So, Hayworth is the perfect candidate, despite the fact that he voted for every big spending program Bush proposed, was involved with Abramhoff, gambling interests, etc. There are no “prefect” candidates, and if that is what you are looking for, you’ll be in for a big disappointment.
It’s also interesting to note that Hayworth isn’t concerned about Palin endorsing McCain. You know why, because if Hayworth wins, he wants her to throw some money his way, and come to AZ during the general election to campaign for him, and she’ll do just that.
First of all, get your facts straight:
Hayworth was completely exonerated of any wrongdoing regarding Abramoff by the United States Department of Justice, in fact Hayworth’s assistance helped the DOJ put Abramoff behind bars.
Second, so far as ‘gambling interests’ are concerned, McStain has been up to his neck in gambling and our own esteemed FReeper AuntB will be happy to fill you in on the details.
Third I’m not looking for a ‘prefect’ candidate, not even a ‘perfect’ candidate, I’m looking to support a REAL conservative, not a backstabbing RINO like McCain who has been properly labeled a traitor by no less than the Founder of Free Republic, which just so happens to be the home of the ‘RINO-Free America Project’.
It doesn’t matter if Hayworth is ‘concerned’ or not about Sarah Palin supporting McCain, what does matter is that millions of true conservatives do NOT want her lending her name and integrity to a lying piece of sh*t like McStain, whose campaign used her and abused her throughout the ‘08 campaign, using her to the detriment of conservatism.
You’re not actually supporting McCain are you?
Indians, Lobbyists and Arizona Politics...OH MY!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2440173/posts
[snip]The scene is the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut . The year 2000. The congressman has $100 chips stacked high, having a grand time at the crap table. He likes to gamble and isn’t afraid to show some temper when he loses. Along for the ride are his campaign manager and one of the two biggest lobbyist handing out campaign money from various Indian tribes who was also a 20 year friend of the legislator.
By now we’ve all heard about the money J.D. Hayworth received from an Indian tribe by way of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was one of the two big boys in Indian tribe money lobbying.
Pot, meet Kettle....
However, it was not J.D. Hayworth, nor Jack Abramoff at the crap table. It was Senator John McCain, campaign manager and Indian lobbyist in his own right, Rick Davis, along with Scott Reed, now the one remaining big time lobbyist handling the tribes and their money.
National Review wrote:
“That would be this New York Times story, describing McCain playing the craps table with Rick Davis and Scott Reed. Davis is a longtime McCain friend and associate, currently his campaign manager, who runs a lobbying firm that represented Indian tribes with casino interests. Reed also worked as a lobbyist for Indian tribes, but he was also Bob Dole’s campaign manager in 1996, where McCain is a top surrogate”
Another article further describes the scene.
” McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino.
The visit had been arranged by the lobbyist, Scott Reed, who works for the Mashantucket Pequots, a tribe that has contributed heavily to McCain’s campaigns and built Foxwoods into the world’s second-largest casino. Joining them was Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager. Their night of good fortune epitomized not just McCain’s affection for gambling, but also the close relationship he has built with the gambling industry and its lobbyists during his 25-year career in Congress.
As a two-time chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, McCain has done more than any other member of Congress to shape the laws governing America’s casinos, helping to transform the once-sleepy Indian gambling business into a $26-billion-a-year behemoth with 423 casinos across the country.
As factions of the ferociously competitive gambling industry have vied for an edge, they have found it advantageous to cultivate a relationship with McCain or hire someone who has one, according to an examination based on more than 70 interviews and thousands of pages of documents.
McCain portrays himself as a Washington maverick unswayed by special interests, referring recently to lobbyists as “birds of prey.” Yet in his current campaign, more than 40 fund-raisers and top advisers have lobbied or worked for an array of gambling interests - including tribal and Las Vegas casinos, lottery companies, and online poker purveyors.
When rules being considered by Congress threatened a California tribe’s planned casino in 2005, McCain helped spare the tribe. Its lobbyist, who had no prior experience in the gambling industry, had a nearly 20-year friendship with McCain.”
Hayworth’s explanation of the Abramoff contribution is spelled out by him here. Hayworth got direct contributions of $2,250 from Abramoff, which was donated to charity, Hurricane Katrina relief. The Indian tribe in question insisted the money they gave by way of Abramoff be kept by Hayworth.
Hayworth’s exoneration of any criminal charges, by the US Dept. of Justice is in a letter from them here.
The McCain campaign is trying to use this non issue to destroy Hayworth, while indulging in bigger tribe money and underhanded backroom deals far surpassing anything Jack Abramoff pulled.
McCain has been chair of the Indian affairs committee since 2005, having served on it for many years prior. He used this position to bring down Abramoff, who was second only to handing out tribe dollars to McCain’s man Scott Reed. Some have speculated the move was not so much to rid politics of the likes of Abramoff, but to gain a monopoly on tribe campaign dollars. There’s even a book, ‘The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Jack Abramoff’ speculating McCain’s motives.
I actually prefer the other candidate, Chris Simcox, despite the fact that he's considered too "fringe" to ever win due to his minutemen association. But he actually seems like a genuine, honest, sane person--not the crazy racist I'm sure people would want to paint him as being. He seems like a nice man with the right values.
Anyways, I just get this sense that in a few months from now, we will see how Palin's endorsement of McCain was definitely the right decision, not just in terms of securing her own future--but for the movement as a whole. I trust her judgment.