McCain gains grudging approval

Aug 1, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Star

Rhonda Bodfield

Aug. 1, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain was having a great Saturday.

Organizers had to keep fetching new chairs for the ballroom at the Hilton El Conquistador as the crowd topped out at about 300 for a Tucson town hall last weekend.

Sen. Jon Kyl, who has been using his conservative bona fides to campaign for his seatmate all over the state, warmed up the crowd with amusing anecdotes about his colleague's scrappy nature.

And the standing ovation McCain received upon arrival was far different from the skeptical reception that greeted him in early campaign events -- such as the SaddleBrooke town hall this winter when one attendee suggested he watch Kyl and just vote how he does.

But still came the inevitable question that has dogged him at many a town hall.

Laurie Cuoco stood up and acknowledged she was still undecided in the August primary battle, which pits the man who was nearly president against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth and tea party activist Jim Deakin.

"I felt when we needed it most, during the presidential election, that you didn't fight the way you're fighting now," Cuoco said, as some heads in the audience nodded in agreement. "And I feel very let down by it."

McCain paused a moment. After saying he respected her opinion and trusted her to draw her own conclusions, he said he worked "20 hours a day, seven days a week, for a long, long time" as hard as he could. The crowd broke out in applause.

Next question: Border. Again.

And so it goes for the man who once bucked the party line, but who is now the go-to GOP caucus spokesman for all that ails the Obama agenda. And if you listen to McCain, there's a lot not to like about what's going on. He is fond of saying the administration has adopted spending habits that are stealing the future of America's grandchildren, while its policies are trending toward European-style socialism.

McCain's been making stops in small towns, dumping an unprecedented $16 million into the race and relying on core players from his presidential race. He brought Sarah Palin, Scott Brown and Mitt Romney to make the rounds with him. It's an urgency that shows he knows he needs to shore up support among a grumpy electorate sick of incumbents.

Consider Bruce Robertson, a plain-spoken, 74-year-old retired salesman who came to the town hall from Oracle to see what McCain had to say. "Washington needs to vomit," he said. "Anybody who's been in Washington more than six years ought to be voted out."

Still, there are indications McCain's strategy has been paying off, with polls consistently showing a comfortable lead.

Melvin Overholt, a 67-year-old veteran, said he wasn't happy with some of McCain's positions in the past, saying he didn't fit with the conservative agenda. But he said he's likely to vote for him this time around anyway. "It sounds like he knows what the people want. And I give him credit for responding to that," he said.

Charles Glickman, 81, sounded a similar note. "I was upset with him, but I think he's coming around," he said, adding he's satisfied McCain understands the need to secure the border.

That acquiescence is not good news for Hayworth, who was under McCain's skin long before he ever became his official challenger. In the runup to the race, the 12-year congressman taunted McCain on his Phoenix talk radio show. And in January, when the Republicans had their state convention in a Phoenix auditorium, a handful of Hayworth supporters started chanting, "J.D." when McCain got up to speak.

Hayworth, a large man who had been tucked into a seat in the back, decided at that moment to take a stroll up and down the wide aisles, greeting supporters and generally causing a stir.

The theatricality of the moment was classic Hayworth, who was swept into office in 1994 as part of the Contract with America movement. But the guy who encapsulated a booming sort of Everyman -- he famously slept in his office instead of getting a D.C. apartment -- got caught up in the scandal that sent disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to jail.

Hayworth, who used Abramoff's skyboxes for fundraisers, was never charged after a Justice investigation but was drummed out of office by voters, who installed Democrat Harry Mitchell in a district that tilts Republican by registration.

Hayworth, adopting the mantle of immigration hard-liner, has been trying to beat McCain with an amnesty stick, while tapping into anger some in the party feel about the incumbent's work with high-profile Democrats on issues from immigration to global warming.

He's been reminding voters in small events all across the state about McCain's opposition to the Bush tax cuts, that he'd voted for the bank bailout, that he opposed drilling in the Alaska wildlife refuge and that he was the author of a campaign-finance law critics said chilled First Amendment rights of interest groups like the National Rifle Association (which turned around and endorsed McCain anyway).

Hayworth likes to call McCain "a national treasure" who has become too enmeshed in D.C., and said he was urged to run by "scores of conservatives" who wanted a change.

Maricopa County Republican Party Chairman Rob Haney is one of those who was itching for a Hayworth bid.

While Hayworth is consistently conservative, he said, McCain consistently "sides with the Dem-ocrats and the liberals and the socialists." Haney said McCain has no core beliefs -- "He just flips and flops to whatever prevailing sentiment is out there that will get him more votes."

He said he wouldn't even want to sit down with McCain to hash over the issues. "I couldn't believe anything McCain would tell me."

As for Deakin, Haney said, he has "no money, no stature, no record to run on" and should have started with a far lower office.

Fred Solop, chairman of the political science department at Northern Arizona University, said he always felt McCain had an edge going into the race, given that he wasn't just any incumbent, but the recent presidential nominee with a lot of cash to burn. Even so, he expected Hayworth to have more traction than he's shown so far.

"Hayworth is a fine candidate," Solop said. He's well-spoken, and voters know him from Congress and his radio show. He had credentials on immigration and some well-known supporters, as well as being an aggressive campaigner. "He had all the pieces put together to run a substantial campaign."

Solop said the turning point in the race was the unearthing of an infomercial in which Hayworth pitches free government money. "He lost a lot of legitimacy at that moment. You can't have someone calling for fiscal restraint urging people to get more money from the government."

On the other hand, Solop said Hayworth is right about McCain's swerve to the right. "It is hard to know which John McCain we're talking about in any given moment," he said. Whether it's hypocritical or not, Solop said it's smart strategy since Republican primary voters are more conservative than the general electorate.

Deb Gullett, a former lawmaker and McCain's former chief of staff, takes issue with the "shape-shifter" criticism. "It's preposterous to suggest John McCain isn't now and hasn't always been a conservative," she said. And even if any positions shifted along the way, she said, "Over the course of 30 years we have every expectation that our leaders ought to change as the circumstances change."

Deakin, whose campaign is running on a shoestring, has urged voters to support him, largely staying out of the fray and saying he figures he has a shot at securing those voters who are disenchanted with the two politicians. Calling himself a constitutional conservative, he has stressed his role as a citizen Everyman and has urged the federal government to get out of health care and education.

Nuts and bolts

Voting for the Aug. 24 primary election started Thursday.

Registration is closed for the primary election, but it will remain open for the Nov. 2 general election until Oct. 4.

Not sure which districts you're in or where your polling place is? Log on to www.recorder.pima.gov/ public/voter_info.aspx

For more information, call the Pima County Recorder's Office at 740-4330.

Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at 573-4243 or rbodfield@azstarnet.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0014-47501882