I Can Hardly Believe It Myself

Despite the tensions between both candidates' teams during the 2008 presidential campaign, Sarah Palin attended and delivered speeches at rallies last weekend for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in preparation for the primary election in August against J.D. Hayworth. And I am actually in favor of it. Congratulations, universe. You win.

Now based on their history with one another, everyone in the world should have expected Palin to speak out in support of McCain. While McCain remains an extremely immature individual who clearly got by on his father's coattails, he is certainly a much better option candidatewise than Hayworth. For starters, Hayworth is actually a former member of the United States Congress. In fact, Hayworth served as a member of the House of Representatives for six consecutive terms until he lost a re-election bid in 2006. But I'll come back to that. Let's first take a closer look at various aspects of Hayworth's career as an elected official:

• In his initial run for Congress in 1994, Hayworth criticized his incumbent opponent for voting for President Bill Clinton's budget plan, which Hayworth described as "the largest tax increase in history". However, this budget plan assisted the United States in migrating from an inherited 1993 budget deficit of a then record $290 billion to a budget surplus of $236 billion, while also creating the country's first two balanced federal budgets in forty years.
• During his first re-election campaign in 1996, Hayworth fired two of his campaign aides for forging his signature in order to file a campaign affidavit within the established deadline.
• In a fundraising letter for his 1998 re-election campaign, Hayworth not only referred to President Clinton as an "unprincipled philandering President" with "the most corrupt administration in U.S. history" but also claimed that his Democratic opponent was financed by "trial lawyers, radical homosexual rights groups, environmental extremists...along with almost every other left wing wacko group you can think of".
• A 1998 "Washingtonian Magazine" survey of 1,200 congressional staff members from both parties ranked Hayworth as the second "Biggest Windbag" in the House. Hayworth stated he "was hoping to get the No. 1 spot". Luckily his wish was granted when he won the "No Rocket Scientist" category.
• A similar survey in 2006 (this time involving more than 1,700 staff members) ranked Hayworth No. 2 again. By the way, McCain was ranked in the same 2006 survey as the "Straightest Shooter" in the Senate and tied for third as the "Senator I’d Like to See Win the Presidency in 2008".
• Between 2001 and 2005, Hayworth's wife Mary earned $20,400 a year from TEAM PAC, Hayworth's political action committee, for performing bookkeeping and other administrative functions. As the only employee of TEAM PAC after December 1999, the fund shelled out $107,000 through the end of 2004 for Mary's salary and payroll taxes, or approximately twenty-six percent of its $411,000 in revenue. This occurred despite the fact that TEAM PAC also paid $70,000 to an external political consultant and a California bookkeeper during the same time, thereby designating forty-three percent of the total revenue for fundraising and administrative expenses.
• While many Republican members of Congress returned the contributions they received from Native American tribes associated with the now incarcerated lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Hayworth, on the other hand, decided to keep the $150,000 in campaign contributions that he received from those tribes.
• Hayworth voted for the 2005 Transportation Reauthorization Bill which contained, among other things, millions of dollars earmarked for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska. McCain did not support the legislation.
• In 2006, Hayworth declared the current immigration law misinterprets the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, as a result, a child of undocumented immigrants born in this country should not be given U.S. citizenship. He delivered these comments even though the amendment specifically states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside".
• Earlier this month during an interview with an Orlando radio station, Hayworth compared same sex marriage with zoophilia: "You see, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, when it started this move toward same sex marriage, actually defined marriage -- now get this -- it defined marriage as simply, quote, 'the establishment of intimacy'. Now how dangerous is that? I mean, I don't mean to be absurd about it but I guess I can make the point of absurdity with an absurd point. I guess that would mean, if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse." A complete examination of the 45-page decision on the case of Hillary Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health clearly proves that the phrase "the establishment of intimacy" does not occur once in the entire document. In fact, the word "intimacy" only appears six times in the decision. And to further contradict Hayworth's claims, Margaret Marshall, the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, started the ruling with the following: "Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support; it brings stability to our society."

As I mentioned earlier, Hayworth is a former member of Congress. When he was seeking re-election in 2006, "The Arizona Republic", which had supported Hayworth in previous congressional races, decided to endorse his Democratic opponent. In explanation of its shift, the newspaper had these wonderful things to say about Hayworth:

• "The biggest problem in Congress is extreme partisanship and Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) is among Capitol Hill's worst offenders."
• "Hayworth always has been an enthusiast for rough-and-tumble politics."
• "It is high time to hit this matter squarely: J.D. Hayworth is a bully. He may not yet have reached the point where you can't take him anywhere but you certainly can't take him to a calm, civil discussion."
• "During this past term, Hayworth has devolved from a windy and sometimes cartoonish politician into an angry demagogue who has shamelessly and divisively exploited the immigration issue, arguably the No. 1 concern of Arizonans."
• "Hayworth and like minded allies did manage to monkey wrench this year's hope for realistic immigration reform. Some accomplishment."
• "Hayworth's bombastic rhetoric and obnoxious behavior have gotten him into his toughest political fight yet. In a meeting last week with [the newspaper's] Editorial Board, Hayworth repeatedly positioned himself like a smirking hawk, inches from the face of his 'prey', Mitchell, while the Democrat responded to questions. For that overbearing attempt at intimidation, Hayworth deserves a sound rap on the knuckles."
• "The 5th Congressional District needs a bridge builder, not a bomb thrower."

Aside from the endorsement from "The Arizona Republic", numerous prominent Arizona Republicans crossed party lines by openly supporting Mitchell. Combined with the fact that he is a intolerant egomaniac and a crooked politician, this is why, boys and girls, Hayworth is no longer a member of the United States Congress.