page_title: United States Senate career of John McCain, 2001–2014
section_title: 2010 and Senatorial re-election campaign
hierarchical_section_title: United States Senate career of John McCain, 2001–2014 / Activities after Obama election to presidency / 2010 and Senatorial re-election campaign
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: 46. Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz 2010: Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (re) und Senator John McCain (li). English: 46th Munich Security Conference 2010: Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (ri) and Senator John McCain (le).
context_page_description: John McCain ran for US president in the 2000 presidential election, but failed to gain the Republican Party nomination, losing to George W. Bush in a campaign that included a bitter battle during the South Carolina primary. He resumed his role representing Arizona in the U.S. Senate in 2001, and Bush won the election. Bush was President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. McCain won re-election to the Senate in 2004, 2010 and 2016.
context_section_description: In its January 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a central element of McCain-Feingold, that which limited corporations and unions from candidate-related advertising in the closing period of an election.  In response, McCain said, “I am disappointed by the decision of the Supreme Court and the lifting of the limits on corporate and union contributions.”  His muted reaction compared to Feingold's was in the context of virtually all other Republicans exulting in the court's decision.
  A November 2009 Rasmussen Reports poll had surprisingly shown that former Congressman J. D. Hayworth was nearly even with McCain among likely Republican Party primary voters in the state, indicating that a primary challenge might be a serious danger to McCain.  Hayworth's February 2010 declaration of entry into the Arizona senate led Simcox to drop his campaign and endorse Hayworth, saying that he wanted to present a united conservative front against McCain.  The primary challenge helped account for McCain's sometimes awkward reversals or mutings of past stances on issues such as the bank bailouts, national security, campaign finance reform, creation of a national debt commission, and gays in the military. Hayworth said, "John is undergoing a campaign conversion."  The changes were pronounced enough to cause Newsweek's David Margolick to write: "His dramatic shifts raise several questions: How much of his maverick persona over the years has been real and how much simply tactical? Is he in the midst of some struggle for his soul, or is this evolution simply the latest example, dating back to his days at the Hanoi Hilton, of McCain doing whatever it takes to survive? Is the anger people sense in him anger at Obama, or the American electorate, or fate, or himself? And if, as seems likely, John McCain goes on to serve another term, which John McCain will it be?"
  With Hayworth using the campaign slogan "The Consistent Conservative", McCain backed off his reputation for unorthodoxy, saying (despite his own past use of the term), "I never considered myself a maverick. I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities." McCain sought to repair the many breaches with state party officials that had occurred over the years. Despite being opposed by elements of the Tea Party movement (while other elements declined to endorse either candidate), McCain remained strong among party centrists and independents, and had solid financial resources.  Sarah Palin staged a campaign appearance with him in March 2010 and said that McCain was deserving of support among Tea Party movement types, although many in the crowd came to see her rather than him and were unsure of who they would vote for in the primary.
  When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, finally passed Congress and became law in March 2010, McCain strongly opposed the landmark legislation not only on its merits but also on the way it had been handled in Congress.  As a consequence, he warned that congressional Republicans would not be working with Democrats on anything else: "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year. They have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it."  In response, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs compared McCain to a six-year-old child who wants to take his toys and go home.  McCain subsequently backed off that stance as it related to matters of national security.  McCain supported Arizona SB1070, which gained national attention as attracted national attention as the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in decades within the United States, only hours before its passage in April 2010, then became a vocal defender of the nationally controversial measure, saying that the state had been forced to take action given the federal government's inability to control the border.
  Hayworth's campaign began to struggle when infomercials he had made in 2007 came to light, which had pitched access to free government payment pro
caption: Senators McCain and Joe Lieberman at the Munich Conference on Security Policy in February 2010
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