McCAIN CAMPAIGN RESPONDS TO HAYWORTH’S COMPARISON OF HIS LOBBYING TO SEN. McCAIN’S MILITARY SERVICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Brian Rogers

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

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McCAIN CAMPAIGN RESPONDS TO HAYWORTH’S COMPARISON OF HIS LOBBYING TO SEN. McCAIN’S MILITARY SERVICE

PHOENIX, AZ – Earlier today, the McCain campaign released new TV and radio ads, both called “Washington Lobbyist.” The ads detail how after Arizonans voted Congressman Hayworth out of office in 2006, he became a registered, professional lobbyist, earning thousands of dollars to lobby on behalf of a Florida corporation.

In response to the ads, the Hayworth campaign went on the offensive, bizarrely comparing Hayworth’s time as a corporate lobbyist to Sen. McCain’s service as Navy liaison to the Senate, even going so far as to describe the McCain campaign ads as “the pot calling the kettle black.”

The statement from Hayworth spokesman Mark Sanders reads, in part:

“Remember he began his career in Washington as a lobbyist when he was appointed in 1976 as the Navy's liaison to the United States Senate. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black…”

In response to the Hayworth campaign’s offensive and absurd comparison of Congressman Hayworth’s time as a corporate lobbyist to Sen. McCain’s service in the Navy, McCain 2010 Communications Director Brian Rogers released the following statement:

“It is beyond the pale for Congressman Hayworth to compare his time lobbying his former House colleagues for some special deal on behalf of a Florida company to Senator McCain’s honorable service in the United States Navy. The fact that Congressman Hayworth has the audacity to call into question Senator McCain’s military service shows how desperate he really is. Given Congressman Hayworth’s close ties to the convicted felon lobbyist Jack Abramoff, he should know the difference between serving our country in uniform and profiting from the special interests as a Washington lobbyist.”

-- McCain 2010 Communications Director Brian Rogers