I wonder what Dan Quayle 's home address is? : AZ IMC

Dan Quayle seeks GOP convention for Phoenix

Quayle, who lives in Paradise Valley and whose son Ben is running for Congress in Arizona, helped pitch Phoenix to national GOP bigwigs.

Michael Steele, Republican National Committee chairman, and members of the RNC Site Selection Committee visited the Valley last month to check out possible Phoenix venues. The city is on the RNC's convention short list with Tampa, Fla., and Salt Lake City.

"I knew half of the committeemen who were there on the selection committee," Quayle told The Arizona Republic. "I had known them in the past, and I really buttonholed them and pushed hard - hard - for Phoenix."

Phoenix officials are pursuing a national political convention because they believe it would be a major economic boon. But Quayle said Phoenix makes sense for Republicans, too. Arizona is a growing swing state with a large Hispanic voter population that the GOP can win over, he said.

"I think we have a very good chance. My hunch is it is between here and Tampa," Quayle said.

The Site Selection Committee will vote on a city in May, with final RNC approval following in August.

In other developments:

• Quayle and his son are backing incumbent Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in his primary battle against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz.

"I served with John in the Senate," said Dan Quayle, a former Republican senator from Indiana. "He and I served on the Armed Services Committee together, so I've always supported McCain."

Ben Quayle, a GOP candidate in the 3rd Congressional District, was asked his opinion about the Senate race during a brief news conference Wednesday.

"Although I disagree with some of the positions he has taken, I think it would be a shame if Arizona didn't send John McCain back to the Senate," the younger Quayle said.

• Did Hayworth reach his much ballyhooed "Million Dollar March" fundraising goal?

His campaign insists he did, or eventually will, even though his Web site's online tally stopped short at $936,925. That would indicate he missed his $1 million goal by a little over $63,000.

"We frankly have a big stack of checks that we have still yet to open," David Payne, Hayworth's campaign manager, said Thursday.

"Remember, the (Federal Election Commission) rules: Checks postmarked March 31 count, and they're still coming in," Hayworth added.

The McCain campaign, which immediately declared Hayworth's March fundraising drive a bust, announced that McCain raised $2.2 million in the first three months of 2010 and still has $4.5 million on hand to spend.

A five-day Hayworth online "money bomb" in February raised $100,000, so he appears certain to report more than $1 million for the first quarter.

The campaign-finance reports are due to the secretary of the Senate on April 15. The GOP primary is Aug. 24.