While the question of the extent, if any, to which the alleged shooter's actions in Tucson last Saturday were influenced by inflammatory political invective remains open (largely because the suspect apparently hasn't yet said a peep to anyone), some REPUBLICAN leaders are taking no chances. Today's Arizona Republic reported on the resignations of several Republican district committee officials. These people were largely McCain supporters in the bitter 2010 primary campaign with Tea Party favorite J.D. Hayworth. Instead of "closing ranks" the way primary opponents and their partisans are supposed to, the Hayworth/Tea Party folks have remained bitter. So bitter, in fact, that these officials feared for their own and their family's personal safety.
Anthony Miller was the Republican District 20 party chairman, and a former McCain volunteer. He, along with three others in the district apparatus, have now quit.
Here's what Miller said:
Miller, a 43-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident and former campaign worker for U.S. Sen. John McCain, was re-elected to a second one-year term last month. He said constant verbal attacks after that election and Internet blog posts by some local members with Tea Party ties made him worry about his family's safety.
In an e-mail sent a few hours after Saturday's massacre in Tucson that killed six and injured 13, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Miller told state Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen he was quitting: "Today my wife of 20 yrs ask (sic) me do I think that my PCs (Precinct Committee members) will shoot at our home? So with this being said I am stepping down from LD20GOP Chairman...I will make a full statement on Monday."
Miller is quoted in the article as follows:
Miller said when he was a member of McCain's campaign staff last year has been criticized by the more conservative party members who supported Republican opponent J.D. Hayworth. The first and only African-American to hold the party's precinct chairmanship, Miller said he has been called "McCain's boy," and during the campaign saw a critic form his hand in the shape of a gun and point it at him.
"I wasn't going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday," Miller said. "I love the Republican Party but I don't want to take a bullet for anyone."
If even Republican officials fear for their personal safety -- not just in light of what happened in Tucson but also because of the atmosphere the far right has created -- doesn't that at least suggest that those calling for the rhetoric to be dialed down are correct, and Limbaugh, Palin, Beck, et al. are, in a word, wrong?
Here's the link to today's article:
http://www.azcentral.com/...