McCain's Risky Anti-Birther Gambit

Written by Paul Craft on Friday February 26, 2010

Senator McCain's new ad attacking challenger JD Hayworth for his associations with the birther movement could further alienate McCain from the state GOP. Just this week, 40 Republican Arizona state legislators voted for a bill requiring presidential candidates to produce a birth certificate.

Senator John McCain’s Arizona Senate campaign is calling out his primary opponent JD Hayworth for his association with the birther movement.

In a television commercial released this week, the McCain campaign calls out Hayworth for questioning President Barack Obama’s American citizenship, casting Hayworth’s concerns as irresponsible and frivolous in a time “of serious economic problems.”

Though Hayworth has never explicitly accused Obama of not possessing an American birth certificate, the former radio talk show host has stopped just short of making the accusation on several occasions.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28qf6QOfpC0

McCain has vocally opposed the birther movement since his 2008 presidential bid.

His renewed criticism of the movement may endear McCain to Arizona moderates and Democrats, potential participants in Arizona’s open primary system.

But the tactic might backfire with active Arizonan Republicans. Recently, 40 Arizona Republicans - out of a total of 90 Arizona State legislators – passed a bill demanding that presidential candidates send a copy of their birth certificate to the Arizona lawmakers.

The bill:

Requires that written notice from a national political party committee for a presidential candidate that is entitled to representation on the ballot be sent to the Arizona Secretary of State (Secretary), that contains the party’s nomination of candidates for president and vice-president.

Arizonan Republicans’ preoccupation with American citizenship is not surprising given the state’s illegal immigration woes; citizenship is a hot topic in the state in general.

Regardless, the passing of the bill does not bode well for the McCain campaign’s relationship with the GOP grassroots.

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