It occurs to me that some of you aren’t seeing the Hayworth-McCain matchup in Arizona in its proper perspective.

Yes, you can measure it against the usual standards just like any other race.  McCain ran another ad against Hayworth, and he was even wearing his Navy baseball cap.  There’s some controversy about it.  He’s also doing a decent impersonation of a conservative as he does every time an election rolls around.  Taken together, the fact Hayworth is running a little behind now isn’t hard to understand.

The problem is that some of you who don’t like McCain but can’t see yourselves voting for or supporting Hayworth aren’t getting the real picture.  It would be impossible not to improve on McCain, the only question being degree, but that’s not the bottom line.  The bottom line is the political opportunity of a generation.

Conservatives and Tea Party folks in Arizona have been handed the chance to make a political statement that is the stuff of which grassroots dreams are made.  You could send an unmistakable message to the Republican establishment like no other.  Nor will you get another chance like it again.

The worst RINO in the Republican Party, John McCain, could very possibly lose.  This is the guy that spent the Bush administration either trying to help Democrats get Democrat things done, or undermined our ability to put up a fight against them.  In 2008, he was the Republican presidential nominee forced onto us all, and proceeded to all but throw his election.  He’s an insider politician with connections, money, and Sarah Palin at his beck and call.  He’s recruiting other people like him to be elected.  To say the man is at the pinnacle of his seniority and power now would not be a stretch.  Then imagine what happens if, on August 24th, he loses it all.

Arizona, that can’t even be accurately described by calling it a statement.  It would be a meteor strike.  The Tunguska Event of RINO repudiation heard nationwide, whether the Republican establishment cares to hear it or not.  The opportunity you in Arizona and you alone possess:  The day you can get rid of the worst RINO the establishment has to offer.

The day you can say “We defy you to ignore us now!  We are a force, and you will take our issues into account!”

You don’t like Hayworth?  It doesn’t matter because he’s incidental.  He is your means to this end.  Furthermore, if he wins, he’ll also be the guy who watched an entrenched incumbent opponent lose his job.  So if he steps out of line, you can always remind him that if you can get to McCain, you can surely hold him to account.

I’ve been watching politics since the late eighties.  While there are people I would have loved to watch win or lose, some of whom actually did, this decision in Arizona could cause a fall like no other.  You can cost a senior RINO and former presidential nominee his political career in a single election cycle.  And yes, while you may be able to get rid of him in the future, it will never be so loud or unmistakable a statement as the timing of this one, or the removal of anyone else, can give you.

So now you have a choice, Arizona.  You can let yourselves be taken in by McCain again, and watch him go RINO the second he wins.  You can believe his waffling on Maverickness and the Danged Fence really are due to “changes in conditions on the ground” instead of Charlie Crist-style waffling.  You can pull the lever for “maverick” John McCain in August, and then realize that one momentary lapse of reason will give you six more years of regret.

Or you can live the dream of us all.  Instead of “John McCain in 2010:  Because there’s nothing to fear from an Obama Presidency,” send your message to the Republican establishment on August 24th.  Then sit back and listen to the roar, because it will be the rest of us cheering you on.

Now get in the mood with an epic soundtrack fit for maverick removal, and have at it.  August will be here before you know it.

P.S.:  This isn’t a paid post.  I wrote it for free, and not for any candidate or interest group.