In an Aug. 20 endorsement of U. S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, the Arizona Republic insulted the intelligence of its readers in proclaiming "anyone who tries to portray [Hayworth] as an extremist of the right either hasn't been paying attention or hopes others aren't doing so." This is interesting because I for one have been paying close attention to the record of this five-term congressman and happen to believe the contrary. But we'll get to Mr. Hayworth in a moment.
It should come as no surprise to even the casual Republic reader that the state's most recognized daily should assert that the fire-breathing, war hawk Hayworth is anything but that. The Republic, (formally known as the Arizona Republican) has quite an unabashed history of endorsing conservative candidates. Of course, the paper's powers that be may point to the fact that they took a strong stand behind a democratic presidential candidate during the spring primary. Who was this Democrat? Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. Let's face it, Lieberman is about as much of a Democrat as Sen. Zell Miller is sane - anyone who believes otherwise hasn't been paying close attention.
Evidently, in its quest to portray Hayworth as a moderate, the Republic ignored the congressman's comments in his February 2003 National Review column where he referred to the millions of Americans who disagreed with the Iraq war as "partisan, hateful and intellectually dishonest." Perhaps the Republic didn't purposely ignore Hayworth's statement. Maybe they weren't paying close attention or hoped that others weren't doing so.
The sad fact is Hayworth is about as middle of the road as a stop sign. For starters, he's been a regular political analyst for Fox News and was part of the main panel of the network's weeklong coverage of the Republican National Convention. Ah, yes. Fox News, that great bastion of journalistic objectivity. I feel dirtier watching Fox's "fair and balanced" reporting than I would watching midget and canine fetish porn.
Hayworth voted for a juvenile justice bill that would create room in adult prison cells for juvenile offenders as young as 13. He also voted to support former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore in his quest to post the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall despite the blatant unconstitutionality of Moore's crusade. Hayworth does not support gay civil rights, places significant restrictions on a woman's right to choose and continues to support the Bush administration's arrogant claim that in spite of contrary evidence, the sacrifices made by American soldiers in Iraq has been justified.
Perhaps Hayworth's ridiculous record in Congress can be explained. In a September 1995 issue of Progressive, Hayworth was listed as number six in the political magazine's "Ten Dimmest Bulbs in Congress." Progressive claims that perhaps Hayworth, a former football hero, "like Gerald Ford, appears to have forgotten his helmet one too many times."
Today Hayworth faces his first Republican primary challenge since 1994 in moderate Republican Roselyn O'Connell. Since many ASU students reside in the 5th Congressional District, this is a golden opportunity to support the candidate O'Connell in her quest to reach across the aisle of the House of Representatives in true bipartisan fashion. Most Arizona political insiders believe she has no chance of winning. Maybe ASU students aren't paying attention to them and hope others aren't doing so.
Vic Vela is a graduate student in journalism. Reach him at vic.vela@asu.edu.
