Free Republic

(snip) ...as McCain again said he supported his former running mate former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. "I haven't seen anyone since Ronald Reagan that with certain individuals and large groups of individuals who really have this passionate belief and support for her," he said, "It's really a remarkable thing to observe." (snip) "I couldn't be more proud of the campaign she waged," he said. "I couldn't be more proud of her or her performance and her continued performance. So, I think, you begin to think about legacy and I think that Sarah Palin will play a very big role in...

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — If John McCain hadn't made it clear before, he's leaving no doubt that the presidency is a dream gone by. Addressing a veterans rally for a Republican Senate candidate in Nashua on Saturday, the Arizona senator was reminiscing about his presidential campaigns in New Hampshire, where he won the Republican primaries in 2000 and 2008. He told the audience of 200 that "this may surprise you, but I will not be running for president again." He promised, though, that he will do everything in his power to make sure New Hampshire maintains its first-in-the-nation presidential primary...

PHOENIX (AP) — John McCain's daughter says in a new book released Tuesday that Sarah Palin brought drama, stress and uncertainty to her father's failed bid for the presidency in 2008, but she doesn't blame the vice presidential nominee for losing the race. (snip) In her book, released by Hyperion, Meghan McCain shows an itch to adopt her father's persona as a "maverick" delivering "straight talk."She calls religious conservatives the "intolerant far right," evoking her father's famous remark a decade ago that GOP religious leaders were "agents of intolerance." The elder McCain has since backed off from those statements. (snip)...

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...

One of the worst presidents in American hostory was elected in 2008. Barak Hussein Obama. Nothing would be sweeter than a rematch in 2012. McCain/Palin would slaughter Obama/Biden in 2012. We would have a bright red map on election day and the dems would be in tears. My mouth waters at the thought of all the furious democrats. They would get to watch just about all of what Hussein did reversed. I'd thoroughly enjoy every minute of it. No more socialist Obamacare and no more socialist agenda. We would go back to the days of individualism and hard work which...

(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...

<p>PHOENIX (AP) - Both were once considered vulnerable but recently have found stronger footing in their Republican primary races.</p> <p>Now, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Gov. Jan Brewer will campaign together at six events in five communities on Friday and Saturday.</p>

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.....

Link to radio clip audio Length of radio clip: 60 seconds Text of radio clip, as follows: PALIN: Hi, this is Sarah Palin. This is the time when conservatives must stand up and fight against the Big Government policies of President Obama and Democrats in Congress. No one is a more forceful leader than my friend, John McCain. Every day John is fighting the President's radical plan to put Washington bureaucrats in charge of your health care. It's John McCain who is fighting for transparency and against backroom sweetheart deals. If we have a chance to stop the Democrats in...

John McCain's campaign claimed the Arizona senator couldn't pick one of his former fundraisers — now headed to jail — out of a lineup. But new video unearthed by the campaign of his Republican primary challenger, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, shows McCain standing next to convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein at events during McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. The 4-minute video captures McCain at a pair of events with Rothstein, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison in June after confessing to running a $1.2 billion fraud operation. Rothstein showers McCain with praise during both events, and at one point...

haven’t been keeping score, but my sense has been that National Review stays out of Republican congressional primary races, at least most of the time. This is a good thing. It reflects an ethos focused on the strategic direction of the conservative movement rather than tactical politics. It underscores that issues are more critical to us than personalities. As a practical matter, moreover, it avoids diminishing the magazine’s prestige. A candidate who wins despite NR’s endorsement of his opponent could become hostile — and less open to our ideas — especially because he knows NR’s endorsement of the other guy...

Link only, per FR posting rules

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.”

TUCSON, AZ (KGUN - TV) - Arizona Senator John McCain now says soldiers sent to the border should be armed. This revelation comes one day after Senate democrats shot down McCain's border plan to send 6,000 soldiers to the border. At a town hall meeting in Tucson, McCain first told 60 of his supporters in attendance that President Obama's plan to send 1,200 soldiers would not work because the soldiers would only be assigned to "desk jobs." (snip) Nunez asked: "What do you say to the those who accuse you of throwing out numbers, sending 6,000 troops to the border,...

Link only, per FR posting rules (image is a Getty image - do not repost)

From ABC News... (snip) "McCain was supportive of the Dream Act in the past... we saw him as a champion in some ways, and we hope that comes back," said Abdollahi. Now the next paragraph is the money paragraph and I certainly hope Arizona voters are paying attention. McCain has been on all sides of this issue and now that he is facing reelection he is trying to convince voters that he will protect the borders. Let's see what he says when under pressure from the left. A McCain spokesperson told ABC News the senator will support the so-called "Dream...

Arizona Republicans say GOP Sen. John McCain’s recent staff shake-up is an acknowledgment of the seriousness of his Aug. 24 primary challenge — a contest in which he remains a clear — but nervous — front-runner. While recent polls have shown McCain with a double-digit lead over former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, in an election year in which one Senate incumbent has already been taken down and several others are facing stiff primary opposition, the departure of two top campaign officials — campaign manager Shiree Verdone and deputy manager Mike Hellon — is being viewed as proof that McCain recognizes that...

PHOENIX - The "danged fence" ad is giving John McCain some danged problems. Senator McCain made the ad to tout his border security plan but instead, it has forced him to defend himself against accusations of flip-flopping on the issue. Seeking a 5th term in the U.S. Senate, McCain has made immigration the core of his re-election campaign. "The whole issue can be resolved by securing the border and then moving forward with comprehensive immigration reform. But if you don't secure the border then you just have continuous flow," McCain told FOX 10. But in 2006, McCain took a much...

It almost seems like a political tradition: the great John McCain campaign-staff shake-up. As the Arizona Republic's Dan Nowicki first reported Sunday, the top two staffers in McCain's Senate re-election effort — campaign manager Shiree Verdone and her deputy, Mike Hellon — have decamped. The two will work for the Arizona Republican Party, overseeing strategy for a "victory" fundraising effort for statewide candidates, including McCain. The move comes on the heels of a recent TV ad meant to tout McCain's border security credentials, including a push for a stronger fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Complete the danged fence," McCain says...

Link only, per FR posting rules