Hayworth and McCain debate history in dueling press releases by Jim Kelley Tucson Citizen

NOTE: Special Thanks to JIM KELLEY for mentioning us in this article!

May.24, 2010

Just when I thought it was going to be kind of a boring day and I would have to really scrounge for a story, the two candidates for the Senate came to my rescue. Bless their hearts.


Brian Rogers, Communications Director for Mccain 2010 sent me this missive.
While speaking last week to a local GOP organization in Phoenix, Hayworth was asked by an attendee about America’s failure to formally declare war in our modern conflicts. Hayworth defended the modern-day authorizations for the use of military force. “But I would also point out, that if we want to be sticklers, the war that Dwight Eisenhower led in Europe against the Third Reich was never declared by the United States Congress,” said Hayworth. “Recall, the Congress passed a war resolution against Japan. Germany declared war on us two days later. We never formally declared war on Hitler’s Germany, and yet we fought the war.”

The questioner then responded that he thought the United States did declare on Germany, and he would check it. Hayworth responded: “I think we should check it. Perhaps we made the rationalization — since there was the Axis alliance — that the attack of Japan was tantamount to the attack of the Third Reich. But as I recall in my history, Germany declared war on the United States, not vice-versa.”

The McCain campaign begins the JD Hayworth is dumb campaign. The reality is that Hayworth actually does know history well. So well that even some of the most obscure stuff about the begining of WWII still crowds his mind. Here is the response from Mark Sanders, Director of Communications for JD Hayworth for Senate.

“In a give and take session with members of an audience, Congressman Hayworth was asked about the current conflicts the U.S. is engaged in. He said that the United States did not declare war on Germany during World War II, and agreed with the gentleman asking the question that additional research might be needed. Hayworth instructed his researcher to look into it and we found that on Dec. 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the United States and President Roosevelt wrote ‘I therefore request the Congress to RECOGNIZE a state of war between the United States and Germany and between the United States and Italy.’” Congress agreed in resolving “That the state of war between the United States and the Government of Germany which has been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared.”

I suppose in this battle of the Communications Directors, the use of surrogate media, of which Senator McCain has become quite good at, is the modern political weapon of choice. Check out the Political Mafioso sometime, http://politicomafioso.blogspot.com/ .

Here, Brian Rogers mines his sources well. The bloggers all feed off each other and makes it all look like there is a lot more attention on these mundane press releases than really exists.

Other favorite sources for Rogers is Real Clear Politics, the Daily KOS and Phoenix New Times.

There is a lot of pull for everyone’s attention in this primary. From the local Justice of the Peace to Gubenatorial and Senate races, the new media, the social media has become the coffee clatch and direct mailer of yesteryear.

The voters are not stupid. The voters have delete buttons,forward buttons, share buttons, hide buttons, and remove buttons. Everyone has a video camera on their phones or in their pockets and can have anything a candidate says or does on the net and streaming in seconds. The old political tools have changed. The speed at which information moves has changed. The politicians are the one constant. They never change.

I wonder if Hayworth and McCain are ever going to schedule a real debate. I hope so. It will probably be sometime in August, in the middle of the longest month, (no holidays).