John McCain Prepares for JD Hayworth

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) will use Sarah Palin and newly-sworn Massaschusetts Senator Scott Brown to shore up a probable bid against J.D. Hayworth for the Arizona Senate seat McCain has held for 22 years.

Governor Palin and the wildly popular Scott Brown will be formidable, not to mention puzzling, but here's hoping the good people of Arizona will listen to Hayworth long enough to weight the issue of illegal immigration as a primary litmus for their state. Immigration will come roaring back in the next two years, and assuming Democrats lose on health care and cap and tax, allowing millions of illegals to join the ranks of legal voters will be strong on their agenda.

J. D. Hayworth, a US Congressman for Arizona's 5th District from 1995 - 2007, is was a popular radio host in Phoenix until McCain complained that he was campaigning for the Senate seat and using radio-waves to do it. Clear Channel took steps to keep Hayworth from speaking about McCain or the mid-term elections in anyway on their station:

Hayworth resigned the show in January, and while he has not formally announce a Senate race, he says he will challenge McCain for the seat.

He said he wasn't serious about running against McCain until a recent "outpouring of support" from Arizonans asking him to run changed his mind.

"Arizonans have a clear choice -- a clear, commonsense, consistent conservative, or they can remain with a moderate who calls himself a maverick," Hayworth said.

Fund-raising will be the biggest challenge for Hayworth. McCain has at least $5 million in the bank already. It will be interesting to see if Hayworth can engage conservatives in the same way Scott Brown did in Massachusetts and as Marco Rubio is doing this minute for the Florida senate seat.

Sarah Palin will appear with McCain in March. In the meantime, Hayworth plans to use McCain's vote AGAINST the Bush tax cuts, his miserable record on illegal aliens, about which McCain swears he has "heard the people," but I don't believe a word of it, and robo calls

Arizona's Republicans deserve a choice and an alternative to Mr. McCain's moderate record on taxes, social issues, the border and bailing out the banks," Mr. Hayworth said in a robo-call his campaign said it would place to tens of thousands of Arizona Republicans.

Even without a formal challenge announcement from Hayworth, McCain is already buying airtime and using it:

...portraying himself as "Arizona's last line of defense" against government spending, bloated bureaucracy and government-run health care.

Once Hayworth begins layout his positions, assuming they are what I think they are, I will donate, and I expect many conservatives around the country will do the same.

Thanks to friend and fellow-watchdog, David Lemon, who has a fascinating video up today. He interviews Joe Red Feather, so-called because he has received the Red (Blood) Feather, "likened to the Purple Heart (which Joe also has from Viet Nam) from the people of his tribe. He explains what it means to be a Red Feather recipient, and the symbolism of a real Native American war bonnet, which David is borrowing to study for his latest masterpiece. Take a look at Clay to Bronze.

Just how conservative is JD Hayworth? Read here.