TW: John McCain is up for re-election in '10. His largest hurdle may not be winning the general election that year but winning his own primary. It is possible, despite McCain's assertion to the contrary last week, that McCain at age 78 will retire but if he does not, whether he faces serious primary may be an interesting barometer on the state of the Republican party. If McCain ultimately must overcome a right-wing challenge, one can assume the Republican party rather than moving to the center in order to re-gain electoral strength is rather preferring ideological purity including the adoption of harsher immigration policy.
The true maverick McCain was an interesting Senator, the right-wing toady McCain was uninspired and uncompelling. The Republicans must ask themselves whether the two concepts can co-exist.
From Economist:
" 'I’ll do anything I can to support his Republican opponent, whoever that might be,' Rob Haney — who until last week was chairman of the Republican party in Arizona’s District 11 — told me recently. Haney has been a loud and vocal critic of McCain for years, arguing that McCain is “not a conservative in any way, shape, or form.'
Mr Haney is one of a number of Republicans trying to draft an anti-McCain primary challenger. The great white hope is J.D. Hayworth, a congressman who lost in the 2006 wipe-out despite taking a hard right turn on immigration and losing a whole Lindsay Graham's worth of body mass after gastric bypass surgery...
In 2007, when Mr McCain was taking the lead on immigration reform, his favourability numbers among Republicans plunged...In 2004, conservative groups like the Club for Growth thought about challenging Mr McCain, then famous for his heterodoxy on taxes, global warming and immigration. But Mr McCain swung right and campaigned for President Bush, calming the waters, and conservatives made Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania their target. If he is successfully courted by President Obama and becomes a swing vote for Democratic bills, expect the Hayworthians to roil again. Expect that to happen at double-speed if an immigration bill comes up in 2009 or 2010."
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2008/12/mccain_post.cfm
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