he had a lot of passion. (snip) MCCAIN: I hope he gets a bill. I hope we can sit down together and do the things that all of us agree on. And there are a number of things that are -- that we can agree on. And I think the American people, obviously, want that. I don't know what the administration and the Democrats will insist on. Facts are stubborn things. The bills so far have had no bipartisanship associated with it. They were drawn...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Democratic leaders are calling on Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) to apologize for heckling President Obama as a liar. Wilson shouted to the president "you lie" after Obama said illegal immigrants would not benefit from health insurance coverage from the reform bill. Obama glared disgustedly in the direction the remark came from, as did Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Vice President Joe Biden. House Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) called Wilson's outburst "embarrassing," while McCain said it was "totally disrespectful" and that there was "no place for it in that setting or any other." McCain said...

Clinton's advice to Obama: Forget about Republicans Posted: September 8th, 2009 01:16 PM ET From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney (CNN) — As President Obama gets set to address a joint-session of Congress on the issue of health care reform Wednesday night, former President Clinton says it's time to forget about the Republican Party's role in the process entirely. "The president's doing the right thing. It is both morally and politically right," Clinton told Esquire Magazine in an interview published online Tuesday. "I wouldn't even worry about the Republicans. I'd worry about executing." Though it increasingly appears the White House...

(snip) Listening to Sen. McCain's elegy, however, I found myself increasingly bothered. "We disagreed on most issues," McCain said at one point, "but I admired his passion for his convictions ... ." Really? Kennedy was the farthest-left liberal during nearly five decades in the U.S. Senate. McCain, just one year ago, campaigned for president, proclaiming his conservative convictions. And without doubt, Kennedy's wholehearted support of Barack Obama helped to torpedo McCain's campaign. Perhaps one moment disturbed me most: "When we worked together on the immigration issue," McCain recalled, "we had a daily morning meeting with other interested senators. He and...

Says Abuse of Detainees Helped al Qaeda Recruit Terrorists, But Opposes Investigation into "Enhanced" Interrogations. BY MICHELLE LEVI Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he thinks it is a "serious mistake" for the administration to focus on the past when investigating the interrogation techniques of the CIA under President Bush on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "For us now to go back, I think, would be a serious mistake. "I believe that the president was right when he said we ought to go forward and not back. I worry about the morale and effectiveness of the CIA. I worry about this thing...

I didn’t vote for her father, but should Meghan McCain ever run for president, she’ll have my support. Unfortunately, McCain, 24, wouldn’t be eligible to run until the 2020 election cycle if she chooses to do so. Although she has not garnered much media attention until recently, this member of the almost-presidential family, who has been a registered Republican since 2008, has made it clear that her views depart somewhat from those of her father, John McCain, the senator from Arizona. She has socially moderate views. While she is pro-life, she supports same-sex marriage. At a recent convention of the...

If the Democrats decide to use budget reconciliation rules to try to pass the health care overhaul — a strategy that would allow them to push through the most contentious changes with a simple majority, rather than 60 votes — expect to hear Sen. John McCain of Arizona draw a lot of comparisons to the fight he helped lead four years ago to preserve judicial filibusters. In 2005, McCain was the Republican co-chair of the “Gang of 14,” a bipartisan group of senators who blocked a Republican plan to stop Democrats from filibustering President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees. The...

PHOENIX (AP) - Sen. John McCain met with an angry crowd at a town-hall meeting about health care reform Wednesday, sometimes having to fight to talk and telling one woman who wouldn't stop yelling that she had to leave. The Arizona senator hadn't yet opened up the meeting at McCain's central Phoenix church to questions when one audience member continuously yelled over him. "You're going to have to stop or you're going to have to leave," McCain told the woman. When security guards approached to escort her out, he told her "Goodbye, see ya" to a round of applause. After...

Health Care: "First, do no harm" is never the maxim of Washington politicians. With a public uprising killing ObamaCare, Sen. John McCain wants "to sit down with the president" and resuscitate it.IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For FailureAt a town hall in Sun City, Ariz., on Tuesday, the defeated Republican presidential nominee displayed a chart featuring some good health care reform ideas. They included tort reform to reduce the $200 billion a year added to health costs thanks to medical malpractice awards; a sizable tax credit to pay for insurance; and allowing Americans to cross state lines to...

Please send John your birthday message. Sign his online birthday card today Dear Supporter, This Saturday, August 29th, my husband John will celebrate his birthday. A few weeks ago, I wrote to you asking you to sign the online birthday card we've put together for him. Over 30,000 of you have signed the online birthday card so far! I want you to know I appreciate each and every one of these birthday wishes and I know John will be excited to read them over the weekend. If you haven't yet had the chance to sign the online birthday card, you...

