In Worth the Fighting For, his 2002 memoir, Sen. John McCain explains why he supported South Carolina’s right to fly the Confederate flag during the 2000 presidential primary. “I didn’t want to do this,” he writes. “But I could tell from the desperate looks of my staff that we had an enormous problem. And that it could come down to lying or losing. I chose lying.”

I chose lying. Those three words are haunting McCain this week. J.D Hayworth, McCain’s chief opponent in Arizona’s Aug. 24 GOP Senate primary, has clipped the line from McCain’s audiobook recording and framed his latest television ad around it. In the spot, Hayworth hammers McCain on immigration:

At the end of the ad, Hayworth acknowledges his campaign’s recent stumbles. “I’ve made my mistakes,” he says, “but I approve this ad because I will never vote for amnesty.”