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Sen. John McCain may have a comfortable lead over J.D. Hayworth going into Tuesday's Arizona Republican Senate primary, but he didn't get there without a fight. McCain spent $21 million in an effort to bury Hayworth in the primary and shifted to the right on immigration and other issues, even shedding the "Maverick" label he once embraced. Hayworth joined CBS News' John Dickerson on "Washington Unplugged" Monday in this week's installment of "Behind the Ballot." The host brought up McCain's latest anti-Hayworth campaign ad tying the former congressman to convicted ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The ad claims "Hayworth received $150,000 from...

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J.D. Hayworth has publicly come out and thrown the Obama Birthers under the proverbial bus while at the same time taking some punchy swipes at his political foe, John McCain, against whom he's running for the senate in Arizona, accusing him of distortion and distraction. Appearing on the O'Reilly Factor, Hayworth personally distanced himself from the Birthers' beliefs by asserting unambiguously and once and for all that he believes Obama was born in Hawaii. Before this stunning Factor admission, Hayworth had appeared as though he was flirting with the Birthers' beliefs, never completely saying he agreed with their message, however...

<p>The former six-term congressman stepped down Friday as host of his conservative talk radio program on a radio station in Phoenix.</p> <p>"We will formally announce at a later time, but we're moving forward to challenge John McCain," Hayworth told the Associated Press. "I think we all respect John. I think his place in history is secure. But after close to a quarter-century in Washington, it's time for him to come home."</p>

Holy smokes! JD is telling us this is his last hour on the air! He is saying he will be heard from again in the public arena.

PHOENIX – Former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth says he's planning to run against John McCain for his U.S. Senate seat. Hayworth told The Associated Press late Friday that he stepped down as host of his radio program on KFYI-AM, a conservative radio talk show in Phoenix. He says he wouldn't have been able to remain host of the program while running against McCain. Hayworth was ousted from his Congressional seat in 2007 after 12 years in office by Democrat Harry Mitchell, and has hosted the radio show for the past few years.

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) was in D.C. Thursday meeting with supporters of a possible primary challenge to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Hayworth, who lost his 5th district seat to Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Ariz.) in 2006, told CQ-Roll Call he was "taking a very, very serious look" at the race but had made no decision. "We're just doing our due diligence," he said. Hayworth was spotted with House Minority Leader John Boehner Thursday but said it was not a scheduled meeting. "I just bumped into John," he explained. He declined to say with whom he formal meetings during his swing...

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) emailed supporters today to say he's considering a primary against John McCain and to ask for funds to pay off his 2006 campaign debt. "You have contacted me with words of encouragement following the release of a Rasmussen Reports Poll which finds me in a statistical dead heat with John McCain for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 2010," Hayworth wrote, referring to this poll. "Miss Mary, our children, and I will do a lot of praying and a lot of talking in the days ahead, as we determine the best course...

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SAN DIEGO – Immigration, a hot-button issue that has dominated headlines in Arizona and nationally over recent years, is fading from the public consciousness amid economic turmoil, Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen said July 30. “Because of what’s going on with the recession, although (immigration) is still important, it’s not nearly as important as the recession,” Pullen said in an interview at the Republican National Committee’s annual summer meeting. “Cap and trade is now even a higher issue in Arizona than is immigration, as well as health care.” . . . . . Pullen, an anti-illegal immigration activist before...

NBC News Transcripts June 19, 2005 Sunday SHOW: Meet the Press 10:00 AM EST NBC MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to Guantanamo. In October--excuse me, December of 2003, "John McCain said he is concerned about the failure to move ahead with prisoners' trials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ...`These cases have to be disposed of one way or another. After keeping someone two years, a decision should be made.'" That was a year and a half ago. It's now been three and a half years. Should we close it? SEN. McCAIN: I don't think necessarily. But I think the important thing...

With Congress's approval rating at record lows, the time is ripe for a slam campaign. Barack Obama won't do it, since his Democratic colleagues are running the joint. But it's a huge opportunity for Mr. McCain, who could play Congress's failings off his promises for reform. Mr. McCain could take encouragement from history. Harry Truman managed a 1948 victory by trashing the "Do Nothing Congress." Upstart Barry Goldwater in 1952 told Arizonans that Majority Leader Ernest McFarland represented the mess in Washington, and snatched the Democrat's seat. Tom Daschle followed McFarland, after being pilloried for turning the Senate into a...

Many conservatives realistic enough to know there will never be "another Reagan" nevertheless wish at least for another Barry Goldwater. They don't realize that we already have one. His name is John McCain. {snip} AS WITH GOLDWATER, so with McCain. Irascible, iconoclastic, sometimes a bit profane, always his own man and nobody else's, McCain is a curmudgeon's curmudgeon -- but still with much to offer his country. We all know, of course, why so many of us are so often so angry with McCain -- his sometimes bizarre heresies from conservatism, his insulting language and hair-trigger temper toward conservatives who...

John McCain's Navy Flight Instructor Weighs In International Politics [This is a DumpMcCain.com/SiaNews.com EXCLUSIVE] May 19, 2008 Greetings! I was John McCain's Navy Flight Instructor --- in formation tactics and air-to-air-gunnery. I could write a book about this man. Suffice to state, I shudder (and I'm fearless) at the nightmare thought of this man becoming our next President and Commander in Chief. I am not alone as to this man's former shipmates, instructors and senior officers --- as to who and what this man is really all about. Although politics is really theater and the best performing actor gets to...

...As we ate near the Days' home in Florida recently, I heard things about Sen. McCain that were deeply moving and politically troubling. Moving because they told me things about him the American people need to know. And troubling because it is clear that Mr. McCain is one of the most private individuals to run for president in history. ...Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I...

Conservatives blast McCain-Kennedy guest worker plan Mike Sunnucks The Business Journal The Business Journal of Phoenix - 1:55 PM MST Thursday Conservative immigration hawks are assailing a new immigration-reform package introduced Thursday by Arizona Sen. John McCain, U.S. Reps. Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe and Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy. The McCain-Kennedy bill includes a guest worker program and pathway towards legal status for illegals already in the U.S. Arizona and national business interests support a guest worker program to license immigrants wishing to work in the U.S. Conservatives oppose anything that smacks of amnesty. That includes proposals put forward in...

Sweeping measures face an uphill fightWASHINGTON – Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate will introduce legislation today that could grant legal status to an estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants now in the United States. The bills, which would dwarf previous programs to provide legal status to foreign workers, would give illegal immigrants work permits and the opportunity to apply for permanent residence and eventually citizenship once they pay a fine and fees. The legislation is certain to raise the temperature of a national debate already simmering over the Minuteman Project's volunteer border patrols and just-passed...