No McCain, Say Arizonans

As reported by newsmax.com

Sen. John McCain won 76 percent of the vote when he ran for re-election in 2004. But he's having a hard time winning over conservative Republicans in his home state as he eyes a run for the presidency.

"I think those who do not support Senator McCain, if they could just get the word out and help people to understand what has happened with him, we could have an impact," Lyle Tuttle, chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, told the New York Times.

In fact, to express his disdain for Arizona's senior U.S. senator, Tuttle sometimes wears a button that shows McCain's name with a bold black line slashed through it.

According to the Times, a recent Arizona State University poll found that only 54 percent of the state's Republican voters indicated that they would support McCain in the Arizona primary in February 2008. 

 Numbers like that could spell trouble for McCain, whose critics have slammed him for his stances on immigration, gay marriage, and campaign finance reform. Those critics are giving early -- and vocal -- support to other candidates.

"They can make trouble for him," Bruce D. Merrill, an Arizona State University political scientist and polling expert, told the Times. "It is too early in terms of voting to tell, but it certainly could potentially affect people's decision to give him money."

McCain is trying to improve his standing with conservative Republican voters, though. According to The Associated Press, he will speak Sunday night to about 1,500 middle and high school students in South Carolina, encouraging them to abstain from premartical sex.

"Senator McCain has a long legislative record of supporting abstinence-based initiatives in his record in the U.S. Senate," Trey Walker, McCain's South Carolina campaign director, told the AP. "He thinks that abstinence is healthier and should be promoted in our society for young people."