Posted on 07/17/2010 7:38:05 AM PDT by Borax Queen
PHOENIX - By the time the U.S. Senate Republican candidates completed the first question in a live televised debate Friday night, J.D. Hayworth had already blasted incumbent Sen. John McCain for supporting "amnesty" and McCain had mocked Hayworth for his role in a late-night infomercial.
The fast and furious debate in Phoenix also featured tea-party activist Jim Deakin, who said both of his opponents had failed to adhere to a strict reading of the Constitution and both failed to secure the U.S. borders. The primary election is Aug. 24.
With Hayworth lagging in polls and peppered seemingly nightly by ads highlighting his short stint as a lobbyist or as a pitchman for a company advertising free government money, the debate was Hayworth's first chance to gain needed ground.
And he wasn't pulling any rhetorical punches. He repeatedly called McCain a "convenient conservative," attacking the incumbent for a voting record that doesn't match a conservative philosophy - against the George W. Bush tax cuts, supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants and voting to bail out the financial market in the midst of the economic collapse in 2008.
"It's really sad to see John McCain, who should be revered as a statesman, basically reduced to a political shapeshifter," Hayworth said, joking that he wondered if the debate would feature another podium, depending on which McCain showed up.
"John has a record he does not want to run on and that's why he's engaged in this kind of attack ad," Hayworth said, before telling McCain the behavior was "really unbecoming."
McCain, often laughing off the criticisms from his two opponents, said Hayworth was being hypocritical, charging that the former congressman was "one of the big spenders" in Washington during his 12-year congressional career and a fan of earmarks.
During the wide-ranging debate, McCain blasted President Obama for setting a timeline for leaving Afghanistan, saying America needs to stay the course despite the loss of lives until that country has a functioning government. He said he was proud of his ongoing fight against earmarks. He pledged to "repeal and replace Obamacare" and extend the Bush tax cuts. And while he acknowledged his two opponents would fight in D.C., he stressed, "I will lead."
Hayworth said all of McCain's experience didn't save him from being "misled" on the bailout bill that he took such a leadership role on. And while he said he would work across the aisle, he criticized McCain's efforts on bipartisanship.
"The problem is bipartisanship, as defined by John McCain, is conservatives and Republicans caving in to what the left and the Democrats and their cheerleaders in the Washington media want," he said.
After McCain explained he voted against the tax cuts because he didn't believe there would be a commensurate drop in spending to offset them, Hayworth made a point of checking McCain's footwear to see if he was wearing flip-flops.
With Hayworth staking out the hard-line position on immigration throughout his campaign, Hayworth said he supported more troops and infrastructure on the border. He also criticized the "misguided notion of birthright citizenship," saying children of illegal immigrants should not be granted automatic citizenship.
Noting McCain had been calling him a "huckster" of late, Hayworth said, "I can think of no more blatant form of hucksterism than what we're seeing now from John McCain when it comes to the question of amnesty."
McCain countered that he never supported amnesty, which he defined as having no penalty for crossing the border illegally.
In response to a question about whether his ad to "build the danged fence" was a shift from past positions, McCain said after his 2006 comprehensive immigration reform effort failed, he heard the people and determined the border must first be secured. He warned that if drug cartels get a stronger hold, the violence happening in Mexico could spill across the border.
Deakin, for his part, said both of his opponents had failed.
"They both had decades to get our borders secure and get our immigration policy under control," he said.
The bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., don't understand what's happening in Arizona, Deakin said.
"They don't talk to the people. They sit up in their ivory towers and make regulations and pretend that they've done something so they can pat each other on the back," he said. "That is not acceptable."
Hayworth-McCain debate ping.... They did talk a lot about the border last night, a topic that usually seems off-limits in most debates...
Make no mistake;if the back-stabbing prick manages to get re-elected using his wife’s money to buy the election,he’ll be back to his old maverick-ey ways come 2011.
BTT
Hayworth did very well. He smacked McCain upside the head numerous times, yet retained a friendly demeanor overall. I give him an A.
Face it folks. McNut is going to win and return to being the backstabbing McNut we all have grown to hate. This Deakin guy is going to split the conservative vote. Also it doesn’t help matters that Hayworth is coming across as a loon.
“Make no mistake;if the back-stabbing prick manages to get re-elected using his wife’s money to buy the election,he’ll be back to his old maverick-ey ways come 2011.”
The geezer still wants to be president.
I applauded several times, while watching the debate. Especially when I heard that Joe Arpaio was NOT putting his support behind McCain!
(And I loved it when Hayworth looked at McCain’s shoes, and feigned surprise that he wasn’t wearing “FLIP-FLOPS”! LOL!)
Cool. I was just reading the live thread and am glad it went well for JD. I hope he gets some traction now.
” (And I loved it when Hayworth looked at McCain’s shoes, and feigned surprise that he wasn’t wearing “FLIP-FLOPS”! LOL!)”
That was a classic ;-)
For those who missed it
McCain was horrible, with that, "my friends", "You all know the Facts", yea we do and don't call me Friend. He danced around the questions, hem hawed until he figured we all forgot what the question was, then dodged it completely.
Last thing that made me give McCain an F, was when Deakin gave his final talk, McCain condesendingly turned to Deakin and said "you did very well, this being your first time", what a JERK. He just called Deakin a little immature pip squeak, he's cute and tries hard,give him credit for showing up, but not in my(McCain)league.
Even though Deakin stumbled in his final, I can overlook that. He seems very intelligent and being a smart alack snob is not a requirement for the job.
My vote would be for 1. Hayworth, 2. Deakin then there is no #3. lol
This logic slays me: "I can't vote for tax cuts, because there won't be enough spending cuts to match." Huh? One, where's McCain been on pushing spending cuts? He supports friggin' 'cap & trade' for pete's sake. McCain doesn't want spending cuts.
Please, Arizona Republicans, it will send a huge message to dump McCain. Please, we're praying out here, do not give McCain the nomination. Please don't do it.
You do realize that McCain’s constant uttering of the phrase “my friends” is a nod to the illegal immigrant population, don’t you? Tacking the phrase “my friend” onto every discussion is commonplace in the Mexican/Central American culture. Especially when you’re talking to someone who is certainly not your friend.
I just can't stand McCain, and have personally thought for a long time, that when he was a POW and linguering in that prison. I believe in his mind he thought that when he got out, or if he ever got out he would come back to America and do his best to DESTROY the Republican party from within.
Reason: Nixon was president then, and could have stopped it sooner. I think his attitude is nothing more than evil revenge. JMO...
It goes back to what I posted before, it has that patronizing tone to it. In the line of your very sweet, now shut up and go away, I know better attitude.
Is that about it?
Exactly. I recall seeing a Mexican government official being interviewed by Bill O’Reilly a while back and the guy kept adding “my friend” to every other sentence. Finally O’Reilly made a remark along the lines of, “Well, I don’t consider us friends, but...” I think they view it as deferential or respectful in their culture, but to an American, it’s totally patronizing. I get nauseous every time I hear McCain say it. He talks like an old fool who thinks he knows everything and us peons should just submit and shut the hell up.
JD won this debate, period.
Deakin may be a nice guy, but he’s working for McCain, whether he knows it or not. Very unfortunate.
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