Lindsey Graham Is ‘91% In’ the Race for the GOP Nomination
By Emily Zanotti on 4.20.15 | 11:49AM
"Ninety one percent" is a rather arbitrary number, but I suppose Lindsey Graham, when not speaking on the subject of bombing a random nation into the ether, is a very arbitrary person. Shocked, apparently, by the lack of attention being paid to his bid for the Presidential nomination, Graham told reporters this weekend that he's "91% in" the race for the Presidency, and that we should all expect a surprise announcement any day now.
He has, of course, yet to raise enough money to compete with Marco Rubio, who has raised $40M and Ted Cruz, who is reportedly a record-breaking fundraiser. But fear not, someone is going to like Lindsey's message. He's sure of it.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that he’s “91 percent sure” he’ll get into the 2016 presidential race -- inching closer to a longshot challenge to the well-funded Republican front-runners.
Graham, a Republican and a military hawk, told “Fox News Sunday” that his foreign policy will be better than the plans put forth by Republican candidate Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
“I think I’ve got a good message,” he said. “I’ve been more right than wrong on foreign policy.”
Graham also stood behind his more moderate views on climate change, closing tax loopholes and comprehensive immigration reform, declaring he could win South Carolina, which is largely conservative and an early-primary state.
“If I’m on the ballot, I’ll win,” said the 59-year-old Graham, a former Air Force pilot and military lawyer.
He's not technically wrong, in the sense that he has a better chance of winning South Carolina than someone who isn't from there, but only among some South Carolinians unfamiliar with his work, but there's already a more "moderate" candidate in the race, Jeb Bush, and he's probably halfway to $100 million by now. And while some people might be more concerned with climate change this year than they were two years ago when it wasn't our foreign policy priority, no one is mistaking Lindsey Graham for Captain Planet.
Where Lindsey will come in handy, though, is on the foreign policy front. So far, the GOP field has been rife with rhetoric, but not much experience. Not that Lindsey has always been right, or that I agree with him more than 10% of the time, but given the threats popping up across the globe, a discussion of foreign policy would be good to have among Republican candidates, especially since, say, Lindsey and Rand Paul, are so far apart. If the debates aren't contentious on a personal level, they could produce fruit that allows the GOP to compete more readily with Hillary Clinton, who will be considered to have de facto foreign policy experience because her tenure as Secretary of State resulted in only a handful of major homicides worldwide (or something).
.
The American Spectator Foundation is the 501(c)(3) organization responsible for publishing The American Spectator magazine and training aspiring journalists who espouse traditional American values. Your contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Each donor receives a year-end summary of their giving for tax purposes.
Copyright 2013, The American Spectator. All rights reserved.
Source URL:
http://spectator.org/blog/62455/lindsey-graham-%E2%80%9891-in%E2%80%99-race-gop-nomination
