McCain: Arizona GOP censure may spur sixth run

PHOENIX — U.S. Sen. John McCain hasn’t decided whether he’ll run for a
sixth term, but the former GOP presidential nominee said Tuesday that the
Arizona Republican Party’s censure of him over the weekend may just have
provided the motivation to seek office again.

The censure vote came during a meeting of state committee members who cited
McCain’s voting record as being insufficiently conservative.

The members said McCain has lent his support to issues “associated with
liberal Democrats,” such as immigration reform and funding President Barack
Obama’s federal health care law.

In response Tuesday, McCain said he has a strong conservative voting record and
led the fight in the Senate against Obama’s health care plan.

“I led the fight for 25 days on the floor of the Senate against Obamacare, I campaigned for months for Mitt Romney against Obamacare,” McCain told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Mac and Gaydos on Tuesday. “But I didn’t want the government shutdown, because I saw the devastating effects of it and there was no way that it was going to fund Obamacare.”

He’s also come under fire for his stance on immigration.

“In order for someone [to become a citizen], under the plan we have, they have to wait 10 years, they have to pay back taxes, they have to pay a fine, they have to learn English, and then after 10 years, they have to get in line behind everybody else, after having paid thousands of dollars in fees,” McCain explained. “I don’t call that amnesty.”

He blames the
censure on uninformed “extremist” party elements, and said, if anything, it
only bolsters his consideration to run for a sixth term in 2016, the year he
turns 80.

“If there’s such a thing as motivation to more seriously consider it, it’s
what just happened,” McCain told The Associated Press.

Timothy Schwartz, the Arizona Legislative District 30 Republican chairman who
helped write the censure resolution, said the vote showed that McCain was losing
support from his own party.

McCain called the censure ludicrous.

“It shows that, again, a very extremist element of the party has taken over
the party apparatus,” he said, adding that polling shows he maintained strong
support in Arizona from Republicans, Democrats and independents.

“I’ve won every race I’ve run and I’m proud of my record, and if I run again,
I am totally confident of re-election,” McCain said.

In a Facebook post this week, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and McCain’s 2008
running mate, defended the senator as “an American hero and a friend.”

Palin said McCain has helped lead the fight in Congress against the “far left
agenda.”

McCain was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and won his
Senate seat in 1986.

He unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 2008 then easily won another Senate
term in 2010. He has challenged Obama on foreign policy but has worked with
Democrats on immigration legislation, noting “70 percent of the people in
Arizona want to see comprehensive immigration reform.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.