I have heretofore refrained from spending much time thinking, talking, blogging or otherwise about the primary between Senator John McCain and former sportscaster, former Congressman, former radio host J.D. Hayworth.

However, as we are getting closer to the election and the rhetoric is heating up, I am compelled to weigh in and offer my perspective as someone who has worked fairly closely with both of these men for more than 15 years.

Let’s start with some of the rhetoric that the average voter doesn’t see coming from the daily press releases churned out by the Hayworth campaign. I am on Hayworth’s press release list, I suppose because I blog.

Before a few weeks ago I generally deleted the emails without reading them (like most political emails lately). However, lately the emails have projected a different tone. Was it sharper messaging? Was it more focused? Actually, no. It was growing desperation. Here is a sample (my commentary in bold italics):

McCAIN FEELING HEAT FROM HAYWORTH, JUMPS ON THE ANTI-OBAMACARE TRAIN LATE AND AMONG THE LAST

This headline is so absurd that it barely warrants a response. McCain was on the anti-ObamaCare train while Hayworth was still on the radio whining about losing to Harry Mitchell.

Phoenix, AZ (June 2) - The spokesman for U.S. Senate Candidate J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) said his candidate was pleased McCain took Hayworth’s advice and finally signed up against ObamaCare.

“He’s just a day late and a dollar short,” said spokesman Mark Sanders. “While his colleagues began signing Sen. Jim DeMint’s measure to repeal ObamaCare on March 23rd, McCain waited until April 20th to join.

Speaking of a day late and a dollar short, did it really take the Hayworth campaign from April 20^th until June 2^nd to notice that McCain had signed onto DeMint’s bill? The timing of when McCain joined as a cosponsor is immaterial to his position on repealing ObamaCare, and having served in Congress, Hayworth knows this, which makes this comment ridiculous and petty.

“And that was after Hayworth challenged him to do so on APRIL 9th, according to a news release issued that day by Hayworth’s campaign,” Sanders said.

He also noted that McCain was one of the last Senators to sign on as co-sponsors on April 20th.

“Like with most every issue in this campaign, McCain wants it both ways - he wants to be for ObamaCare and then against it, he wants to support amnesty for illegal aliens and then wants to complete the danged fence, he wants to oppose tax cuts and now wants them extended,” Sanders said.

Frankly, asserting that McCain ever wanted to be for ObamaCare is such a blatant lie it should disqualify Hayworth from even being in this race. If he is so blind to facts, how can we trust him to be a Senator?

Was Hayworth just not paying attention when McCain was offering multiple amendments to try to stop ObamaCare? Did he not listen to multiple floor speeches McCain made against the bill? Did he fail to even check the Congressional record and see that McCain voted against every amendment and procedural motion – and final passage – of ObamaCare when it went through the Senate?

Rather than burying the lede any further, I’ll cut to the chase: J.D. Hayworth is unworthy of holding the title “Senator.” Period. And especially when it would mean taking that title away from John McCain.

I know my position is going to surprise a lot of people. Particularly my friends who know how conservative/libertarian I am. I have ranted privately (and not so privately) about various positions and issues taken and championed by Sen. McCain over the years. I am a purest when it comes to the First Amendment, so I vigorously disagreed with McCain’s campaign finance bill.

I do not, in any way, believe that climate can be affected in any substantive way by human activity. So I have disagreed with him on climate and environment issues.

However, I am a hardcore fiscal conservative – and so is John McCain.

J.D. Hayworth is anything but. He championed the pork he brought back to his district. He got cozy with the power brokers of D.C. not only for his political gain, but for his personal gain, by raising money for his PAC which employed his wife.

I strongly oppose Indian gambling, not so much on moral grounds but on the inequality built into the system that has allowed small (and sometimes less than credible) tribes “game” the system enriching a very few, while the Native American population on the whole continues to exist in squalor. The federal government has a history of not fulfilling it’s treaty obligations and giving some tribes the “easy money” of gambling doesn’t do anything to fix the underlying system.

That all said, there was not a bigger booster for the few chosen tribes in Congress than J.D. Hayworth. I don’t mean booster in a complimentary way. In fact, he was Co-Chairman of the Indian Gaming Caucus in Congress with none other than… (you’re going to LOVE this one)… Patrick Kennedy. Yes, Ted Kennedy’s son.

Sidebar – one day years and years ago I was walking in the basement hallways of the Capital building when I heard a strange sound – someone imitating an Indian war chant – I turned around and it was the then-Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Bill Archer. When he was done with the chant, I realized what he was doing, because he was calling out to Hayworth and yelled, “There goes the Indian gambling lover.” Can you imagine how out of line your conduct would have to be to have the Chairman of your own committee mock you?

In fact, Hayworth used his position on Ways and Means to cut special deals for tribes (usually siding with the Democrats to get those done) and influence the executive branch to favor one tribe over another. That’s abuse of power.

And even though Hayworth touts his record as a tax-cutter, he authored the largest airline ticket tax in history and got it passed as an amendment to the 2001 tax bill with support from nearly every Democrat on the committee and only a handful of Republicans. Why the ticket tax? His amendment killed a proposed tax on gambling proceeds on Indian Reservations. So, he passes legislation that gives preferential treatment to a small group of people and sticks it to the average traveler. Even gambling operations in Vegas and other states pay taxes.

Then there is the immigration issue. All that I will say about the issue is that McCain sees the issue similar to Ronald Reagan - America is the place of freedom, the shining city on a hill. Hayworth would just as soon put out the lights of the city and paint it in dull colors and make it as unattractive as possible. I do not, for a second, believe that he has a sincere bone in his body when he talks about legal immigration. If our forebears had his attitude, he wouldn’t even be here.

Does McCain deserve to be re-elected because he was a war hero and P.O.W.? Just that alone gives him more credibility to represent us in the Senate than Hayworth, but he has done much more to deserve my support. He not only led the charge against a government take-over of health care, he used his influence to help keep every single Republican together in opposition to the bill. And, he was helpful in the election of Republican Scott Brown to the bluest of all blue states, Massachusetts, in Ted Kennedy’s seat no less.

However, putting all the policy and politics aside, the main reason I support McCain over Hayworth is character. McCain has character, and Hayworth is a character. And an angry, bitter character at that. And, without going into specifics, Hayworth is the most selfish person I know – and given the number of politicians I know, that’s saying something. And, it turns out he’s a huckster to boot.

The bottom line is that McCain has done more to protect our freedom than even Hayworth could bloviate about… and that’s a lot. And for me, I follow Goldwater’s maxim, “are we maximizing freedom?” In this case, McCain exceeds Hayworth on the test of freedom. I’m voting for McCain.