J.D. Hayworth, a former sports announcer and Republican congressman, and most recently a local Phoenix AM conservative shock-jock, is running in the Arizona Republican senatorial primary against the venerable, and vulnerable, John (“I was once a prisoner of war, you know”) McCain.
This is how Hayworth handles the tightrope walk of not insulting McCain the symbol while running to defeat McCain the man: “We all respect John and thank him for his service. His place in history is secure. He will remain a widely admired historical figure. But after 28 years in Washington, it’s time to come home. People are just ready for a change.”
And Hayworth devoutly hopes the public somehow believes that a person who led the life of a congressman for 12 years, supporting the growth in government during the Bush II regime, only gave it up when he lost a reelection bid in 2006, and has been out of DC for merely four years, is “change.” My guess: many will realize that this is as much like “change” as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, but something we can now watch in 3D without waiting for the Hollywood update. I must say, there are some elections in which the advice to vote for the lesser of two evils does not sufficiently clarify the choice.