"Already the wails of the immigration restrictionists are rising, insisting Republicans lost because they weren't tough on keeping illegal border-crossers out. Not true. The test was in Arizona, where two of the noisiest border hawks, Representatives J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, lost House seats. Graf lost in a seat along the Mexican border, where illegal immigrants flock."
Hayworth lost because of Iraq, like every other Republican. I'm so tired of these Weekly Standard bums.
His defense of our Iraq policy played a part, but so did his visible stance [including his book] on illegal immigration. Reps who wanted security first were portrayed as racists. It depends on your district as to how the illegal immigration stance played. It worked for Bilbray but not Hayworth in Maricopa County or Graf near Tucson. Their opponents said they favored the McCain/WH approach, i.e., comprehensive immigration reform. JD and Graf were hung out to dry.