Top Arizona Donors Give McCain Cold Shoulder

Sen. John McCain's Arizona campaign chairman, fellow Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, is missing from McCain's list of 26 Arizona bundlers who have raised $50,000 or more in contributions for his presidential campaign.

Kyl, the Senate minority whip, bundled more than $100,000 of campaign contributions for President George W. Bush in 2004. Kyl frequently appears at campaign events as a McCain stand-in and the two are close friends. Kyl, a hard-line conservative, supported the presumed Republican presidential candidate on comprehensive immigration reform, but splits with McCain on some major issues -- including energy policy, campaign-finance reform and climate change. Calls to Kyl's Phoenix and Washington office for comment Wednesday were not returned.

(Matt Mahurin) Kyl is one of a group of leading Arizona Republican fund-raisers more active in raising money for Bush than they have, to date, for McCain. Many expected names appear on McCain's Arizona big contributor list -- but there are glaring omissions. Leading GOP state elected officials and some key state party activists are giving far less financial support to the party's national candidate this election cycle than in 2000 and 2004 -- though their favorite son is the likely nominee. This could well be because Bush was considered more acceptable on issues the conservative GOP base cares about, with his anti-tax, pro-business agenda and his willingness to move religion into the center of the political mix.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[osage]

How many serving Senators have lost their own states in a presidential election? Could anything be more pathetic or more embarrassing?

[NoahVail]

http://crazyspace.org/profile.php?id=4

He put the AZ in crAZy...

[luvangelHussein330]

Well dah that's what ahppenes when the last time you steped on the senate floor to vote was April 8th and then missing the Medicare vote July 10th. Big users of Mdicare are seniors citizens....Arizona has a strong population of seniors....

[Furby]

America has elections set up in such a way that only rich people can run. In Canada, they've set it up so that anyone can run if they garner enough supporters. See http://canadian-politics.com/CPWiki/tiki-index.php?page=Election+Funding if you are even the slightest bit curious about how other countries do it. Too much of American politics is about money and not enough is about issues. Imagine a world where a politician doesn't have to pander.

[barackobama4prez]

This headline makes me smile. Payback is a mutha..

[HeIsTheOne]

First stop Nebraska...and damn, now he'll have to go to Arizona too. When was the last time his constituents saw him?

Lieberman and McSame share a curious fate of their home states not liking them one bit.

[luvangelHussein330]

April 8th....

[HeIsTheOne]

Are you serious? April 8th was the last time he was in AZ?

Even Hillary has a better attendance record here in NY.

[suzyhein]

i thought he got his cold shoulder from being almost dead.

[Dane1911]

LETS SEE IF CNN, MSNBC AND FAUX NES REPORT THIS...

[edwarvir]

Dane1911 MY FELLOW BLOGGER DON'T GO OUT LIKE THIS. BREATHE AND
HOLD YOUR BREATH AGAIN. lol

[sheikwil]

now that's embarrassing for McCain and Arizona is his home state.

[trollsbwild]

Seems those who know him best think very little of him. Wonder why?

[Tropiholic]

they don't support him and he's their guy! how interesting, no wonder he HAD to take taxpayer funding