PHOENIX (AP) — Facing the toughest re-election battle of his career, John McCain enlisted a rising star of the Republican Party in a bid Friday to lock down support among conservative primary voters.
Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown's first campaign trip as a senator comes less than three weeks after former congressman and conservative talk-radio host JD Hayworth launched a primary challenge to McCain.
Hayworth has said McCain is too moderate for Arizona Republicans and has betrayed conservatives by working with Democrats on measures that would restrict campaign donations and create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Brown joined McCain at Grand Canyon University, a small Christian school in Phoenix, on Friday. His appearance marked a key test of his popularity among Republican activists, and his ability to raise contributions for candidates after he recently broke with GOP leadership to side with Democrats in supporting a jobs bill.
"We need good people, honest people, people who are greatly respected, people who are not out for themselves," Brown told a crowd of about 1,000 people.
"And he's right here," he said of McCain.
Pacing the stage Friday, McCain stressed familiar themes, saying he opposes the health care bill and abortion, worries about the national debt, and is committed to creating jobs and keeping people in their homes.
He spent most of his time — and got his loudest applause — on health care.
"We Republicans, like the majority of Americans, are saying to the president: 'Stop and start over,'" McCain said.
He won his seat in January in a special election to replace the late Edward M. Kennedy, a liberal icon who frustrated conservatives for half a century. McCain was one of Brown's earliest supporters when his chances in Massachusetts looked like a longshot and he struggled to find footing in the race.
Days after his election, Brown returned the favor and recorded a phone call asking Arizona Republicans to support McCain.
Brown's victory embarrassed Democrats and gave Republicans the crucial 41st vote they need to block Democratic legislation in the Senate. On his first opportunity to do so, however, he was one of five Republicans to prevent a filibuster and allow the jobs bill to advance last month. It later passed the Senate on a formal vote with support from 13 Republicans.
Brown's vote earned him online criticism and the nickname "Benedict Brown" from some of those who supported his campaign — national Republicans, "tea party" groups and an array of conservative special interests.
The Massachusetts senator will likely have to walk a fine line between pleasing his base and positioning himself for re-election from his left-leaning state.
It's a challenge McCain knows well. The four-term senator represents a Republican-leaning state, but some Arizona conservatives have long been skeptical of him because of his work with Democrats like Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Kennedy.
Friday's campaign stop came just days after the leaders of four key Arizona "tea party" groups announced they would not endorse any candidate in the race, a blow to Hayworth, who has tried to define himself as the tea party candidate.
"Both McCain and Hayworth's records during their many years in Washington leave much to be desired," Robert Mayer, co-founder of the Tucson Tea Party, said in the statement.
Brown was also was scheduled to attend a fundraiser for McCain in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale and a campaign event in Tucson on Saturday.
