Since we’ve been talking about the McCain/Hayworth race in the past few days, I decided to do a little research. I’ve been surprised all along, frankly, that McCain has taken the glvoes off so heavily and almost viciously against Hayworth even though McCain has been leading in all the polls. This is the same McCain who repeatedly nixed advice that he get tough on Obama on multiple fronts, instead insisting on running an “honorable” (i.e., “pitifully losing”) campaign. (Not that one need give up honor in order to get tough; one can do both at the same time.) Anyway, now, finally, Hayworth is returning fire against McCain, and it is TOUGH STUFF. It involves a Florida bigwig recently convicted of a Ponzi scheme. Now, it is utterly unfair to nail a candidate with guilt by association with somebody who later was convicted of something that had nothing to do, directly with the candidate. That, by the way, is what McCain has done, quite dishonorably, against Hayworth. But in Hayworth’s return of fire, the key distinction is this: McCain’s folks claim McCain couldn’t even pick the now-felon out of a lineup. The video within the link above shows that to be absurd. You might as a candidate forget somebody who introduced you once. You don’t forget somebody who introduced you at two events, at great length, including one event at the guy’s mansion, while standing there with Gov. Charlie Crist and joking about White House jobs.

Hayworth suggests that McCain make it right by giving back money donated to his campaign by the felon. No response from the man of honor, McCain. Maybe McCain is trying to figure out another way to blame conservative good guy Chris Cox for this new bit of trouble Johnny Mac finds himself in…..

Meanwhile, to defend my earlier characterization of Hayworth as a true conservative, here is The American Thinker’s “Tale of the Tape,” by Randall Hoven. Hayworth’s lifetime American Conservative Rating is 97.56. Case closed. But as Haven points out, Hayworth DESTROYS McCain on every other scale of conservatism as well. And even (this isn’t from Hoven, but available with other research) on porky stuff, for which McCain has criticized Hayworth, Hayworth has a higher rating from Citizens Against Government Waste than McCain does.

The more I think about NRO’s endorsement, the more frustrated and baffled I become…..