Posted on 07/05/2010 11:37:17 PM PDT by tlb
First, it was Sarah Palin. Then it was Arizona Right to Life and the National Rifle Association. Most recently, the revered National Review gave its imprimatur to McCain.
When Hayworth entered the race in January, McCain was at his most vulnerable point in decades. Polling showed McCain had a lead within the margin of error and was struggling to redefine himself as a Republican loyalist. But polls now show McCain with a solid lead.
Baker said the McCain campaign may have engineered a sort of domino effect: Each endorsement shows the next group that backing McCain is a safer bet than it may have first appeared, and Republican voters seem to be following the same trend.
McCain has focused Hayworth’s reputation in Congress as a pork-barrel spender, a serious offense to many conservatives. And the senator has run an undeniably negative campaign against Hayworth, openly mocking him and attacking his credibility.
The McCain campaign has posted videos online poking fun at Hayworth for questioning the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, suggesting that allowing gay marriage could pave the way for men to wed horses, and especially for appearing in a 2007 infomercial urging people to take advantage of “free money” from government grants.
The infomercial for the National Grants Conferences has been the most damning revelation yet, combining the promotion of government spending with a host of informercial stereotypes. It prompted the popular FOX News personality Glenn Beck to declare that Hayworth’s campaign is over.
If McCain had a more conservative challenger, National Review wrote, the endorsement might have gone elsewhere. But while Hayworth’s record is conservative, the article read, it isn’t conservative enough to make a compelling case against McCain.
“He may not be Marco Rubio, but he’s not Arlen Specter either,” the editorial said of McCain.
(Excerpt) Read more at azcapitoltimes.com ...
The pro-life community and the NRA owe favors to McCain because he has supported them for a long time. They owe him favors, but the voters don’t owe him anything.
Isn’t Hayward also pro-life and pro gun rights? Hayward should emphasize this in his ads.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.