PHOENIX (AP) – At age 79, running what may be his last campaign, Sen. John McCain finds himself on treacherous terrain.
A household name in Arizona and still beloved by many, the Republican is also confronting hostile and unpredictable forces this election year: The swirling voter anger that propelled Donald Trump to the brink of the GOP presidential nomination, and the resulting backlash from other groups, particularly Latinos, a growing force in his state.
The combination has left McCain to grasp for answers about his own political fortunes as he seeks a sixth term, and has set up what may be his toughest general election challenge in years. Three-term Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is traveling the state arguing that McCain has been in Washington too long, and telling voters the incumbent has betrayed his reputation as an independent-minded maverick with his backing of Trump.
“There’s a degree of political turmoil that we have not seen before,” McCain said in assessing the challenges before him, as a blistering heat wave got underway in Phoenix on a recent morning. “I never take an election for granted, I’ve seen too many people that did and lost. But anyone who would take this election for granted, that is an incumbent is just out of touch with the frustration and even anger that is out there.”
McCain is a perennial target for conservatives in his state because of his deal-making with Democrats on issues like immigration, and many Republicans felt he dodged a bullet when he failed to draw a top-tier opponent in the GOP primary this year. He is expected to win the Aug. 30 contest, though his campaign is tamping down a challenge from state Sen. Kelli Ward, spending money on ads and websites linking her to conspiracy theories about aircraft spraying Americans with chemicals.