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PHOENIX, Arizona (AFP) — Senator John McCain appears set to romp home in Arizona's Republican primary, but only after tacking right and spending millions of dollars to counter a threat from a former conservative radio show host. Voters also head to the polls Tuesday for primary elections in Florida, Vermont and Alaska and results are being closely watched as a litmus test of the anti-incumbent mood in the run up to mid-term elections in November. Results such as Arizona may predict whether insurgent candidates, especially Republicans backed by staunchly anti-government Tea Party groups, will continue to make advances over those...

Results TBD 08/24/2010 Late PM PDT/MST.

Sen. John McCain has raised and spent better than $21 million in advance of tomorrow's primary fight against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, a massive amount of money that has helped to ensure that the Arizona Republican will win easily. McCain's eye-popping spending -- putting aside self-funders he has spent the most money of any Senate candidate this cycle --is the most obvious evidence of the threat that the 2008 Republican presidential nominee perceived in Hayworth -- a six term Congressman who lost a re-election bid in 2006. McCain spent millions (and millions) on television ads aimed at blocking Hayworth from...

Sen. John McCain may have a comfortable lead over J.D. Hayworth going into Tuesday's Arizona Republican Senate primary, but he didn't get there without a fight. McCain spent $21 million in an effort to bury Hayworth in the primary and shifted to the right on immigration and other issues, even shedding the "Maverick" label he once embraced. Hayworth joined CBS News' John Dickerson on "Washington Unplugged" Monday in this week's installment of "Behind the Ballot." The host brought up McCain's latest anti-Hayworth campaign ad tying the former congressman to convicted ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The ad claims "Hayworth received $150,000 from...

A Senator’s journey from bipartisan maverick to right-wing ideologue—one flip-flop at a time. In theory, John McCain's right-wing madness could come to an end on Tuesday, when he is expected to prevail over former Rep. JD Hayworth in Arizona’s Senate primary. Faced with a stiff conservative challenge, McCain has spent this election cycle defying many of his long-held moderate positions. In fact, his transformation from aisle-crossing, party-bucking maverick (see this 1998 Mother Jones interview) to cookie-cutter conservative has been years in the making. During his 2008 presidential bid, he began to lurch rightward on a litany of issues in his...

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John McCain holds a comfortable lead in the contentious Arizona Republican Senate primary, according to the most recent public polling, making him the strong favorite against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth on Tuesday. But it’s been a costly road to a fifth term for the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, and the experience is likely to leave a lasting and unsightly stain on his legacy. It’s not just the $20 million he’s spent already this election or the scorched earth campaign that he’s run. Rather, it’s the choices he’s made and the positions he’s embraced — and what it reveals about him...

OK, so before I get started I have to tell everyone here that JD Hayworth reads what we post here. And he REMEMBERS! LOL! I am a JD supporter, and several months ago when I met him for the first time, he told me he likes to come here to FreeRepublic and read what we have to say. I was going to have him come here, but I never followed through, which was my fault. However, I have been hard on him in recent weeks. I have to say that because Mohave County, where I live, is so conservative, conservative...

Sen. John McCain was once one of the major Republican supporters of immigration reform, arguing for comprehensive legislation as recently as 2008. Faced with accusations of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants, McCain has moved to a much tougher immigration stance during his Republican primary. But after the primary vote next Tuesday, will the old McCain come back? The winner of the GOP primary in Arizona is likely to have a straight shot to the Senate seat, NPR reported yesterday. But first McCain must beat opponent J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman who has attacked McCain for his previous support of immigration...

In five days, Arizonan Republicans elect their candidate for the U.S. Senate, and the stakes could not be higher. McCain is the Official #1 RINO for his long and storied history of Progressive Positions and Policies. Since Sen. McCain resides at #1 on the RINO Top Ten, the staff here at RINOList.org have decided to Live Chat the election coverage the whole day on the 24th! Come to the front page on the 24th after 8 am, and click the Election HQ to get sent to the Chat Page. Join us all day as we watch eagerly for the election...

Next week, Arizona voters have a chance to do something really important for the Republican Party. Eliminate a key RINO (Republican in Name Only) and clean out some deadwood in the United States Senate. John McCain has been a major stumbling block for conservatives for decades. In an interview with Glenn Beck, Rick Santorum said this about his former colleague: "On almost every major domestic policy issue that I dealt with over the last six years anyway when I was in leadership of the Senate, John McCain was not just on the other side ... (he was) condemning people who...

