The GOP civil war has a new victim: Sen. John McCain.
The Arizona Republican Party passed a resolution Saturday with a voice vote censuring McCain for his “long and terrible record of drafting, co-sponsoring and voting for legislation best associated with liberal Democrats,” and has said they will refuse to endorse or support McCain. According to the resolution, the Arizona GOP called out the long-time senator for supporting a so-called pathway to amnesty for immigrants, funding for Obamacare, and “assaults on the Constitution and 2nd amendment.”
“For too long, we have waited, hoping Senator McCain would return to our party’s values on his own,” the resolution states. “That has not happened.”
The resolution was introduced by Arizona District 30 Republican chairman Timothy Schwartz, who was able to bring the vote to the floor after getting 20% of the members present at the Arizona GOP meeting to sign his petition. “Our complaint is that John McCain is always working on the other side of the aisle, and never land on our side of the aisle,” Schwartz told Chris Matthews on msnbc Monday.
McCain, through a spokesman, has declined media inquires to comment. The 77-year-old has made a name for himself as a moderate “maverick” since he first joined the Senate in 1986.
Former Arizona senator and fellow Republican Jon Kyl dismissed the Arizona GOP’s stance and called the resolution “wacky.”
“Do these guys ever get elected? It’s John McCain who gets elected,” Kyl said in an interview with the Arizona Republic. “To say that John McCain doesn’t work with Republicans, doesn’t have a conservative voting record–that’s just baloney. I served with him in the Senate for 18 years, 26 years all together, and we didn’t always vote alike, but his record is very conservative. It’s just wacky to say otherwise.”
The Arizona GOP also voted Saturday on resolutions to support Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and tea party Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee.
Programming note: Timothy Schwartz will join Hardball tonight at 7 p.m. ET on msnbc.
