John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona, is in the fight of his political life. Oh sure, nothing can compare to McCain's capture and imprisonment on October 26, 1967, spending five and a half years at the "Hanoi Hilton," subjected to physical tortures. McCain also lost his battle with Barack Obama for the presidency in 2008, but knew then if he lost he would continue as a U.S.

Senator.

There cannot be any love lost between John McCain and Donald Trump for a variety of reasons. In a new ad, McCain completely dismissed Trump as a serious candidate. That is the attitude of many "mainstream" Republicans too.

This year, McCain was coming off an intense and dirty primary battle with Dr. Kelli Ward. She called him an "old man" and said he would pass away in the next six years, thus failing to serve out his term. She said such awful things about Sen. McCain as he has "fallen down on the job" and that he has "gotten weak and old."

Dr. Kelli Ward wants to give McCain the 'gift of retirement'

To add further insult, Dr.

Ward said, "I want to give him the best birthday present ever -- the gift of retirement," said the 47-year-old medical doctor. However, Dr. Ward lost and McCain won the Republican primary and nomination.

But can McCain survive is the question being asked.

Now, Sen. McCain will face another, possibly even stiffer challenge just ten weeks away in the November general election. He has a very tough opponent in a Democrat, U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona. In his first campaign ad, John McCain has thrown the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, under the bus in summarily dismissing his chances at becoming president. 

In the ad, John McCain says, “If Hillary Clinton is elected president, Arizona will need a Senator who will act as a check, not a rubber stamp for the White House.” The video doesn't once mention Trump.

He presents himself as the one that can place a check on Hillary Clinton, and unlike his opponent, would not go along with her policies as a "rubber stamp."

Trump said McCain was not a 'war hero'

It was last year that Trump made a crack about McCain saying he was "not a war hero." In July of 2015, Trump said of McCain, “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” That caused quite a stir, received universal condemnation, but the remarks did not hurt Trump and the criticism of Trump for saying such harsh things did not hurt him.

His opponent is no slouch. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick has a highly-organized and focused campaign operation and has support of the Daily Kos with money and a ground game. 

Hillary Clinton is also helping her with an intense effort to take the red-state of Arizona from the Republicans. It could happen and this time McCain might just get that retirement gift promised by his primary opponent. That is not what Dr. Kelli Ward had in mind.