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee last year, today praised Senator Edward M. Kennedy's willingness to work with Republicans on issues facing the country. "Ted Kennedy had this unique way of doing hand-to-hand combat on the floor of the Senate," McCain said on CNN. "And as soon as we stopped our speechmaking, he'd come over and put his arm around you and make everybody appreciate that we had our differences, politically, but personally we could be friends and work together as colleagues and friends for the good of the country." "Probably the most overrated aspect of the...

Here is video of Sen. John McCain today at a Town Hall Meeting in Sun City, Arizona where he made the statement: "I think you are seeing the beginning of a peaceful, and let me emphasize peaceful, revolt in America." He made the statement in response to a question as to why Americans should trust major party candidates when their ability to achieve results has been so poor? McCain was far more conciliatory toward President Obama than most in the crowd. The opposition to Obama and what he is trying to do was clear and obvious among the people. But...

Senator McCain Poised to Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory August 24, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Try this, ladies and gentlemen. State-controlled Associated Press: "Senator John McCain says that President Obama will have to drop proposals for a government-run health insurance option if he hopes to reach congressional agreement on health care reform." So far, so good. I'm still reminded of last week. I was laughing myself silly when news came out and how big news it was that McCain was voting with Republicans. (laughing)Our nominee, our presidential nominee, and there was a huge story, about it: "Ah,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. John McCain says the absence of ailing Ted Kennedy in pushing health-care reform has made a "huge, huge difference" in whether legislation gets passed. McCain praised Kennedy, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, as a master negotiator who could bring together parties with different points of view and make the right concessions to reach agreement. McCain said health-care reform might be in a very different place today if Kennedy had been able to participate in the discussions.

The Republican National Committee is asking a federal court to restore the ability of national parties to raise unlimited amounts of money and to spend it to help elect state-level candidates. The case focuses on hotly contested governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia. The 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign financing law (PL 107-155) does not allow national parties to give money directly to state candidates. The RNC wants to change that so it can expressly back the party nominee for governor, advertise and send out mailings on behalf of state or local Republican candidates and make get-out-the-vote calls. The law also...

When The View returns for its new season on September 8th, co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck will be on maternity leave (Elisabeth gave birth to her third child, Isaiah Timothy Hasselbeck, on August 9th). But in her absence, The View has lined up guest hosts to fill in, starting with Meghan McCain on September 9th. Meghan is the daughter of former GOP presidential candidate John McCain and author of "My Dad, John McCain." She also blogs for TheDailyBeast.com. Meghan previously co-hosted the show on April 23rd, making headlines when she said, "It's very unprecedented for someone like Karl Rove or Dick Cheney...

It will U.S. Sen. John McCain’s turn next week to face raucous crowds at health care town halls. The Arizona Republican will host town hall meetings Aug. 25 in Sun City and Aug. 26 in Phoenix. They will be focused on health care and reforms pushed by President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress. That includes the possibility of a government-run system to cover the uninsured and operate alongside private for-profit insurance companies. The contentious health care issue has prompted ornery crowds to boo and criticize Democratic lawmakers at similar town halls in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Florida. Protesters on the...

Ex-presidential candidate is siding more closely with GOP these days. BY GREG GIROUX WASHINGTON - He ran for president last year as a “maverick” Republican and had a high-profile meeting with Barack Obama after the election, but Arizona Sen. John McCain has been a staunch Republican vote since failing to win the White House. In fact, McCain is siding with his party this year on closely divided votes with greater frequency than at any other period in his 23-year Senate career, according to a CQ analysis of Senate votes. On votes that pitted most Democrats against most Republicans, McCain has...

(snip) Mr. Obama drew some of his most enthusiastic applause when he hammered away at wasteful military spending, declaring, “It’s simple enough. Cut the waste. Save taxpayer dollars. Support the troops.” And he also took pains to praise a hometown politician and former rival — Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who was traveling overseas and did not attend the event on Monday. Mr. Obama called him “a great veteran, a great Arizonan and a great American who has shown the courage to stand and fight this waste.” (snip)

TRIPOLI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator John McCain praised Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi for his peacemaking role in Africa and said Congress would support expanding ties, Libyan state news agency Jana said on Friday. U.S.-Libyan relations have dramatically improved since Tripoli's decision in December 2003 to give up its weapons of mass destruction programmes, with diplomatic ties resuming in June 2004 after a break of more than two decades. "McCain and the delegation accompanying him confirmed the importance of expanding further the relations between Libya and the United States. The Congress would back the measures to be taken...

