Conservatives in Arizona and across the states were left shaking their heads in doubt when Grover Norquist, head of the vaunted Americans for Tax Reform, announced he was backing John McCain’s re-election bid for the U.S. Senate. While most observers assume McCain would garner much of the Beltway/establishment endorsements, Grover has (like McCain) tried for years to fashion himself something of a maverick, seemingly putting principles ahead of party when push came to shove. Were he defending some newly revealed transgression of, say, Ronald Reagan’s, we’d likely give Grover the benefit of the doubt while rushing to defend the Gipper ourselves. But, Grover, we knew Reagan. Reagan was a friend of ours. And John McCain is no Ronald Reagan.

What makes the Grover-McCain endorsement so strange is that it was painfully obvious Grover clearly didn’t entirely believe what he was saying when he said it. On this Tuesday past, Norquist (calling into Mike Broomhead’s show) explained his rationale, saying he supported McCain’s signing of ATR’s pledge, opposition to federal earmarks, and that McCain “consistently votes against tax increases and for spending restraint.”

Here are the problems: McCain’s opponent in the primary, J.D. Hayworth, has also signed the ATR Pledge (and faithfully kept it while serving in Congress). While McCain is a vocal critic of earmarks, just last year he voted for $180 billion in earmarks (by comparison: the annual General Fund budget for the entire state of Arizona is approximately $10 billion). And as for voting against tax increases and for spending restraint, John McCain was the Republican “maverick” who voted AGAINST the Bush tax-relief bills of both 2001 and 2003 (these are the same tax relief packages we hear so much about today that, if Congress lets them expire could cost American small businesses millions of additional jobs).

As for Mr. Hayworth, it is noteworthy to add that as the only Arizona member of Congress on the tax policy Ways and Means Committee, he helped draft the 2001 and 2003 tax relief acts. Senator McCain called these bills tax cuts for the wealthy, but in reality they reduced taxes for low-income earners from 15% to a new, low 10% tax bracket. They eliminated the marriage penalty. They dramatically increased the child tax credit. They reduced taxes on dividend investment income and capital gains. And, of course, they provided for sunsetting the federal death tax this very year: 2010. Of course, John McCain voted against these important, landmark tax relief measures and now the Congress in which he serves is determined to undo it all.

Why Grover Norquist believes John McCain, who spends hundreds of billions bailing out banks, tries to spend hundreds of billions more trying to bailout crooked mortgages, and on top of it all, wants to spend over $2 Trillion to finance the retirement plans of illegal immigrants, is the right man for the job, is beyond us. Unless it’s just another case of the Washington establishment taking care of their own once again.

At least Bill Bennett was more honest: “Hayworth’s views, if you put them both on paper, are probably closer to my own, but I gotta support John McCain because he’s the man.” Google Bennett and listen to a clip of the 30-second endorsement. It’s the least enthusiastic endorsement ever recorded, suggesting he was paying back a debt owed or, even possibly, he or a member of his family was being held hostage at the time of the taping.

Final thoughts… It’s very early in this campaign. J.D. has not even announced yet. In fact, John McCain was running attack ads against J.D. (on J.D.’s own radio show) even before J.D. began to make plans about the race. Said one PC at last night’s LD21 meeting, “Why couldn’t McCain have run like this against Obama?” The point’s a good one. The McCain folks have frequently proven their willingness to attack fellow Republicans, whether on in the Senate during amnesty debates or here in Arizona in, well, any debate. At this rate, it’s unlikely here in Arizona he’ll be starting every other sentence during the present campaign with the phrase “My friends…”

As for Grover, he may come to find on August 24th that principles still matter most… now more than ever.

- Conservative Name Withheld