Link only: http://tucsoncitizen.com/the-cholla-jumps/2010/08/17/jd-hayworth-will-be-the-finest-us-senator-from-arizona-in-our-era/

(CNN) - At a Tea Party rally Sunday on the U.S.-Mexico border in support of tough immigration laws, Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth slammed his opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and turned McCain's words back on the veteran senator. On a ranch in Hereford, Arizona, and with the border fence visible several hundred yards behind him, Hayworth also praised Arizona's new immigration law that was signed by the state's governor, who has spent the last two days campaigning with McCain. Pulling a word from a McCain letter on immigration which first surfaced in April, Hayworth said it was time to...

Barbara "Hair on Fire" Espinosa of Scottsdale, AZ is down on the border today along with some 500 other Arizona citizens, at a Tea Party rally in support of Arizona's SB 1070 Immigration Law. Barbara is on private property, just west of Naco, and described her position as about 100 feet from the border fence. She says, "Right across from the border fence where we are, the property belongs to the drug cartel and the area is used to transport drugs and humans into the United States. Senate candidate JD Hayworth is there and has been talking to the ranchers...

In a rapid turnaround trying to capitalize on a J.D Hayworth comment at a tea party rally earlier this week, U.S. Sen. John McCain released a new web video drumming Hayworth for reportedly preferring President Obama to the Republican incumbent senator. The video begins with a picture of President Obama and lists a litany of criticisms, from the 9.5 percent unemployment rate, to the $13 trillion national debt and the lawsuit against Arizona’s immigration law. The text interrupts with, “but J.D. says he’d rather have Barack Obama as president.”

GREEN VALLEY, Ariz. — Times are strange for a recovering maverick. "You've been the first one who's run across the aisle," a woman seated in front of Sen. John McCain said accusingly. "Do you have a question?" he snapped. "Do you have a question, really?" "How can we believe you now if in the past you were so different?" The question could have come from any of the 150 people who filled a rec center in this retirement community 30 minutes south of Tucson. Even among loyalists, it looms. Who is the real John McCain? The 2008 Republican presidential nominee...

O'REILLY: Why don't you do the culture warrior stuff? BECK: Because honestly, right now, I mean, the one part of culture that I am doing a lot of is faith. But general faith. We have got to get back to our churches, our synagogues, our mosques, whatever it is, as long as it's not telling to you blow things up. Get back to God and get back to the Founding Fathers. O'REILLY:. But let's take the gay marriage deal. You know, big ruling in California. You really didn't cover that much, right? O'REILLY: Why? BECK: Because honestly, I think we...

SIERRA VISTA — A Border Tea Party Rally will be held close to the fence separating the U.S. from Mexico. The Sunday event on private property will be from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a stage 60 feet from the border. A number of speakers will talk about border security, including Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose roundups of illegal immigrants have angered civil rights groups. Also scheduled to speak is Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce, one of the architects of Senate Bill 1070 calling for Arizona law enforcement agencies to question individuals...

Time: August 15 · 9:00am - 2:30pmLocation: Cochise County, AZ Ranch, 1720 S Border Monument Rd., Hereford, AZ Sponsor: Stand With Arizona (and Against Illegal Immigration) United We Stand For Americans, The Patriot Caucus, and the American Border Patrol will be hosting the first Arizona Border Tea Party Rally known as the “United Border Coalition." The Rally’s purpose is to show support for Arizona and its rights to enforce the ‘Immigration Laws’ that the Federal Government won’t. SB1070 is a common sense law that enables Arizona to enforce federal law on illegal immigration. The United Border Coalition Tea Party will...

"Tea party" groups are planning a large rally on Sunday in Arizona, near the Mexican border, to support both the state's hard-line stance on illegal immigration and the political campaign of the local talk show host who is challenging Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Candidate J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman turned conservative radio commentator, is one of dozens of scheduled speakers for the morning rally on a remote ranch about 100 miles south of Tucson. Others include Sharron Angle, the Republican challenging Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), and Sue Krentz, the wife of a rancher killed near the rally...