Before the Senate takes its summer break, a handful of Senators are taking a chance to trash the climate bill. A group of moderate Senators wrote a letter to Barack Obama telling him that they cannot support the climate bill unless it's further weakend ease the burden of cap and trade policies. Seperately, John McCain ripped the bill while talking to Stephen Moore at the Wall Street Journal. . . . . . Over at the Wall Street Journal, John McCain takes a harder stance, saying, "this 1,400-page bill is a farce. They bought every industry off—steel mills, agriculture, utilities...I...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – With the Senate poised to pass a bill Thursday night expanding the "cash for clunkers" program with an infusion of $2 billion, White House aides say President Obama will quickly sign the bill into law by the end of the week so there's no interruption to the popular incentive this weekend. "He's going to want to make sure the funds are in place by this weekend," one senior White House official noted because of the particularly brisk weekend business the program has sparked. There has been concern the program is so popular it will run out of...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain said Sunday President Barack Obama has failed in his effort to be a bipartisan leader. McCain, who lost the election to Obama last year, says the success of Obama's initiatives in Congress shouldn't be mistaken for bipartisanship. As one example, McCain said the health care bill was written without Republican input. McCain said that while Obama has managed to pick off a few Republican votes, the president has failed to change the partisan climate in Washington as he said he wanted.

(snip) "I think you could say that it is a short-term improvement in the economy. And I'll be glad to give him credit for that. But the question that I think we should be asking are the long term consequences of this unprecedented debts and deficits — are they beneficial to the country? And I think the answer is no." (snip)

There are, of course, a whole lot of truly baffling things about the Birther movement and its theories. But perhaps one of the most puzzling is this unanswered question: If President Obama really were born in Kenya, why didn't the McCain or Clinton campaigns dig up the evidence and publicize it? Why has that task fallen to the ragtag crew that is the Birthers, led now by Orly Taitz, a dentist/lawyer/real estate agent who got her law degree online and is regularly admonished for having little, if any, idea how to properly file her court papers? Turns out there's an...

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who helped vote down U.S. ratification of a nuclear test ban treaty ten years ago, said he would now consider supporting it. McCain told The Associated Press that he could support the treaty, a priority of former presidential rival President Barack Obama, if concerns are addressed before another vote.

Washington -- President Barack Obama's landmark bill on energy and global warming squeaked through the House this week only after the White House made dozens of concessions to coal, manufacturing and other interests. As the battle moves to the Senate, Obama faces demands for more concessions, including to open the coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling. The Senate will take up issues that were glossed over or omitted from the House bill. Among them is giving the government sweeping new powers to overcome local objections and approve thousands of miles of new transmission lines to carry electricity to coastal...

Link only, per FR copyright rules

Meghan McCain—whom some have called the new face of the GOP—likes to call herself a “progressive Republican.” Her Twitter page is full of updates about her devotion to gay marriage: “Marriage equality will not fall to the wayside! I have faith one day there will be equality for everyone living in this country!” That’s fine, I don’t care whether or not she supports “marriage equality.” But as someone her age, I know that gay marriage is one of the causes that young people must embrace in order to gain admission to the liberal in-crowd—and I suspect that’s why she’s doing...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 25, 2009 Contact: Francisco Lopez, Executive Director: (503) 269-5694 Erik Sorensen, Communications Director: (503) 488-0263 Historic White House Meeting on Immigration a Complete Success Roadmap to Immigration Reform makes a strong and positive beginning Salem, Ore--Today members of Congress from both houses and from both sides of the aisle met at the White House for an historic working session on Immigration Reform. The White House meeting, which was postponed from last week, was rescheduled for today after immigration reform proponents generated over 200,000 faxes, 30,000 phone calls, and 3,300 personal notes calling on the President to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers rarely shine a positive spotlight on lobbyists, much less publicly toast them and rave about their style on Capitol Hill. But they did just that on Tuesday night for consumer advocate Joan Claybrook, who retired earlier this year as the head of the watchdog group Public Citizen. The organization held a dinner event in honor of her 27-year leadership. Claybrook has become known as one of Washington's most relentless consumer-interest lobbyists. Her work has influenced rules on auto safety standards, congressional ethics, campaign finance and more. Among the lawmakers who praised Claybrook's efforts were House Speaker...

(snip) "John McCain is an American hero," Zak said of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. "We're honored and humbled to have his endorsement. We're looking forward to working with him to improve California." (snip) Whitman served as national co-chair of McCain's presidential campaign. She received another endorsement Thursday when House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, announced that he was backing her. "The state needs a leader with a creative vision, with a formula for success that can address the fiscal challenges that you face and there is no one better than Meg Whitman," Cantor said in a statement posted on...