VIDEO SHAME: MCCAIN AD ON BORDER ENFORCEMENT

If John McCain is such a hawk on the immigration issue, why is the most recognized immigration enforcement stalwart and sheriff in Arizona - Joe Arpaio - adamantly supporting McCain's opponent, J.D. Hayworth? The answer should be clear. McCain is a political animal and knows how to read the tea leaves being put on the table by the tea party. Prior to sowing up the 2008 presidential nomination, McCain talked tough on immigration because he was going head to head with opponents who were on the right side of the issue.

After securing the nomination, McCain drifted back to his La Raza supporting roots in an obvious attempt to garner hispanic votes. He also supported a path to citizenship in the immigration reform bill that was shot down by the American people in 2007. Now that he's in the battle of his political life with Hayworth, an immigration enforcement advocate, McCain is portraying himself as John "Tough Guy" in this new ad.

This is embarrassing. No, really.



h/t to Hot Air

SCORING MCCAIN VS. HAYWORTH

As the Republican primary in Arizona heats up, both candidates are sure to do their level best to portray the other as less conservative. It's the reason why McCain called Palin for that favor she owed him, getting her to stump for him during this soon-to-be heated primary.

Based on the political landscape, that move may not be enough to put McCain over the top while seriously damaging to Palin who, on an almost daily basis, is pitting herself against the Tea Party movement she is supposed to be championing.

On February 9th, Sheriff Joe Arpaio formally threw his support behind Hayworth. On February 14th, The Hill reported that Joe The Plumber announced that he can no longer support Palin for supporting McCain. Now former Minuteman leader Chris Simcox has dropped out of the race and quickly announced that he too would be supporting Hayworth.

So why is all of this happening? Is Hayworth really more conservative than McCain when you eliminate the latter's recent hard right turn? American Thinker has the analysis:

The most recent online scores from the American Conservative Union are from 2008. In that year, John McCain scored 63 and had a lifetime average of 81.43. (All scores reported here are on a scale of zero to 100, with 100 being perfectly conservative according to the scorer.) His lifetime average put him in 32nd place in the 2008 Senate, or in the top 32%.

J.D. Hayworth's last full year in Congress was 2006. His 2006 ACU score was 96, his 2005 score was 100, and his lifetime average was 97.56. His lifetime average put him in 16th place in the 2006 House, or in the top 4%.

Hayworth should be passing those results around within his campaign and shouting them from the rooftops because the reason we see McCain taking such a right-wing posture these days is obvious - it's what the voters want.

Conversely, McCain will probably do his level best to avoid these kinds of damaging statistics:

Congressmen are also scored by the National Journal. McCain did not have enough votes in either 2007 or 2008 to qualify for a score. In 2006, his composite conservative score was 56.7, putting him in 46th place, or the top 46%. Only nine of 55 Republicans scored lower than McCain, including Arlen Specter, who later joined the Democratic Party, and Lincoln Chafee, who retired from the Senate and endorsed Barack Obama for president. McCain's economic, social, and foreign scores were 64, 46, and 58, respectively. His economic score was 36th-most conservative, his highest ranking in any category that year.

About all he will be able to do when those kinds of black and white figures are thrown at him is say something like, "Yeah, but I got Sarah."

American Thinker also itemizes some of McCain's "accomplishments":

He sponsored McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform, much of which has been ruled unconstitutional. Despite the bill's attempt to limit the influence of moneyed interests in politics, Barack Obama was able to raise three quarters of a billion dollars in his presidential campaign.

He sponsored the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act, which would have capped CO2 emissions at the 2000 level. It lost in the Senate on a vote of 55-43 in 2003. It was reintroduced in 2005, when it lost on a vote of 60-38.

He sponsored the McCain-Kennedy comprehensive immigration bill in 2005. The Senate did not vote on it. Its follow-on bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, was sponsored by Arlen Specter in 2007 and cosponsored by McCain. It failed to pass committee.

He voted in favor of the $850-billion TARP bailout one month prior to the 2008 presidential elections and influenced other Republicans to support it.

Sarah Palin likes to say that politicians need to "stay pure". After reading those, the phrase "Run, Sarah, Run" should mean something entirely different to her.

Read the whole thing.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO MAKING ROBO-CALLS FOR HAYWORTH

None other than Sheriff Joe Arpaio is making robo-calls, inviting people to come out and meet John McCain's biggest headache, J.D. Hayworth, whose campaign doesn't even officially launch until February 15th. Arpaio has been taking on the Feds over immigration for quite some time. It's an underdog story not all that dissimilar from what happened in Honduras, with Roberto Micheletti having to take on the world.

It's also been known for quite some time that Arpaio and McCain don't get along too well, which is not to say the rhetoric doesn't deviate from the cordial realm. That said, actions speak louder than words and Arpaio seems poised to very aggressively back Hayworth. I can only imagine his incentive. When Sheriff Joe was looking for some support from McCain over his enforcement of immigration laws, McCain not only refused to oblige but has historically taken an opposing view, calling for immigration reform and getting in bed with groups like La Raza.

If McCain is good at anything, it's reading the tea leaves and moving to the right, center, or left based on the political climate. He's been silent on the Supreme Court's recent slap down of McCain / Feingold, barely a peep out of him over climate change, and my guess is he's going to talk tough on immigration again, like he did during the 2008 Republican primary (until he won it).

In any even, here's the post on Tuscon Weekly about Arpaio's robo-calls.

As for that dead horse I continue to beat, Sarah Palin agreeing to stump for John McCain in this primary is a big mistake. It very well could play out as Palin v. Arpaio, which is a fight she CANNOT win with the Tea Party movement and it will hurt her badly if it does.

h/t to Free Republic.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO BLASTS JOHN MCCAIN

John McCain's Republican challenger, J.D. Hayworth hasn't even officially announced that he's running - that will happen on February 15th - and the race is already heating up. Joe Arpaio is the underdog sheriff who has been quite the thorn in the side of the Federal government by unapologetically enforcing immigration laws in Maricopa county and has officially endorsed Hayworth while simultaneously blasting McCain's liberal track record.

National Journal reports:

Maricopa Co. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is urging GOPers to shelve Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in favor of ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R), a challenger attacking from the right, in a new letter sent to primary voters.

"Senator McCain has served this country admirably but it's time to replace his moderate or even liberal positions on taxes, the border, social causes and big bank bailouts with a consistent conservative like J.D.," Arpaio writes in the letter. ""I just wish Senator McCain had run as hard against Barack Obama as he is against a conservative like J.D. That could have prevented the harmful, liberal agenda we are all now suffering through."

Yes, he's a divisive figure but Arpaio is likely to garner more support from the rising Tea Party movement than will McCain. Not to beat a dead horse but this very well could put informal Tea Party leader Sarah Palin in the untenable position of being the face of a movement that is likely going to aggressively support the opponent of the candidate she will be stumping for - John McCain.

In opposing Hayworth, Palin will also be opposing illegal immigration enforcer and underdog, Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Palin should have stayed out of this one.

h/t to Hot Air