J.D. Hayworth’s campaign has created a fantastic ad highlighting Sen. John McCain’s pseudo-conservatism. The, pictured below, paints McCain as a character from James Cameron’s mega hit “Avatar.” (Please forgive me for not knowing the character’s name. This movie does nothing for me, so my knowledge of it is even less than rudimentary, and I’d like to keep it that way.)

Of course the McCain campaign is infuriated by this ad, particularly the first version of it. The initial ad only had blue stripes on McCain’s face–it wasn’t completely covered in blue. The McCain campaign decided that that was offensive to Native Americans:

“Ex-Congressman J.D. Hayworth should immediately apologize and and take down his latest online ad, which is an outrageous offense to John McCain’s lifetime of honorable service to our state and nation, and insulting to Native Americans here in Arizona and across America,”

Here is the original ad.

How is that offensive in any way? I don’t see how that’s offensive to Native Americans and the only reason McCain’s campaign is taking offense is because the truth hurts.

My only objection to the ad would be that it’s somewhat charitable to McCain. After all, at times McCain doesn’t so much as even act like he’s a conservative.

Former Congressman and talk show host J.D. Hayworth hasn’t even formally announced his candidacy for Arizona’s Senate seat, and yet John McCain is already viciously attacking him.

McCain and his campaign staff really have it out for Hayworth and conservatives:

McCain is attempting, with a series of hardball tactics, to cut Hayworth down before his campaign even gets off the ground. He’s mounted a concerted effort during the past month to push Hayworth off the airwaves, run an ad targeting Hayworth on his own radio station and warned him through emissaries that going through with a bid to unseat McCain would be a serious mistake.

McCain is going so far as to hit back at Hayworth on his own turf, launching a critical radio spot on KFYI last week, days before Hayworth even announced he was in the race.. “He sounds conservative on the radio, but J.D. was one of the biggest spenders in Congress,” says the ad, which is also running statewide. “In 2005, they passed a bill with 6,500 pork-barrel earmarks worth more than $24 billion. J.D. voted for every one. He’d be the wrong direction for Arizona.”

“That effort has just started. They are going to highlight all the crap he voted for,” said the source. “[McCain is] going to turn this into a referendum on who is the best protector of your money.”

One source familiar with the McCain campaign said the offensive was only a preview of things to come, adding, “I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of this.”

Where was this attitude from McCain and his staff during last year’s presidential election against Barack Obama? J.D. Hayworth actually makes this point as well:

Mr. Hayworth told The Washington Times he wished Mr. McCain had shown the same passion and aggressiveness while running for president, citing Mr. McCain’s refusal to exploit racial comments by Mr. Obama’s pastor that surfaced during the campaign.

“I just wonder where that energy was in the presidential campaign, with reference to both Barack Hussein Obama and the Rev. Wright,” Mr. Hayworth said.

What does it say about John McCain that he’ll vigorously fight against a conservative opponent, but he wouldn’t attack Barack Obama? It says what we’ve know all along about McCain: He’s not a conservative. In fact, I’ll so far as to say that he loathes conservatives.

Hayworth may not be the ideal conservative candidate, but I hope he cleans McCain’s and his campaign staff’s (they’re all arrogant elitists) clock in the primary. He has a steep mountain to climb, though, Rasmussen has McCain with a 53% to 31% lead on Hayworth. Just as an aside, Sarah Palin’s endorsement of McCain is due some credit for the large lead for McCain because, prior to her endorsement, Hayworth only trailed 45% to 43%.

Maybe she should just stick to contributing to Fox News.