Why the Republicans Lost in ‘06, According to J.D. Hayworth

J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) was one of the Republicans unseated in the 2006 elections, and he spoke to the Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno, NV to explain why he thought that happened to himself and so many other Republicans. Hayworth, also a sportscaster, said he’d been told by one person, “We couldn’t fire the coach, so we fired some of the players.”

On losing the election, J.D. quoted Winston Churchill, as saying, “Politics is as exciting as war, and nearly as dangerous. In war, you die only once; in politics, you die many times.”

He listed the failure of the government to satify the majority of the American public on immigration reform as being the major reason the Republican’s lost the majority in 2006. He passed out a flyer quoting a Zogby Poll from May 3, 2006, which showed, “68% of of (voting) American citizens are AGAINST the President’s and the Senate’s approach,” a fact which was “ignored by President Bush, Karl Rove, and too many elected representatives of BOTH parties.”

He explained that he is strongly in favor of making English the official language in the U.S., enforcing the border, and cutting off public assistance and other benefits to illegal immigrants. He acknowledged that he has been called a “racist,” for this opinion, but pointed out, “Many of those who are most strident in their support of English as a the offical language are hispanic.” At the end of the speech, he only had time for three questions, and two of those three who asked questions were legal immigrants, one woman who said she was Phillipino, and one man who said he was hispanic, who thanked Hayworth for speaking out on these matters, and stated that they agreed with him.

J.D. encouraged everyone to read Article IV Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution:

The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican [Hayworth: "That's little 'r' for the (L/l)ibertarians..."] form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

He added, “Failure to do that invites economic catechlisms…NOW is the time to protect our borders.”

Chuck Muth then asked him what everyone REALLY wanted to know, which was his prediction for the World Series. He paraphrased a famous quote by saying that he had friends in all of the cities represented, and that he was going to side with his friends.

See: Warner Todd Huston Interviews J.D. Hayworth (Podcast)

(Also on Grizzly Groundswell)

FHK’s CLC ‘07 Archive