Today is a big day in Arizona, with voters headed to the polls for the Republican Senate primary pitting Sen. John McCain, the party’s 2008 presidential nominee, against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth. And although Hayworth began the race with some promise, it’s now looking like McCain will likely steamroll to victory.
The TPM Poll Average gives McCain a lead of 53.6%-32.1%. As we’ve previously posted, Hayworth began the race keeping McCain to a close margin. But very much to his credit, McCain clearly recognized the potential threat early on, and was well prepared for it — he shifted right on issues like illegal immigration, positioned himself strongly against his nemesis President Obama, and brought in his former running mate Sarah Palin to excite the GOP base for him.
McCain has been helped by Hayworth’s gaffes, too. The most notable one, of course, was the revelation that Hayworth appeared three years ago in an infomercial for a company offering shady seminars on how to receive “free money” from the government. Hayworth’s initial handling of the story left much to be desired — quoting the Latin proverb caveat emptor (“buyer beware”). He then apologized for the infomercial, but the damage was done in his efforts to present himself as an anti-government spending Tea Partier.
And of course, McCain has had a green advantage in the race — not environmentalism, but money, massively outspending Hayworth by a ration of 10-1.
The polls close at 10 p.m. ET. Let’s see what happens.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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