No place like home?

While his campaign is gaining some momentum in places like New Hampshire and South Carolina, Arizona Sen. John McCain is locked in a tough primary fight in his own backyard.

By Mike Murphy

Oct 18, 1999 | While he has emerged as the darling of the national press corps on the campaign trail Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is struggling for traction here in his home state. Against a backdrop of flattering press about his rise in New Hampshire, McCain is facing a full-scale attack in Arizona by George W. Bush and Steve Forbes that could brutalize his upstart presidential campaign.

"If the [Arizona] election were held today, I think he'd lose," said former Arizona attorney general Grant Woods, a former aide and confidant to McCain. "Fortunately for him, it's not."

Woods and McCain once were the Batman and Robin of Arizona politics, a GOP duo so bold and fearless that they seemed like the start of a new Arizona political dynasty. McCain even named Woods godfather to his son, John S. McCain IV.

Woods worked on McCain's first congressional campaign, and later served as a top congressional aide. Today, Woods is wavering between supporting Dole or Bush. He was Bob Dole's 1996 Arizona campaign chairman. Woods is now the host of a radio talk show in Phoenix, and on occasion, has been a thorn in McCain's side. He recently rankled the senator's camp by saying, "there's a very real question whether he'll even get Arizona."

Woods said unlike many Americans, who are just getting to know McCain, the senator is not a novelty to him or other Arizonans. "It's like after being married for 10 years. It's a different relationship than it might have been on the first date," Woods explained. "That doesn't mean we still don't hold affection for him. It means we don't want to consummate the wedding."

Yet over the years McCain and Woods split on a number of issues, including Woods' prosecution of former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington. Woods said he has lost his friendship to McCain over politics, while McCain downplays the rift.

The rift between McCain's and Woods, who recently shared the national stage with McCain in the war on Big Tobacco, is telling. To outsiders, it might help to explain why some top Arizona Republicans, including Gov. Jane Hull and John Rhodes, the former Republican leader in the House, are climbing on board with other presidential candidates, and why McCain's campaign has all but lost its home field advantage for the Arizona primary.

"The things that are most attractive to newcomers to McCain are thing we've already assimilated," Woods said. "It comes more down to issues and personality, and in that area, he wins some and he loses some."

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