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Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., countering a stinging political attack by President Obama on Monday that Republicans, led by President George W. Bush, are to blame for the recession having driven America's economic car into the proverbial ditch, told reporters Tuesday, "George Bush looks like a piker compared to what has taken place since President Obama has come into the presidency. He can keep 'B.I.O.B.' no matter what it is, 'Blame it on Bush' - he can keep that up. The American people are going to hold him accountable this November, not an administration that went out of power more than...

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.....

PHOENIX -- On Friday, July 16, Sen. John McCain, former U.S. Congressman J.D. Hayworth and conservative hopeful Jim Deakin will face off. The three candidates are vying for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by McCain. The debate will take place at KTVK-3TV Studios in Phoenix at 7 p.m and will be simulcast on KTTU in Tucson and azfamily.com. Azfamily.com will also host another live forum giving viewers the opportunity to share their comments and thoughts on the debate in real time as the debate is going on. Another debate is scheduled for July 21 in...

As Sen. John McCain assumes the GOP front-runner mantle, his long-standing, but little-noticed association with donors such as George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry is receiving new attention among his Republican critics. In 2001, McCain founded the Alexandria, Va.-based Reform Institute as a vehicle to receive funding from George Soros' Open Society Institute and Teresa Heinz Kerry's Tides Foundation and several other prominent non-profit organizations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One Republican senator lost his job because he voted for the 2008 bank bailout. Two other GOP lawmakers may be next. Former President George W. Bush's lifeline to financial institutions is roiling GOP primaries, with Republicans who reluctantly supported it facing the ire of conservatives furious about budget-busting spending and tea partiers grousing that Wall Street came before Main Street. Economists credit the bailout with staving off deeper economic turmoil. Banks have paid back much of the money — plus interest. And GOP lawmakers were being loyal Republicans in following the wishes of their president. Yet some...

Sen. John McCain must personally and publicly explain why he allowed his staff to lie to the media about returning all $1.1 million given to his presidential campaign by a convicted felon; if he accepted even more from the felon's law partners; and why he has not donated all the dirty money to charity as his campaign claimed. Federal authorities have been investigating 30 lawyers who worked in the now-defunct firm of Scott Rothstein, who yesterday was sentenced to 50 years in prison for running an elaborate Ponzi scheme. According to his lawyer and media reports, the convicted felon is...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain says Arizona had to pass a tough immigration law because the Obama administration has failed to "secure our borders." The Arizona Republican called the situation in his state "the worst I've ever seen," saying ineffective border enforcement has resulted in drugs pouring into the southwestern United States from Mexico.

(snip) Hayward should turn the tables on McCain. You see, aside from Obama, no one is more to blame for the continuing controversy over the missing birth certificate and the eligibility issue than is … John McCain. In fact, you could easily call John McCain "the father of the birther movement," or "the author of the birther movement." Why? Because McCain did something very strange during the 2008 campaign. When the press and obviously partisan groups like FactCheck.org and even McCain's colleagues in Congress raised questions about his constitutional eligibility to become president as a "natural born citizen," McCain quietly...

Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign is attacking former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) again for being a "birther." A new Web video from McCain's campaign casts Hayworth as a loony right-winger who suggests the president was born in Kenya and thinks gay marriage will lead to marriage between men and horses. "I've committed to exposing the secret Kenyan brithplace of the president of the United States," the fake Hayworth says. "Second, I've stood up against the grave threat of man-horse marriage." The video is a parody of a Hayworth ad, pretending to promote the candidate's positions on those issues. McCain has...

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) tells National Review Online that Democrats have attempted to “marginalize” tea-party groups during the health-care fight because “they are scared to death of them. There is nothing politicians fear more than the unknown.” And in an Obamacare world, McCain predicts that the movement against the administration’s “extreme liberalism” will be “an influential factor” in this year’s elections. McCain gives credit to Sarah Palin, his former running mate, for her efforts in stirring up opposition outside of the legislative arena. “I think Sarah is a very important influence on the American political scene,” he says. “She’s...

