Oh my! Arizona GOP censures its own senator

The resolution quoted in the next several paragraphs was passed by a voice vote at an Arizona GOP meeting on the 25th of January of the State committeemen. I am assuming that there were women present, however, if you were to go to the Arizona GOP website it does say “committeemen.” They could have said committee members, but I assume that they may be trying to make a point.

As leaders in the Republican Party, we are obligated to fully support our Party, platform, and its candidates. Only in times of great crisis or betrayal is it necessary to publicly censure our leaders. Today  we are faced with both. For too long we have waited, hoping Senator McCain would return to our Party’s values on his own. That has not happened. So with sadness and humility we rise and declare:

Whereas Senator McCain has amassed a long and terrible record of drafting, co-sponsoring and voting  for legislation best associated with liberal Democrats, such as Amnesty, funding for ObamaCare, the debt ceiling, liberal nominees, assaults on the Constitution and 2nd amendment; and

Whereas this record has been disastrous and harmful to Arizona and the United States; and

Whereas Senator McCain has campaigned as a conservative and made promises during his re-election campaigns, such as the needed and welcomed promise to secure our borders and finish the border fence, only to quickly flip-flop on those promises; and

Whereas McCain has abandoned our values and has been eerily silent against Liberals, yet publicly reprimands Conservatives in his own Party, therefore

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Arizona Republican leadership censures Senator McCain for his continued disservice to our State and Nation, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that until he consistently champions our Party’s Platform, we, the Republican leadership in Arizona will no longer support, campaign for or endorse John McCain as our U.S. Senator

Yes, you read correctly. According to the Arizona GOP, Senator McCain is really a liberal and is not considered a Republican by his own state party. His stances are considered so serious that the Arizona GOP considers this a time of “great crisis or betrayal.” Apparently his great crime was that he cooperated with Democrats, and that he voted for legislation which included some funding for projects hated by the Tea Party. Yes, this is yet another Tea Party related resolution. How can one tell? Because of the wording. If you read it carefully, nothing in the resolution says that Senator McCain actually voted for ObamaCare (which is not the actual name of the legislation, only the moniker given it by Republicans), but rather that he voted for legislation that included funding for ObamaCare. Since Senator McCain was one of the Senators who voted to pass any of several budget acts, rather than having the government close, and is one of the Senators who was in favor of supporting the previous tradition that a President does indeed have the right to choose judicial nominees of his/her liking, the resolution does not mean that Senator McCain voted for any of those issues directly. It only means that he voted for general funding resolutions that included the Tea Party hated programs.

However, in the radical and most extreme Arizona GOP, that was enough to get him censured by the party. Fortunately, the majority of the people of Arizona do not listen to the Tea Party. And so, it is likely that McCain will get to continue being a Senator. However, this is another black eye for the national GOP, a GOP which has been torn by dissension within its ranks and by successful extremist challenges. It looks as though the national GOP will continue to have serious and unresolvable problems in the foreseeable future. Sadly, it also means that if one is a moderate, there is no secure place for that person in today’s Republican Party.