Saying goodbye to Hayworth (hopefully).

I voted early today. Went right down to the Chandler-Gilbert Community College library - a couple of friends in tow - and voted.

It was a monstrous ballot, the longest I've ever seen at four pages. Judicial Performance Reviews and nonsense Propositions aside, though, I was thrilled to vote for Harry Mitchell over JD Hayworth and Donna Gratehouse over John Huppenthal.

For one brief moment - at least where my ballot was concerned - I was able to say goodbye to two incumbents that have been part of the divisive partisanship undermining our country and state, and endorse their replacement with two individuals in whom I have great confidence.

Speaking of Hayworth, Radar magazing has their non-partisan ranking of the top ten "America's Dumbest Congressmen." Out of 435 Representatives and 100 Senators, it's a pretty large and distinguished pool of talent. Competition must be pretty fierce, I'd imagine.

Out of such a crowded field, J.D. Hayworth comes in at #4 on the list. Pretty impressive, really. Among all the insight-challenged Republican and Democrat politicians in the country, Hayworth ranked as the fourth stupidest congressman in our nation according to this assessment.

The reasons for Radar evaluation?

After a long tour as a Sunbelt TV sportscaster, Hayworth rode the 1994 Republican revolution into office, where he started things off by telling a group of environmental activists that untrammeled logging was a conservation measure because forests are a fire hazard. He distributed leaflets on the House floor accusing Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer of promoting "sex training for federal employees," planning to indoctrinate them into drug use, and pushing New Age cult worship, all because of a proposal to extend health coverage for abortions under dire circumstances. And the amendment Hayworth was protesting so absurdly wasn't Hoyer's at all—it was actually the work of Hayworth's fellow Republican, Rep. Ron Packard of California.

Over the years, he racked up more than $150,000 from Jack Abramoff's clients, $64,520 in the last election cycle alone, second in the House only to Majority Leader Dennis Hastert. Alone among Congress members, though, Hayworth has refused to return any of the tainted funds, offering only this rationale: the donors don't want the money back.

Hayworth's dimness is so legendary on the Hill that one Arizona colleague told a reporter that he's a textbook example of the power of gerrymandering because of his continued ability to get re-elected despite saying "any foolish thing." Recently he put that thesis to the test, openly approving the nativist writings of the anti-Semitic auto baron Henry Ford and repeatedly mis-stating a reporter's first and last name during an interview. Of course, Hayworth is a strong supporter of "English only" bills, proving yet again the adage that those who can't do, legislate.

This reminds me of a recent nonpartisan poll by congressional staffers which named JD Hayworth the second biggest windbag in Washington D.C.

Now, I would personally reject the premise of "dumbest". I'm not a fan of slinging epithets at people, and I don't think JD is dumb. But JD Hayworth has repeatedly misspoken and misjudged key issues so much that one is forced to admit that he is critically insight-challenged. I've documented a number of instances on this blog where he has intentionally mislead or outright lied about things, most recently about his opponent, Harry Mitchell.

So, while I can't day that "dumb" is a term I'd apply to our Congressman, "windbag" probably isn't too far amiss. And I can certainly observe that Hayworth has been a miserable failure at representing us, a huge embarrassment to our state and bombastically divisive in his demagoguery.

Add to that the significant controversies related to accepting gobs of questionable Abramoff money and favors, as well as funnelling over $100,000 in PAC money to his wife, and you have a politician that, frankly, is a disgrace to his office and to us, his constituents.

For those reasons, I believe Hayworth should be voted out of office. They, alone, would be enough cause to vote for Harry Mitchell, his opponent.

However, we also have the great privilege to vote for Harry Mitchell. Mitchell is a local hero, a man of wisdom, maturity and integrity and proven public service. Everyone who knows him has highest regard for his character. Republicans and Democrats are supporting him - people of all social strata and political affiliation. He's just a good, good man.

So we don't just have to vote AGAINST Hayworth...we can actually vote FOR Mitchell, of whom we can be proud. And when was the last time you actually felt proud about voting for someone?

Don't forget to vote...and when you do, you can proudly vote for Harry Mitchell for US Congress.