Farewell, Lindsey Graham: 'Senator Has A Talent For Telling The Truth'
The USA Today
Editorial Board
December 22, 2015
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina wasn’t a top-tier name or someone the nation was clamoring to send to the White House when he jumped into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but he seemed to have the makings of a contender.
He’s a respected senator from an early primary state with obvious smarts and the kind of deep familiarity with national security policy that allows him to make specific proposals for fighting the Islamic State, while most of his rivals offer vague ideas ("carpet bombing") that reveal their ignorance. And in a race too often marred by the sort of moronic insults you can hear during elementary-school recess, Graham displayed actual wit.
But Graham’s cleverness couldn’t even keep him at the top of the GOP polls in his own state, and nationally he was an asterisk, stuck at 0.5% in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. His numbers were so low he was relegated to the GOP undercard debates and never made it to the main event, which would have benefited from his intelligence and sense of humor. On Monday, the last day he could take his name off the South Carolina primary list, he dropped out of the race.
Too bad. Graham's the kind of politician Republicans need if they’re going to thrive as the nation becomes more ethnically and racially diverse. He refused to back away from a smart immigration plan that combined tough border enforcement with a path to legality for some undocumented immigrants — the sort of plan most of his rivals can't run away from fast enough.
Graham’s conservative without being a rigid ideologue. He voted for both of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominees on the grounds that “elections have consequences,” and he has angered fellow conservatives by occasionally working with Democrats to get things done. He was an early and articulate critic of rival Donald Trump’s destructive know-nothingism (for which Trump childishly made public Graham’s cellphone number).
Most important, he used his short claim on the nation’s attention to remind his reality-challenged rivals and frustrated GOP voters why, despite dominating Congress, there are many things they can't accomplish without winning the White House.
"If you want to repeal Obamacare, get a new president," Graham said at one debate. "If you want to defund Planned Parenthood, elect a pro-life president, because that's the only way. … We're running to be president of the United States, the most important job in the free world. With it comes a certain amount of honesty. I'm tired of telling people things they want to hear that I know we can't do.”
Amen. That’s the Lindsey Graham we’ll miss.
Article Link to USA Today:
Farewell, Lindsey Graham
Editorial Board
December 22, 2015
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina wasn’t a top-tier name or someone the nation was clamoring to send to the White House when he jumped into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but he seemed to have the makings of a contender.
He’s a respected senator from an early primary state with obvious smarts and the kind of deep familiarity with national security policy that allows him to make specific proposals for fighting the Islamic State, while most of his rivals offer vague ideas ("carpet bombing") that reveal their ignorance. And in a race too often marred by the sort of moronic insults you can hear during elementary-school recess, Graham displayed actual wit.
But Graham’s cleverness couldn’t even keep him at the top of the GOP polls in his own state, and nationally he was an asterisk, stuck at 0.5% in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. His numbers were so low he was relegated to the GOP undercard debates and never made it to the main event, which would have benefited from his intelligence and sense of humor. On Monday, the last day he could take his name off the South Carolina primary list, he dropped out of the race.
Too bad. Graham's the kind of politician Republicans need if they’re going to thrive as the nation becomes more ethnically and racially diverse. He refused to back away from a smart immigration plan that combined tough border enforcement with a path to legality for some undocumented immigrants — the sort of plan most of his rivals can't run away from fast enough.
Graham’s conservative without being a rigid ideologue. He voted for both of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominees on the grounds that “elections have consequences,” and he has angered fellow conservatives by occasionally working with Democrats to get things done. He was an early and articulate critic of rival Donald Trump’s destructive know-nothingism (for which Trump childishly made public Graham’s cellphone number).
Most important, he used his short claim on the nation’s attention to remind his reality-challenged rivals and frustrated GOP voters why, despite dominating Congress, there are many things they can't accomplish without winning the White House.
"If you want to repeal Obamacare, get a new president," Graham said at one debate. "If you want to defund Planned Parenthood, elect a pro-life president, because that's the only way. … We're running to be president of the United States, the most important job in the free world. With it comes a certain amount of honesty. I'm tired of telling people things they want to hear that I know we can't do.”
Amen. That’s the Lindsey Graham we’ll miss.
Article Link to USA Today:
Farewell, Lindsey Graham
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