http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/196343-arizona-conservatives-accuse-sen-mccain-of-betraying-gopJanuary 24, 2014, 11:32 am
Ariz. conservatives accuse McCain of betraying GOP
By Rebecca Shabad
A group of Arizona Republicans plan to introduce a resolution at their state party meeting this weekend accusing Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) of betraying the GOP, according to a report in The Arizona Republic.
The conservative faction says McCain has had a “long and terrible record of drafting, co-sponsoring and voting for legislation best associated with liberal Democrats.”
The resolution accuses McCain of promoting the idea of "amnesty” in efforts to legislate comprehensive immigration reform in Congress. The measure also criticizes McCain for not joining the campaign to defund ObamaCare in October, which led to the government shutdown.
“We have found it necessary that he needs to be censured and reprimanded publicly for his going AWOL from the principles he signed onto,” Timothy Schwartz, the resolution’s author, recently told a state CBS affiliate. Schwartz serves as the GOP chairman in an Arizona state district.
Supporters must collect hundreds of signatures for the resolution to be debated or voted on at the meeting Saturday in Tempe, Schwartz told the local paper.
Just two weeks ago, the GOP’s arm in Arizona’s Maricopa County approved the resolution 1,150 to 351.
“He voted to raise the debt ceiling against Republican principles; he wanted to fund ObamaCare. The list is long. He’s always working with liberal Democrats and not with people in his own party,” Schwartz told the CBS affiliate.
Neither McCain nor his office have commented on the resolution, The Arizona Republic said. His office did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
McCain has served in the Senate for 26 years and has not yet decided whether he plans to seek a sixth term in 2016.
