Free Republic

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sen. John McCain hasn't always talked tough on immigration. That haunted his presidential ambitions, and now his political survival hinges on whether he can show that his conversion is genuine. It hasn't been easy. Boycotts, vigils and a legal fight over the state's attempted crackdown on illegal immigrants have kept voters attuned to each nuance in his run for re-election. "Since 2007, I've said we have to secure the border first. I said it in 2008 and 2009 and 2010," McCain told 120 people at a town hall meeting in suburban Phoenix. Leaning against the back wall...

Labor unions oppose the Arizona immigration law because some of them want to legalize then recruit illegals into their ranks, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday. McCain specifically mentioned the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as one union that wants to engage in the practice since it represents many people who work in the tourism industry, which he said employs many illegal immigrants. "They want to have them declared legal to recruit them into unions,” he said in an appearance on the conservative Michael Medved radio show.

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Senator John McCain's camp is apologizing to Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada for an ad running featuring Estrada's name. Sheriff Estrada has come out saying he does not support the senator. McCain's ad features several Arizona sheriff's taking his side. Towards the middle of the ad you see Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada's name scroll along the bottom. "I thought it was a mistake. They shouldn't have had that name in there and I did talk to some of the aids for senator McCain and I set the record straight on that I am not...

McCain calls Hayworth a "pig." He desperately defends his flip-flops and record of voting for the billion dollar pork TARP bailouts which included $150 billion in earmarks, co-sponsoring amnesty with Ted Kennedy and cap and trade legislation with Joe Lieberman, and voting against tax cuts twice. Hayworth easily proves that he is much more conservative than McCain on the very things McCain has been attacking him on – pork and earmarks. In their second, and likely final, Senate primary debate, JD Hayworth again easily defeated John McCain. McCain avoided discussing real issues, where he has a record of flip-flopping in...

It was apparent last night why McCain has only agreed to participate in two Senate debates with JD Hayworth, because of the awkwardness attempting to explain his flip-flopping back to the right now that it is an election year. Both debates between the two candidates are taking place well into the primary, after McCain has had months to spend $6 million in smear attack ads against JD. $5 million of that was leftover from prior campaigning, including $1.1 million from convicted Ponzi scheme criminal Scott Rothstein - the top contributor to two of his 2008 presidential campaign funds. Unlike other...

PHOENIX - In the race for U.S. Senate, J.D. Hayworth is accusing John McCain of flip-flopping on the issue of illegal immigration. Does McCain want border security or a path to citizenship for illegals -- or both? McCain once championed comprehensive immigration reform that would allow people here illegally a path to citizenship. "The present situation with broken borders and 11 million people that are in America without citizenship is unacceptable," he said on the campaign trail. Now McCain says border security must come first before tackling what to do with the 12 million illegals already living in the u.s.....

Arizona Sen. John McCain has a message for illegal residents of his state: Go back where you came from. McCain, who has been veering right to try and win his Republican Senate primary against conservative former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, said on Tuesday that he supports immigration reform that would deport those living in the country illegally. "No amnesty. Many of them need to be sent back," McCain said during an interview on KQTH-FM in Tucson, Ariz. when describing how he would deal with illegal U.S. residents. McCain said he supported reform that would create a guest worker program, but was...

In an EXCLUSIVE interview on “This Week,” Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., invited President Obama to the Arizona border. “[Sen.] Jon Kyl and I invite the President to come to the Arizona Sonora border. The violence is incredibly high,” McCain said. “The human smuggling and drug cartels are at a level of violence where 23,000 Mexican citizens have been murdered in the last few years. … There is a level of violence which has increased to a significant degree which makes the situation far different than it was in 2007,” he said. “We have to secure the borders,” McCain said. “We...

(snip) MR. GREGORY: Is immigration reform in a comprehensive way possible this year or in this term?SEN. McCAIN: Not until we get the borders secure. By the way, on that issue, why is it that Phoenix, Arizona, is the number two kidnapping capital of the world? Does that mean our border's safe? Of course not. Why is it that the police chief in Nogales reported that his police officers are being told they're going to be murdered by the drug cartels on the other side of the border? The, the rise of violence and the influence of the drug cartels...

PHOENIX (AP) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain says he disagrees with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's statements that most people crossing the U.S. southern border illegally are smuggling drugs, but he thinks she is doing a good job of standing up for her state. Brewer has said the motivation of "a lot" of the illegal immigrants is to enter the United States to look for work, but that drug rings press them into duty as drug "mules."