Campaign staff and volunteers of Sen. John McCain and his former vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin are preparing for the pair’s appearance at Mesa’s Dobson High School on Saturday. A spokesman for the camp offered a bit of advice for those wanting to get in: “Folks should get there early,” said Brian Rogers, McCain’s communications director.The event is free, on a first-come, first-served basis and does not require a ticket. (snip) Also speaking at a rally in Tucson on Friday, the appearances are McCain and Palin’s first ones together at a public event since their concession speech in the...

U.S. Sen. John McCain said it’s too early to know whether Republicans will seize control of Congress this fall or if voters will retire President Barack Obama after one term. But the 2008 Republican presidential nominee said the federal spending excesses of his own party turned too many fiscal conservatives into independent voters. “A lot of voters are becoming independents,” McCain, a two-time New Hampshire presidential primary winner, said Friday. “We blew a lot of opportunity during the Bush years in failing to show that we were fiscally responsible.“We paid a price for it, and still haven’t been able to...

Sen. John McCain's campaign is calling on his primary challenger to disavow the backing of an anti-illegal immigration group that permits the use of terms such as "wetbacks" and "pepper bellies" – derisive epithets sometimes used for immigrants – on its website. "Let's be clear: Congressman [J.D.] Hayworth's continued flirtation with extreme groups that condone racism only opens the door for liberals to falsely paint all opponents of illegal immigration as bigots. Congressman Hayworth should immediately disavow this group’s support and commit to never again associating himself with groups that accept this kind of hateful and counterproductive rhetoric," McCain campaign...

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Until last night, when I watched the Republican debate, I had no idea how much John McCain dislikes me and just about everybody else but Rudy Giuliani, who if you believe The New York Times is a pretty good hater himself. As I watched McCain and Governor Romney go at it during the debate at the Reagan Library I was struck by the huge gap that separates McCain -- whose contempt for his fellow humans is patently obvious -- and my dad, Ronald Reagan, who had nothing but the deepest affection and respect for the American people. The feeling is...

President Barack Obama's savvy use of technology during the 2008 campaign helped pave the way to the White House, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) acknowledged during an interview with The Hill. When asked what Obama did right on the campaign trail that he wished he had done, McCain said, "I think President Obama did many things right. I think one was that he's an incredibly articulate speaker, and motivational, and I think that was extremely helpful to him, not only in the general election but in his primary."

Obama talking down to McCain at the Health Care Summit: ""Let me make this point, John, because we're not campaigning anymore, the election is over"...Obama is clearly annoyed today...good...

Presidential nominee in 2008 faces GOP primary fight. BY JOSEPH WEBER Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, Arizona Republican, said in an interview Monday that his planned primary challenge to Sen. John McCain will portray the four-term incumbent as a not-so-conservative Republican who has "enabled" President Obama and his failed economic and security policies. "I'm giving Arizona Republicans a clear choice between a consistent, common-sense conservative . . . or someone who describes himself as a maverick but is a moderate," the outspoken Mr. Hayworth told The Washington Times' "America's Morning News" radio show. Mr. Hayworth, 51, quit his job Friday as...

Depictions ‘took place entirely in her imagination,’ says Wallace. NBC NEWS and NEWS SERVICES NEW YORK - Former McCain campaign senior adviser Nicolle Wallace says Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue" is "based on fabrications," and that the basis for Palin’s depictions of her and former McCain campaign director Steve Schmidt as villains "took place entirely in her imagination." In a statement to The Rachel Maddow Show, the former McCain spokesperson repeatedly used the word "fiction" to describe Palin's narrative and echoed criticisms by other former McCain staffers. "She [Palin] probably has a legitimate complaint that things could have been better...

<p>In her new book, according to the Associated Press, Sarah Palin alleges that the McCain campaign gave her a $500,000 bill to pay for the campaign vetting her for the VP nod. She also makes the charge that the McCain camp said they would have paid all the bills had they won, but since they lost, the bills were her responsibility.</p>