PHOENIX (By
Dan Nowicki,
Arizona Republic) February 14, 2007 —
A new recall drive targets Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a top
contender for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.
Organizers oppose McCain's continued support of the unpopular
Iraq war and consider him complicit in what they perceive as the
erosion of American civil liberties associated with the war on
terror.
"For the most part, he's been all right, but he's supposed to be
representing Arizona, and right now he seems to be just
representing himself," said William Crum, treasurer of Americans
for Integrity and Justice, the Glendale-based recall committee.
"He's got tunnel-vision for the presidency."
The recall application filed Tuesday with the Arizona
Secretary of State's Office accuses McCain of "shirking his
duties as a senator from the great state of Arizona" and of
having "acquiesced in his role as a member of the legislative
branch to strongly check the power of the chief executive, who
has for all intents and purposes become a king."
"Please, help restore our democracy, recall 'Bloody John
McCain,' " the handwritten application says.
McCain's Senate office did not respond to requests for comment.
McCain was elected to his fourth Senate term in 2004 and is not
up for re-election until 2010.
The recall group faces long odds. It must collect 381,696 valid
petition signatures by June 13 to force a statewide vote. That
is 25 percent of all votes cast in the 2004 Senate election.
Although McCain is a federal officeholder not bound by the
Arizona Constitution's recall provisions, he has signed a
voluntary pledge on file with the Secretary of State's Office
agreeing to resign immediately if defeated in a recall election.
About 30 people are helping with the recall, Crum said.
The two men behind the recall have challenged Republicans in the
past, but recall committee chairman Leonard Clark said he
considers the recall a nonpartisan effort.
Clark, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and who sometimes
writes on the liberal Daily Kos blog site, last year sought to
challenge Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. But he failed to collect the
minimum signatures to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot.
Crum, an independent, has run three write-in campaigns against
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and plans to do so again in 2008.
McCain also was the target of a recall campaign in 2001. That
effort was primarily driven by conservatives upset with McCain's
stances on campaign-finance reform and gun owners' rights and
for voting against President Bush's sweeping tax-cut package.
Organizers dropped the recall after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks.
