McCain, J.D. Hayworth both claim Tea Party backing

Both Arizona Republican primary challenger J.D. Hayworth and moderate incumbent John McCain claimed the support of Tea Party activists on Monday in their knock-down, drag-out fight for to be their party’s pick to run for the U.S. Senate in the state. Hayworth, a former U.S. Congressman who has campaigned as the “Consistent Conservative,” claimed the backing of a statewide coalition of Tea Party activists and “like minded” conservatives in his flagging challenge to unseat four-term incumbent McCain in the August 24 primary. On Monday, the McCain campaign shot back with a ringing endorsement of its own from Tea Party chapters in the state, praising McCain as a champion in the battle to curb wasteful pork barrel spending, and for combating Obama’s healthcare reforms and stimulus spending — all acid tests of ideological purity among conservatives...more