Palin to fire up base for McCain

Sarah Palin’s political ambition will be on full display when she flies into Phoenix for a rally with John McCain on Friday.

The former Alaska governor primed her supporters for the visit by blasting Arizona Democratic Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords for supporting the healthcare reform bill.

“We’re going to fire them and send them back to the private sector, which has been shrinking thanks to their destructive government-growing policies,” Palin wrote on her Facebook page Tuesday.

“We’ll aim for these races and many others,” she added, before asking supporters to donate to her political action committee.

About 1,000 people have signed up to see the 2008 GOP presidential ticket reunite at the Pima County Fairgrounds on Friday, according to the McCain camp, which grumbled that turnout may be hampered by the noon weekday start time.

As a comparison, the newly elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) drew close to 1,200 when he visited Arizona for a rally with McCain earlier this month. But that was on a Saturday, mind you.

Palin will also do a private fundraiser with McCain Friday night before headlining a second rally with her former running mate in Mesa on Saturday.

Meanwhile, McCain’s primary opponent, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, is making the rounds to community and Tea Party-related events. He’ll be speaking at an anti-sales tax rally at the state capitol when McCain and Palin take the stage on Friday.

And the former congressman may get his own high-profile endorsement that day — Joe the Plumber, aka Samuel Wurzelbacher, is slated to attend the same event.

A spokesman for Hayworth didn’t know if an endorsement was forthcoming but said: “He and J.D. have been talking and they agree on many, many, many issues.” He didn’t specify what those issues were.

Palin announced on her Facebook page that her 2010 efforts would be geared toward 20 districts, including the three in Arizona and two each in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The Ballot Box will be reporting on the McCain-Palin reunion and other stories from Arizona this week. Check back with our campaign blog, thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box, for updates.

—S.J.M.