Tea Party Talk Show Host Will Run Against McCain

After months of speculation that popular talk show host and former Rep. JD Hayworth might challenge Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for his senate seat, Hayworth took the first concrete step by resigning from his talk radio show Friday night. Later, he told reporters that he is not ready to make a formal announcement but is "moving forward to challenge John McCain." In late November, Rasmussen unleashed a torrent of speculation when they released the results of a poll that showed Tea Party supporter JD Hayworth, who had not indicated any serious interest in running, within the margin of error in a hypothetical primary race against McCain. Hayworth has been a vocal rival of McCain for years and often pans McCain on his talk radio show, even boasting sometimes about the possibility of challenging McCain for his senate seat. McCain, who has not faced a viable challenger in at least two decades, told reporters that he is taking the potential challenge seriously and got an early start on his campaign over the last few weeks. A couple of weeks ago, McCain began running attack ads (criticizing Hayworth's previous Congressional voting record) on the same radio station that runs Hayworth's talk radio show...read more