A Gift To Democrats

On his CNN program "Rick's List," Rick Sanchez has a segment highlighting the "most intriguing" person of the day.

If Sanchez never has fingered J.D. Hayworth, he should sometime. Hayworth, who is running on the right against John McCain for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, is known for several things. He opposed to illegal immigration and a guest-worker program (rightfully so) and to man-horse marriage.

On Monday, Rachel Maddow hosting, logically, The Rachel Maddow Show, interviewed (video below) Hayworth and challenged him on a couple of claims. The ex-U.S. Representative claimed the Massachusetts Supreme Court "defined marriage as simply, quote, 'the establishment of intimacy'" which "would mean if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse."

Perhaps that would be the case if the Massachusetts Supreme Court really had made that connection. Not only, however, did Maddow argue at that moment that Hayworth was mistaken, but in a segment (video way below) the following evening, stated "I looked it up again. He‘s wrong. The ruling doesn't define marriage as the establishment of intimacy. It just doesn't."

Roughly the same transpired on Hayworth's contention on Monday "If you really go back and take a look at the numbers, I ranked ninth in overall contributions from those who might even have a tangential affiliation to Jack Abramoff. In fact, some other groups rated higher." The following night, Maddow explained.

Groups. When he says “groups,” that‘s the giveaway. Mr. Hayworth is ninth on a list that he found of everyone, including campaign committees and groups who got Abramoff money.

I had only asked Mr. Hayworth about being a top Abramoff money recipient among members of Congress. He was, in fact, a top recipient of Abramoff-related money among members in Congress. I was right. I did not have my facts wrong.

Hayworth's inaccurate remarks to a broadcaster from a network few voters in a Repub primary in Arizona, and perhaps not even many in a general election, watch will have little impact on a GOP primary or a general election in a state fairly hostile to liberals and Democrats. But J.D. made another statement that appears to have been little noticed.

Referring (transcript here) to the incumbent's attacks upon him for his connection to Abramoff, Hayworth remarked

As for John McCain, a man who says he‘s a man of honor, I think quite frankly, he knows these charges to be incorrect. And in desperation to keep his job, sadly, he is now proving himself unfit for service in the United States Senate.

Is now proving himself unfit for service in the United States Senate. This is not synonymous with "is unfit for service in the United States Senate"- but that's, as Republicans use to say, "nuance." If John McCain is renominated, his Democratic opponent could do worse than to run a commercial featuring a former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives saying his party's nominee "is now proving himself unfit for serviice in the United States Senate."