John McCain's Primary Race Gets Ugly ...

The primary battle between John McCain and JD Hayworth is getting nasty, even though the two aren’t even technically opponents yet. Hayworth, a former congressman, conservative talk show host and noted tea partier, hasn’t yet filed to run against McCain, and says he still may decide against it, but McCain’s already resorted to push polling and legal complaints, the Huffington Post reports.

McCain ally Grant Woods recently filed a suit saying Hayworth was illegally using his radio show—a “corporate subsidy”—to promote his candidacy for free. A foundation with links to McCain also ran a push poll telling voters about the Hayworth’s connection to the Jack Abramoff scandal. Hayworth, meanwhile, has been actively and nastily campaigning on the air—he called Woods an “ambulance chaser” who was “lower than some bacterial form of algae,” and joked that McCain was a “historical figure.” (More John McCain stories.)