time nominee as dumb congressman , by Ken Silverstein
Ken Silverstein Sam Kestenbaum William T. Vollmann Ellyn Gaydos
John McCain's campaign has started running a web ad attacking his GOP primary opponent, J.D. Hayworth, ridiculing him for saying earlier this week that
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Harper's Magazine
John McCain’s campaign has started running a web ad attacking his GOP primary opponent, J.D. Hayworth, ridiculing him for saying earlier this week that “we never formally declared war on Hitler’s Germany.”

The ad closes with an announcer saying, “J.D. Hayworth: Is it any wonder he was voted among the dumbest members of Congress?” This statement is followed by an image of a Radar Online story from 2006 that listed Hayworth as among “America’s 10 Dumbest Members of Congress.”

With all due modesty, I must say that I was well ahead of the competition on this pressing issue. Back in 1995, when Hayworth was serving his first term in the House, I had him as the sixth-ranked dumb member of congress. Here’s an excerpt:

Hayworth’s entire political philosophy can be boiled down to “Big government, bad; less government, good.” The Arizona Republic has said that “substance has never been a strong suit of Hayworth’s…and that he even has “to read his cliches from a script.”

Though decidedly dumb, Hayworth is also smooth and relentless. “You can’t have a real debate with Hayworth,” says one Democratic staffer. “He talks as passionately about his need to take a No. 1 as he does about the need to cut government spending.”