Why J.D. Hayworth Is No Anti-Incumbent

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Why J.D. Hayworth Is No Anti-Incumbent “

And so really, is [J.D. Hayworth] the anti-incumbent?
Well no, he served for years and years on Ways and Means and voted for the Highway Bill, the Bridge to Nowhere, he was part of it… So it will be a knife fight, but people don't necessarily see J.D. as new blood or something different, because they see him as a politician.” – Arizona Political Consultant Bettina Nava KTVK-TV’s “Politics Unplugged”May 16, 2010

KTVK’s Frank Camacho: “There’re two other issues I want to get to, so let’s get to one of them real, real quick: this anger, this anti-incumbent feeling. The most high-profile incumbent that we have on the ballot is John McCain. Could it happen in August that this anti-incumbent feeling may topple McCain? It happened in Utah last week.”

Arizona Political Consultant Bettina Nava: “You know, in this regard – and you know that I worked for John McCain for a lot of times, so I’m definitely compromised here to be perfectly honest with you – but I see it being a knife fight for sure, you see that happening. But at the end of the day, the difference is that the voters of Arizona know John McCain, they know that he keeps his word.”

Camacho: “They also know J.D. Hayworth.”

Nava: “And they also know that J.D. Hayworth was a legislator. And so really, is he the anti-incumbent? Well no, he served for years and years on Ways and Means and voted for the Highway Bill, the Bridge to Nowhere, he was part of it. So when you have these two – so it will be a knife fight, but people don't necessarily see J.D. as new blood or something different, because they see him as a politician.”

Arizona Political Consultant Steve Roman: “I think the McCain Campaign knows it's a huge fight and that's why you’re seeing tons of money that’s being spent right now and it’s probably going to happen all the way throughout the campaign because they realize that it's very, very difficult. Probably, the best thing they might have going for them is that the candidate that’s opposing him in the primary is not somebody that is not – that is a non-incumbent. Because in effect, he just happens to be out of office right now, but he’s been in office and he’s known for being in office.”

Camacho: “Well he’s been running for the past couple of years as well.”