Armey: Hayworth had 'undistinguished' House career from the AZ/DC Blog!

February 3, 2010

This ought to drive the Pee Drinking, McCain Hating, Hayworth Knee Pad Wackos NUTS!

As former Rep. J.D. Hayworth prepares to officially enter the Republican primary race against incumbent Sen. John McCain, he probably had better not count on any support from FreedomWorks, the national conservative group closely associated with the Tea Party movement.

In a telephone interview with The Arizona Republic, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, FreedomWorks' chairman, delivered a surprisingly harsh assessment of Hayworth, with whom he served on Capitol Hill:

"We're a small organization with a limited budget. There's an awful lot of places where our presence would be needed and can really make a difference. We don't see this Arizona race as one where we need to be actively involved. It's hard for us to believe that J.D. Hayworth could mount a credible challenge to John McCain
Obviously, we'll watch the race.

But J.D. had a fairly short, undistinguished congressional career with virtually no initiative on his part. I just don't see any reason why we should be concerned about that race."

Since last month, McCain and Hayworth have been trading shots at each other's fiscal records. A McCain radio ad called Hayworth, who served six House terms between 1995 and 2007, "one of the biggest spenders in Congress." The Hayworth campaign shot back that Hayworth actually has a better lifetime score from the anti-waste watchdog group the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste.

But Tom Schatz, CAGW president, called Hayworth's 89 percent rating and McCain's 88 percent rating "virtually the same" and said both were pretty good on the issue.

"Another way to look at it, though, is Senator McCain's 88 percent is the seventh highest lifetime rating in the Senate, which after 24 years is very impressive," Schatz said. "When Congressman Hayworth left the House, he had the 17th highest rating."

Armey, who was House majority leader from 1995 to 2003, clearly came down on McCain's side.

"There's nobody who can match McCain's record on fiscal responsibility," he said.

"As I recall, J.D. was on the Ways and Means Committee and I didn't really see him make any distinguished effort, for example, like people like (Arizona GOP Reps.) Jeff Flake and John Shadegg in terms of creative ideas and legislative initiative," Armey said. "Certainly nothing on the cost-control front.

But John McCain was the first guy to understand the need to get earmarks under control. He took a real leadership role, as did Jeff Flake."

Armey stopped short of outright endorsing McCain over Hayworth, but Steve Forbes, the former White House candidate who won Arizona's 1996 GOP presidential primary, has already has done so. Forbes serves on the FreedomWorks Foundation Board of Directors.

Hayworth is expected to formally announce his Senate candidacy on Feb. 15.

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