The Republican Party of Charleston County has voted to censure Sen. Lindsey Graham, according to county GOP Chairman Lin Bennett.

“U. S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in the name of bipartisanship continues to weaken the Republican brand and tarnish the ideals of freedom, rule of law, and fiscal conservatism,” the resolution stated.

Graham’s support of a version of the cap-and-trade bill pushed by the Obama administration is “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Bennett has said. The bill will increase the price of virtually everything Americans do and consume due to taxes on energy and carbon emissions, according to opponents of the bill that includes most Republicans and Independent voters.

Graham’s staff points to his past conservative voting record and his efforts to find a pathway to energy independence that includes environmental protection.

Two years ago, the Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee voted to censure Graham for supporting amnesty for illegal aliens.

Palmetto State Republicans have become increasingly frustrated by the senior senator’s willingness to move away from traditional conservative principles and support amnesty for illegal aliens, vote to confirm a leftist attorney to the U.S. Supreme Court and now actively supporting some of the radical policies of the Obama Administration. Finally a possible answer has surfaced.

Last week unconfirmed reports surfaced that Sen. Graham is hoping to become Secretary of Defense to replace Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush Administration who may become the scapegoat for the botched mission in Afghanistan and failure of the President to support the effort to win the war.

Gates, a moderate Republican, picked by President George W. Bush to replace Donald Rumsfield and appease liberals, is expected to resign next year as the Obama Administration pursues a foreign policy unfavorable to the national security of the United States.

The appointment of Graham, a Republican Senator, as Secretary of Defense could be used by the Obama administration in deep trouble with voters approaching the 2010 congressional elections, to create the allusion of moving toward a bipartisan national defense.