There is an air of both tragedy and farce as the Arizona Republican primary for the United States Senate comes to a conclusion this Tuesday. Incumbent John McCain -- a venerated war hero and once celebrated presidential candidate -- has been forced into the sludge against an unworthy opponent, J.D. Hayworth, in what is likely to be the final campaign of his political career. McCain has sullied his carefully crafted legacy by swinging sharply to the political right, betraying his once hard-forged positions on everything from immigration reform to global warming.
In many respects, the McCain image as a "maverick" and "reformer" has always been something of a charade. McCain's seminal role in the Keating Five scandal during his first term in office forever tarnished his reputation. Indeed, there are many who would argue that what we are now seeing is the real McCain--stripped bare of the fanciful narrative--whose guiding light is neither public virtue nor principle, but raw ambition and a lust for power.
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