By Robert Laurie —— Bio and Archives December 31, 2014
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"...his political team is engaging in an aggressive and systematic campaign to reshape the state GOP apparatus by ridding it of conservative firebrands and replacing them with steadfast allies. The ambitious effort — detailed to POLITICO by nearly a dozen McCain operatives, donors, and friends — has stretched from office buildings in Alexandria, Virginia, where strategists plotted and fundraisers collected cash for a super PAC, to Vietnamese-American communities across Arizona, where recruiters sought out supporters eager to help the incumbent defeat the tea party."To be blunt, McCain has decided to go to war with the base of his own party in a desperate attempt to hang on to his power. If he can get rid of enough low-level elected conservatives, he'll be able to sway the state party as a whole. This gets really into the "inside baseball" of Arizona's screwy system but, if you want to know what he's up to, here's the rundown.
"Under the byzantine rules of Arizona Republican Party politics, these elected officials, known as precinct committeemen, vote for local party chairmen. The chairmen, in turn, determine how state and local GOP funds are spent, which candidates are promoted in an election year, and which political issues are highlighted — all matters of central concern for McCain heading into 2016, when the threat of a primary looms. Prior to Aug. 26, when the races for the party offices were held, the vast majority of the 3,925 precinct slots were filled by people McCain’s team considered opponents. Now, after an influx of candidates were recruited by the senator’s allies, around 40 percent of those offices — 1,531 to be exact — will be held by people McCain’s team regards as friendly. They will have the power to vote down hostile Republican chairmen in each of their respective localities."In other words, if he can just get rid of the people who actually care about what GOP voters want, he'll have a much easier time hanging on to his seat. He'll enjoy a watered down Arizona GOP and won't have to worry so much about things like principles. Basically, it's a mini-version of the moves being made by the party at the national level. ....It also dooms the GOP to long-term loss, saddles the country with another Congress full of wishy-washy centrists, and could even make things easier on whoever the Dems next Presidential candidate is. Congratulations, Mr. McCain.
Robert Laurie’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain.com
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