Thread: Senator John McCain's re-election bid faces hurdle

Senator John McCain's re-election bid faces hurdle

Updated 14m ago
By John Fritze, USA TODAY

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Sipping beer in a noisy bar outside Phoenix, John "Buck" Hayes and his friend Kermit Thompson represent the rift that has made the Republican primary facing Sen. John McCain one of the country's most watched Senate races.

Hayes, 52, speaks reverentially of the four-term senator, describing him as a "steady fighter" who has the clout in Washington to call things as he sees them. Thompson, 70, a former McCain supporter, counters with this: "He's gotten too liberal for me."

Two years after he beat a crowded field to lead the GOP presidential ticket, the 73-year-old McCain is up against what some say is his toughest re-election battle in years as voters in his home state decide whether they want an experienced maverick or a diehard conservative.

McCain doesn't apologize for occasionally breaking with the GOP, and he scoffs at the suggestion that he has moved to the right on issues such as immigration, campaign finance and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military to woo conservative voters.

"Yes, I have stood up against my own party ... particularly when my own party let spending go completely out of control," McCain said in an interview when asked how he would respond to Thompson. "I know I have to earn the votes, but I'm confident. I will work hard."

Veteran lawmaker has upper hand

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Former Arizona congressman and radio talk show host J.D. Hayworth, who launches his campaign Monday, hopes to capitalize on questions about McCain's ideology as he courts conservatives and tries to tap into the political fervor that fueled GOP wins in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

"The wind is at my back because of the collective frustration of conservatives nationally and in Arizona who feel that John, on key issue after key issue, has gone the wrong way," Hayworth said. In a year in which Republicans are poised to make significant gains in Congress, the Hayworth campaign is part of a pattern of insurgent GOP candidates running against established figures. In Florida, for instance, Gov. Charlie Crist is trying to hold off conservative challenger Marco Rubio for the Senate nomination.

Like McCain, Crist enjoyed a wide lead in polls until early this year. Now those polls show Rubio ahead.

Rodolfo Espino, a political scientist at Arizona State University, said McCain's prominence in the party after two presidential campaigns, along with his $5 million in campaign cash, gives the 27-year veteran lawmaker the upper hand. Still, Espino said, "this has the potential to be the strongest challenge McCain has faced yet."

Although he struggled to energize core Republicans the same way Barack Obama fired up Democrats in the 2008 election, McCain remains a popular figure at home. A Rasmussen Reports poll from Jan. 20 found that 74% of voters had a favorable opinion of the state's senior senator.

At the same time, McCain has become a leading critic of Obama and has kept a busy schedule when back in the Grand Canyon State. Although the August primary is more than six months away, McCain has already run three radio advertisements in Phoenix, including on the AM news station that previously hosted Hayworth's show.

Hayworth, a former journalist who represented central Arizona in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2006, lost his re-election bid to Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell in 2006, partly because of his ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to providing gifts to public officials in exchange for favors.

Hayworth, 51, received campaign money from Abramoff and had use of his sports skyboxes for fundraisers, but the Justice Department never pursued charges, according to The Arizona Republic. Hayworth spokesman Jason Rose noted McCain's own ethics cloud from the 1980s "Keating Five" scandal, in which McCain and four other senators took campaign donations from the head of a failed savings and loan.

As both candidates work to gain support of conservatives, they must also remain mindful of independents, who are allowed to vote in Arizona's primary and who make up nearly one-third of the state's electorate, according to state registration data.

Tea Party could play role

Stumping last week at a GOP club located at a retirement community south of Phoenix, Hayworth focused much of his speech on immigration, telling a packed room that "border security is national security, border security is economic security."

It's not clear how much support Hayworth will have from Tea Party activists, the conservatives who rail against government spending. McCain has the support of Sarah Palin, his 2008 running mate and the recent keynote speaker at a national Tea Party convention. She will campaign for him next month. Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican cheered by conservatives for winning his state's special election last month, also backs McCain.

"They are a significant political force," McCain said of the activists. "How that force gets channeled ... is not yet clear to me."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington ... race_N.htm

""They are a significant political force," McCain said of the activists. "How that force gets channeled ... is not yet clear to me.""



Nothing's been clear to you most of your life.