WILL: Shootout at Arizona corral
San Diego Union-Tribune Migration Temp
PHOENIX —- In 1994, when first running for Congress, J.D.Hayworth (who today is 51 and trying to wrest from John McCain, 73,the Arizona Republican Party’s Senate nomination) went jogging inWashington wearing a T-shirt given to him by some Arizonaloggers.Federal solicitude for the supposedly endangered spotted owl wasbedeviling the timber industry, and Hayworth’s shirt read: “If […]
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San Diego Union-Tribune
PHOENIX —- In 1994, when first running for Congress, J.D.Hayworth (who today is 51 and trying to wrest from John McCain, 73,the Arizona Republican Party’s Senate nomination) went jogging inWashington wearing a T-shirt given to him by some Arizonaloggers.

Federal solicitude for the supposedly endangered spotted owl wasbedeviling the timber industry, and Hayworth’s shirt read: “If twoteenagers can procreate in the back seat of a Volkswagen, why doesa spotted owl need 2,000 acres?” Hayworth’s jog intersectedPresident Clinton’s, so Hayworth subsequently told the loggers hehad “run your message past the president.” Hayworth’s middle nameis not Nuance.

Washed into Washington by the 1994 Republican wave, he waswashed out in 2006 by a Democratic wave. Born in North Carolina, heis a burly ex-football player for North Carolina State. Having beena television sportscaster in Phoenix before entering politics,Hayworth bounced from defeat to a talk radio station. There he puthis flair for rhetorical fireworks in the service of his favoritecauses, two of which are stopping illegal immigration and deploringthe insufficiencies of McCain’s conservatism.

Those insufficiencies include, Hayworth says, opposition to theBush tax cuts, and support for bailouts and for what Hayworthcharacterizes as “amnesty” for illegal immigrants.

McCain, who has a flair for umbrage, felt some about anotherHayworth cause —- a possible Hayworth Senate candidacy. SoMcCain, whose pugnacity is part of his charm, for those who arecharmed, went after Hayworth with tactics that reminded otherpeople why they are not charmed. The co-author of theMcCain-Feingold restrictions on political speech asked the FederalElection Commission to silence Hayworth.

Although Hayworth was not yet a candidate, McCain argued that hewas receiving from the station’s owner an illegal “corporatein-kind contribution” of “as much as” $540,000 a week, a figureconcocted by pricing Hayworth’s 15 hours per week at the rateadvertisers would pay for 1,800, 30-second spots. Hayworth sparedhis station the litigation costs by becoming a candidate.

Hayworth and McCain, who is seeking a fifth term, will gnaw oneach other until the August primary, the rules of which are stillunclear.

Usually, primary turnouts are low, but this shootout will beunusually enticing. Republican primaries have been open tounaffiliated voters, but in January, when Hayworth’s candidacy wasstill embryonic, the state party opted for a closed primary, on thesound principle that party members —- there are 1.12 millionregistered —- should pick those who represent the party. The U.S.Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment guarantee offreedom of association, which “plainly presupposes a freedom not toassociate,” broadly protects parties’ rights to define theiridentities by controlling their nominating processes.

McCain understandably wants the primary open to non-Republicans:A closed primary would favor Hayworth, many of whose supporters arethe sort of high-octane conservatives who will vote in an ArizonaAugust. Two of conservatism’s current pinups —- Sarah Palin, onwhom McCain conferred celebrity, and Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown—- have campaigned here for McCain. On the other hand, DickArmey, who is as close as the tea party movement has to a leader,denies reports that he has endorsed McCain.

Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake, perhaps Congress’ foremost foe ofearmarks, faults Hayworth as insufficiently frugal. Hayworthendorsed and McCain opposed George W. Bush’s unfunded $395 billionprescription drug entitlement.

Hayworth is supported by Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County’sshowboating sheriff, a scourge of illegal immigrants.

Some Arizona and national Republicans worry that nominatingHayworth would exacerbate the party’s problems with Latinos, thenation’s largest and fastest-growing minority. Barack Obama won 75percent of the immigrant Latino vote in 2008. Hayworth counters,”Beware the myth of the monolith.” He says “some of my mostpassionate support” comes from Latinos offended by illegalimmigrants.

Voters incandescent about illegal immigration might be numerousenough to decide a primary. Some seasoned Arizona Republicans say,however, that such immigration has slowed as America’s economy hasslowed. And they say the issue has lost some saliency, andArizona’s economy has suffered, as some Latinos have moved to morehospitable states. Furthermore, Hayworth may not understandArizona’s complex relationship to its centuries-old Latinodimension.

Democrats, having assumed that McCain will be nominated, havenot groomed a top-tier opponent for him. They probably will findone if they think Hayworth can be nominated.

As for the McCain-Hayworth contest, a wise Arizona Republicanofficeholder who is too prudent to abandon anonymity says eachcombustible candidate “has it in his power to lose.”

GEORGE F. WILL writes for the Washington Post. Comment online atnctimes.com or contact him at georgewill@washpost.com .