It appears the Senate campaign of J. D. Hayworth has hit a bump in the road. A big one: Republican Senate challenger J. D. Hayworth appeared in a 2007 television infomercial in which he helped convince viewers that they could rake in big bucks by attending seminars that would teach them how to apply for federal grants that they wouldn’t have to pay back. National Grants Conferences, the Florida-based company that hosted the classes and produced the informercial, has faced criticism from multiple state attorneys general and Better Business Bureaus. Hayworth, a former Arizona congressman who is running against incumbent...

LAS — More of everything. That’s what Arizona Republican U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl said is needed to secure the U.S.-Mexican border. They spoke after touring parts of the border near Douglas with area law enforcement leaders on Saturday. “A tremendous amount of progress has been made, but as we also heard when we said, ‘What do you need?’ the answer was essentially more of everything,” Kyl said. When the senators visited the same stretch several years ago, none of the fencing had been constructed and many of the cameras and lights were not in place. Kyl pointed...

I'm a conservative Republican on over 9 out of 10 issues. I'm for almost everything conservatives and Republicans are for. However, SB1070 is a terrible bill. We need McCain's comprehensive immigration reform. The immigrants help many companies which in turn help the US economy. The bill does nothing but make people angry at each other. I also support McCain over Hayworth in the AZ senate race. We can't risk losing that seat to a Democrat if we except to pick up both houses in November.

PHOENIX - The battle to get additional troops onto the U.S. border with Mexico has yielded few results despite state and national pledges to do something about it. Senator John McCain is pushing for 6,000 National Guard troops on the border, but can he pull that off in this election year? 3TV's Mike Watkiss asked him about it.

Sen. John McCain will debate GOP rival J.D. Hayworth this summer, his campaign spokesman said Wednesday. Brian Rogers, McCain’s campaign communications director, said a newspaper report indicating McCain was “busy with his job as a senator” and would not debate Hayworth was “not accurate.” “What we said all along is that Sen. McCain will obviously debate — he’s always debated,” Rogers said, adding, but “he has a day job. Folks want him doing his job during the week, so he doesn’t have, unlike Congressman Hayworth, unlimited time on his hands.” Hayworth, who served 12 years in the House before he...

Those who are familiar with this site will recall that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been on the Seeing Red AZ blogroll since the inception of this website in June 2007. Take a good hard look, because the link will soon be coming down. Yesterday we posted the endorsements U.S. Senate candidate J. D. Hayworth received from former NRA President Bob Corbin and from theGun Owners of America. Yet the NRA, which has previously referred to John McCain as “one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the second amendment,” inexplicably gave McCain their endorsement. In endorsing...

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) – When he ran for U.S. president two years ago, Republican John McCain told town hall meetings across the United States that illegal immigrants were "all God's children." But at a church hall in Tucson last weekend, he spoke up for a tough new Arizona law that seeks to drive those undocumented busboys and landscapers from the desert state where he is battling to hold on to his U.S. Senate seat. "The polls show 60, 70, 80 percent of the American people support Arizonans saying 'secure our borders,'" McCain said to a clatter of applause. Arizona's migrant...

PHOENIX (AP) — The National Rifle Association has endorsed John McCain in Arizona's Republican Senate primary.

Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer reiterated her support for Arizona’s senior Sen. John McCain yesterday. Brewer, who in February endorsed McCain in his primary battle against Rep. J.D. Hayworth, told Fox’ Greta Van Susteren that the race is tough. “It's interesting. Sen. McCain, of course, has represented the state of Arizona for a long time. And J.D. Hayworth has served in Congress for eight years,” the governor said. “I believe philosophically, they're different breeds of politicians. And people will just have to make that decision. I've known Sen. McCain for a long time, and I think he's served Arizona well.”

While corporations, non-profit organizations, and neighboring communities bicker and boycott over Arizona’s tough new anti-illegal immigration law, the two Republicans locked in a bitter U.S. Senate primary agree the law is fine. And that’s where the agreement stops. After four terms in the U.S. Senate, a presidential campaign in 2000, capped by the GOP nomination in 2008, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., faces a serious challenge from J.D. Hayworth a former sportscaster turned six-term firebrand congressman from the Hill class of 94’, to conservative radio talk show host. Make no mistake, McCain still leads the polls comfortably. Real Clear Politics gives...