Republican J.D. Hayworth runs against John McCain in Arizona

Hayworth even brought one of the chief proponents of birtherism, Orly Taitz, on his radio show in July 2009. During the interview, he did not once challenge what she was saying. He praised her as a “legal crusader” taking on the “ultimate legal challenge.” Hayworth argues he was just giving “her a platform to speak.” It is hard to imagine that the man who was once voted the No. 2 loudmouth in Congress regularly gave guests he disagrees with such wide latitude on his radio show, or for that matter, that he regularly gave platforms to people who supported topics he found outlandish.

Though Hayworth avoids most of the more reactionary and delusional rhetoric of the conservative fringes during his town hall meetings, in his interview with The Daily Caller he was looser lipped. When asked whether he saw any parallels between President Obama and aspiring leftist dictator Hugo Chavez, Hayworth said yes.

“Newsweek luminary Mr. [Jon] Meacham has written about Winston [Churchill] and Franklin [Roosevelt] and their relationship,” Hayworth said. “Well, you know, why do I get the sense, you know, based on that meeting between Hugo Chavez and President Obama that there was that kind of affection and friendship and affability. I don’t think national interests are well served by that at all. And that personal affinity must reflect some sort of philosophical synergy.”

In an extensive interview with a hoarse Hayworth after the last of his town hall meetings, Hayworth reflected further on where he stands on key issues and how he differentiates himself from McCain.

On health care, Hayworth conceded that McCain gave some good speeches, but said he “would have taken much more assertive action beyond speeches.” The more assertive action to which Hayworth referred is a point he dramatically emphasizes during town hall meetings. In essence, the difference between McCain and Hayworth on health care is that Hayworth would have forced the 2,000-plus page Senate health-care bill to be read aloud on the Senate floor. Hayworth seems to think that this is a major contrast.

Asked whether he supports the Afghan surge, Hayworth said he believes, “it would be wise to remember the Eisenhower doctrine.”

“And one of the principle components is that once the decision to utilize force is made there is no such thing as a little force. Force must be overwhelming and, yes, even brutal to achieve the desired ends,” he said.

When I ask whether he then opposes General Stanley McChrystal’s strategy in Afghanistan, which in part calls for American troops to take more risks in order to minimize Afghan civilian casualties, Hayworth equivocated.

“General McChrystal is the general in the field,” he said. “What I worry about is the growing, for lack of a better term, litigiousness of war fighting. I don’t want to see rules of engagement so limited that American forces under attack are having to defer to military attorneys.”

On what he would do to deal with Iran, Hayworth says he doesn’t think it is useful to spell it out.

“On these sensitive issues of national security that may require — how can we put this delicately? — international initiatives I don’t know that a full public discussion of the whys and wherefores to dissuade the Iranians or perhaps diminish the Iranians capacity to gain nuclear weapons, I don’t know of a full public discussion of strategies A to Z are necessarily wise at this point and time.” he said. “It may in fact become a moot point based on what we are seeing from Israel.”

During his town hall meetings, Hayworth attacked the idea of McCain as a deficit hawk who has assiduously fought against earmarks. But he himself has spending issues to answer for. Asked whether he regrets voting for the Medicare Prescription Drug bill, which McCain opposed and is, by some estimates, an $8 trillion or more unfunded liability, Hayworth staunchly defended the vote.

“There is an inherent risk now that it has become apart of Obamaland they will go away from our market base reforms,” Hayworth said. “I think in the fullness of time we will actually see cost savings according to the estimates I’ve seen.”

It is hard to say at this point whether Hayworth has a legitimate chance of knocking off McCain for Arizona’s Republican Senate nomination. McCain will certainly have a huge money advantage, but Hayworth noted, tongue-in-cheek, that he is fortunate because he hears some of the same staffers who worked on McCain’s presidential race in 2008 will be working on his Senate race this time around.

A Rasmussen poll in November before Hayworth entered the race had McCain and Hayworth neck-and-neck. A more recent January Rasmussen poll, however, showed McCain with a 20-plus point advantage over Hayworth. But in one of the most unpredictable election years, it is certainly no sure thing that the Republican nominee for president in 2008 will be able to win the Republican nomination for the Senate seat he has held for 24 years in 2010.

Jamie Weinstein is a columnist for The North Star National. He can be reached through is blog, www.JamieWeinstein.com