McCain recall drive formally begins (The Real McCain)

By Jesse Haff - February 15

Organizers of a recall drive in Arizona oppose McCain's continued support of the Iraq war and for being complicit in the erosion of civil liberties associated with the war on terror. The recall was filed Tuesday by Americans for Integrity and Justice who stated: "... right now he seems to be just representing himself, he's got tunnel-vision for the presidency."

To force a statewide vote, the recall group must collect 381,696 valid signatures by June 13. McCain signed a pledge with the Secretary of State's Office agreeing to resign immediately if defeated in a recall election. Read more details here.

Comments

Basheert said:

So - here is MY problem.
How do AZ voters find a way to sign these petitions???
Cliff, do you have any ideas?

February 15, 2007 10:48 AM

leonard clark said:

"It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness" of "bloody John McCain. Hello, my name is Leonard Clark. I am the chairman of the committee to recall Bloody John McCain. I realize the odds against us are huge but we are sending a message to the rest of the country and to the world that Arizona does not stand for a what John McCain stands for : the selling out of Habeas Corpus, the needless killing of my fellow soldiers in Iraq and the evil corpocracy that is quickly establishing an autocracy throughout the United States and the world. In six months we will also be establishing a recall for Senator "John Himmler Kyl".

Even if you live outside of the Arizona you can greatly help by combatting non-violently through the internet those hooligans that McCain has set in place to destroy us. Please spread the word !

To help, contact us at: [email protected] or call: 602-423-6300
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!
N.O. M.A.S. ! Not One More Soldier Should Die In Iraq !

February 15, 2007 2:22 PM

trifecta said:

McCain's support is collapsing. New Fox News poll has him collapsing, trailing Guiliani head to head 56% to 31%.

February 15, 2007 9:14 PM

susang said:

"How do AZ voters find a way to sign these petitions???
Cliff, do you have any ideas?" --Basheert

Here's how it was done in California: enlist a rich GOP congressman (like Issa) who kicks in a couple of million dollars and use the money to hire people to stand outside supermarkets and get the signatures. It works.

February 16, 2007 3:59 AM

Basheert said:

I believe PAID petition solicitors are now prohibited in AZ.
I also contacted Leonard and have suggested hitting the blogs HARD. The article in the AZ Republic had EIGHT PAGES of people asking WHERE to sign! He needs to go there and post! As soon as petitions are available, I'll post a link as well because I know a few people on this board ARE in AZ.

February 16, 2007 10:59 AM

r€nato said:

here's how you do it:

there are LOTS of progressives groups in Phoenix and Tucson. Get someone out to each group's meetings and circulate the petition. You can get dozens of signatures at a pop and no worries about surly Republicans bitching out the petition gatherer like you'd get at a supermarket or something. Church groups too. Plenty of lefty Christians around here. Get the local lefty radio station, KPHX in on it if you haven't already. Get people out to wherever people gather - spring training, spring festivals, etc. Libraries.

You are going to need either LOTS of volunteers or LOTS of money to hire signature gatherers. You also need some organization. It is much too large a task to do without a good organization. You are going to have to gather around 450,000 signatures in 120 days, if I recall correctly. That's about 27,000 a week. The legal requirement amounts to around 380,000 valid signatures but you need extras of course. I hope you guys are up to it. This is a HUGE task.

February 16, 2007 7:38 PM

Basheert said:

Great suggestions. I am in contact with Leonard as well and will make sure this gets to him. I doubt if we can raise the number of siggys we need. It seems the people in AZ don't really CARE that he considers the vote a "ploy" and says he isn't being paid to vote on political ploys.
However I was not aware that the People of Arizona were paying for him to skip Senate Votes to Campaign?
Mr. McCain surely needs some therapy, perhaps the next time he undergoes chemo for that nasty melanoma on his face.

February 17, 2007 12:16 PM

Dan said:

Lets send him back to Hanoi !!

February 17, 2007 6:19 PM

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address (not displayed):

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments:

About Cliff Schecter

Cliff Schecter is a veteran campaign strategist and political commentator. Schecter is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and was a guest columnist for United Press International from 2002-2004. His work has been featured in a variety of publications including The Miami Herald, The American Prospect, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Fordham Urban Law Journal, The Washington Monthly and Salon.com. He blogs at cliffschecter.com and writes a weekly satirical column each Friday called "Cliff's Corner," summarizing the week's most ridiculous events, for AMERICAblog. Surprisingly, Tom DeLay gets mentioned a lot.

During the 2004 election cycle, Schecter worked as the "liberal" pundit for The Sinclair Broadcast Group, where he debated conservative Armstrong Williams -- for significantly less cost to the White House. He has also appeared on CNN, CNBC, NPR FoxNews and the Canadian Broadcast Channel. Recently, Schecter has been a regular contributor to MSNBC, where his debates against Republicans have become some of the most popular videos on YouTube, garnering as many as 125,000 viewings. Additionally, Schecter has provided analysis on American politics for international diplomats, journalists, students and politicians as part of The State Department Bureau of International Information Programs.

Schecter, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, holds an MA in International Affairs from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs and is receiving his Ph.D. in American History as a Dean's Honors Fellow at American University.

Schecter was a pollster for the successful reelection of President Bill Clinton in 1996 and fundraiser for former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner in 2001. He has also provided initial opposition research for the Ned Lamont campaign's unprecedented victory over sitting senator Joe Lieberman in the 2006 primary race in Connecticut, and has consulted for the DNC, DCCC and candidates he won't mention here because they lost.

Contact:

Subscribe to the blog