CNN) - At a Tea Party rally Sunday on the U.S.-Mexico border in support of tough immigration laws, Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth slammed his opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and turned McCain's words back on the veteran senator.
On a ranch in Hereford, Arizona, and with the border fence visible several hundred yards behind him, Hayworth also praised Arizona's new immigration law that was signed by the state's governor, who has spent the last two days campaigning with McCain.
Pulling a word from a McCain letter on immigration which first surfaced in April, Hayworth said it was time to "regularize the status of John McCain," and remove him from office.
"He may try to change the terminology," Hayworth added. "Indeed, John McCain was sending out letters earlier this spring offering the boilerplate denial, saying 'Well you know I oppose amnesty.' And then in the next paragraph saying 'we must grant concessions to these people and regularize their status.' That's the new term [for amnesty]."
Hayworth said he had "a new way to apply that term."
"To put an end to amnesty once and for all, to secure our borders, to end any of this misguided talk about open borders, it is time to 'regularize' the status of John McCain. Send him back here to be a citizen among us," Hayworth said to applause.
Hayworth has long criticized McCain's letter. For their part, McCain's campaign told local media in July that "regularize" means "to follow the law."
On Saturday, McCain wrapped up a two-day, six-stop statewide tour with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, whose signing of state bill 1070 earned her wide praise from conservatives and established her persona as a strong anti-amnesty voice in the immigration debate.
Arizona will hold its primary elections on August 24.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/15/standing-at-the-border-hayworth-slams-mccain-on-immigration/

