We already know that John McCain has won the Republican nomination for United States Senate in Arizona. The only question is how wide of margin the defeat turns out to be.

Early indications? It’s a landslide for McCain.

This is what your risk when you run an unpredictable, unvetted candidate against a known product. The fact that Republicans in Arizona couldn’t produce a better candidate than J.D. Hayworth in a pro-conservative, anti-incumbent year like 2010 is a disgrace.

And no, I’m not arguing that Republicans should have put forth a wishy-washy RINO. We already have one of those in John McCain. I’m saying that Arizona Republicans should have put forward a better conservative challenger. You know, one who hasn’t starred in an infomercial telling people how to get “free money” from the federal government.

Now we get to watch as McCain, having gotten what he wanted, tacks back to the center-left on issues ranging from immigration to campaign finance. What a treat.