It’s primary day in the Grand Canyon state tomorrow, and no one’s exactly riveted. All eyes are on a senate Republican primary that’s pretty much sewn up, with incumbent and former-shell-of-himself John McCain a lock against challenger J.D. Hayworth.
In lieu of any horse-rase photo-finish suspense, the press has mostly turned their pens and QWERTYs to McCain, the probable winner who, according to those who’ve been watching him, has had to significantly change his spots to earn that title. You’ll remember no doubt the infamous Newsweek piece back in April in which McCain told David Margolick, “I never considered myself a maverick.” And, Joe Hagan’s New York profile, a psychological assessment of sorts, which included this choice graf summing up McCain’s political switcheroo:
…as panic overtook McCain in early 2010, it would be [advisor Rick] Davis who channeled it into a tactical short game, advising him to co-opt Hayworth’s political turf by tacking into his positions, out-tea-partying Hayworth on immigration. Consequently, McCain’s Arizona tail wagged his Washington dog: McCain would soon reverse or greatly reel in his previous positions on torture, on cap and trade, on gays in the military, and, finally, crucially, on immigration.
The change has worked for McCain, who in late 2009 had a two percent lead over the candidate he now leads by double digits. And on the eve of his likely nomination, reporters are pondering the cost McCain might have paid for his victory. At least, that’s what Politico asks today in a typically forward-looking appraisal of the candidate.
There is the inevitable McCain before-and-after paragraph:
Once the sponsor of comprehensive immigration reform with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy — a stance that hurt him with conservatives — McCain moved in a different direction this year. He switched his emphasis this summer to border security, embraced Arizona’s controversial hard-line immigration law and, in an ad, called on the federal government to “complete the danged fence” — three years after dismissing the notion of a border fence in a Vanity Fair article titled “Prisoner of Conscience.”
And the roundup of McCain’s particularly nasty campaign advertising:
What followed was a barrage of slickly produced ads and oppo hits that blasted and mocked Hayworth for everything from his comments on the president’s citizenship to his role as a pitchman in a shady infomercial to his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Hayworth, who lost his House seat in 2006, acknowledged the fusillade took its toll. “They subjected me to a withering assault, a multimillion dollar smear campaign. It certainly has had an effect,” he said, while still predicting it would backfire.
And then the musings on the McCain legacy:
It’s true that McCain didn’t launch his career as a consensus-building moderate, but rather grew into it as he eyed the White House. Before teaming up with Sen. Joe Lieberman on a bill to cap carbon emissions and supporting funding for embryonic stem cell research, he compiled a reliably conservative record as a House member during the Reagan administration.
“McCain has gone right, left, right,” said Arizona GOP consultant Jason Rose, a former aide to Hayworth. “It has undoubtedly hurt his national reputation, but the irony I believe, is his standing in Arizona has improved. I think Arizona will likely regard him as an impressive, historic figure. Will he be Barry Goldwater? No, but he certainly has to be damn near close.”
The Associated Press spends less time contemplating legacy and more time examining McCain the fighter, a politically savvy and ruthless operative who clawed back to what some polls have said is a forty-five point lead against Hayworth. It’s a solid summary of events up to now, with a solid breakdown of McCain’s $20 million spend to Hayworth’s $2.6 million. But it does at times skew a little maverick-battler for my liking. Take this from the top:
The cast of “Survivor” has nothing on Sen. John McCain…
The massive illegal invasion of the State of Arizona by a alien army of about 500,000 foreign nationals, most from Mexico pose a grave threat to citizens of Arizona and to the United States.
Many of the invaders are taking jobs from American workers and causing unemployment among the working class of whites, legal Hispanic and especially blacks who are struggling to climb the ladder to the middle class and raise their standard of living. The substandard wages paid to the illegals is a form of economy slavery born of greed by employers who do not want the poor Mexican to learn English because they will lose some control over them and would be forced to pay standard wages The hard agricultural work that they do should receive adequate
The children of the illegals use vital resources. They use 29,294 Gal of water per person per year and to educate them it costs the tax payer an estimated at $7.7 billion each year,
The invaders bring with them disease and crime consisting of illegal drugs, home invasions, rape and murder , they are stealing social security numbers, credit cards and the health of citizens, especially the health of our children and they threaten the very foundation of our country. The anchor babies are truly Trojan horse children of illegal aliens.
Legislatures who encourage this invasion should be voted out of office and be tried and convicted of treason. Treason is defined as and act of betraying our constitution, our institutions,, our entire way of life. This is exactly what the amnesty legislatures want to do to the American citizen. What is their motive: For some it it compassion for the poor hardworking Mexican. I can relate to that view, but I an more concerned about my Country, my children and grandchildren. For others, it is the fear of losing t heir Job and the damage to their ego. For other, as time goes by, it will be the vast temptation of the abundance of drug money from across the border. No nation with open borders in today's world will survive. The disease, drugs and corruption of Mexico will destroy our society. But for most legislators it is a desire to sit on the fence and hope the illegals will steal the votes for the democrats, We cannot allow this to happen We must elect men and women who insist on a sane immigration policy and a closed border. If we cannot prevent the invasion across our border then the Taliban who are establishing bases in south American will be coming into our country in large numbers, and this is a part of their plan. A president who can send a large army abroad can and should put troops on our southern border or is guilty of not protecting our Nation and way of life and should be impeached and removed from office.
No Country can survive if it does not control its borders.
If you have any doubt about the objective of Mexico read the words of Mexico's new President Philip Calderon “Mexico does not end at its borders. Wherever there are Mexicans, there is Mexico”
As a young man I remember the German invasion of Europe, the churches and the “good people “ said it was not our battle-peace, When Hitler hauled the Jews of Europe to the gas chambers, it was not our problem. The Catholic church and others wanted the Vatican saved and sold their soul to the devil. Finally when the rockets(remember the V-2's) fell on England we decided to help England.. Better late than never. " Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa declared: "The government of Mexico would like to express its recognition for the determination demonstrated by the federal government of the United States and the actions of the civil organizations that organized lawsuits against the SB 1070 law."
This small number of demonstrators which we experienced were probably illegals, the children of illegals, anchor babies, and “good people” who are uninformed. I prefer to be governed by the ballot box and the law,, not a nois
#1 Posted by William Wright, CJR on Mon 23 Aug 2010 at 10:49 PM
The anti-party national narrative for this election is just not holding up. If anything, real influence is coming, as usual, from special interests on both sides. - http://disenchantedjourno.blogspot.com/2010/08/thought-of-day-never-count-your.html
#2 Posted by Disenchanted Journo, CJR on Tue 24 Aug 2010 at 03:12 PM