GOP Clown Car Part 3: Lindsey Graham

  While he may not be as out there as Jim Gilmore or George Pataki, the idea of Lindsey Graham of running for president is a bit odd. Even though he is a beltway fixture and played a prominent role in the 2008 run of Senator John McCain, he did not seem like someone who would run for the office himself. It may have been a surprise but we know exactly why Senator Graham wanted to be president, because he has said so in no uncertain terms. Like his good friend McCain it's all about Commander in Chief. The military and foreign policy is by far the biggest issue for Graham. Heck, he might work in some of that other presidential stuff, too.

  Outside of Rand Paul, the current crop of GOP share the same attitudes on foreign policy, it is more of what degree of aggressiveness they want to take. They all want massive increase in military spending and bigger footprint in the world especially the Middle East. Most of them are at least saying they would go back and fix, redo, or ignore the much hated Obama Iran deal. The motivation for this position is nothing short of hilariously wrong. Their theory seems to be foreign policy under W had a rough start but by the end was going great. The surge worked and we got rid of Saddam and restored peace to Iraq, we beat the Russians, and while the Middle East could be better was in good shape. Obama became president and it all went to hell. Iraq plunged into chaos because we left, Iran rose up because Obama was so weak, and in general Obama wasn't strong enough and his naivete caused massive problems world wide. I am ready to be Commander in Chief day one is one Graham's favorite lines. At the Reagan Library debate, all the candidates took turns blaming Obama for the current state of our foreign policy and, at best, there were some admissions of mistakes made during W's years, but it was nothing compared to unmitigated disaster Obama has been. Jeb! went so far as to use the tried and true line my brother kept us safe when Trump said that W's mistakes opened the door for Obama. Graham is at the forefront of these positions and it is clear that is by far his number one priority.

  Graham is currently polling at 0.0 in the Real Clear Politics average of polls, so it is a massive understatement to say Lindsey has no chance to be president. However, if he had actually did have a shot at being president, we would probably see a kinder gentler version of McCain. Before Ted Cruz brought the House Tea Party crazy into the Senate, John McCain was the pain in ass go against grain guy in the Senate. While Graham and McCain have definite ideas on foreign policy especially in the Middle East, their domestic agendas tend to be more mainstream Republican. Most importantly based on exchange with Bobby Jindal at the second kid's table debate, he is conservative but wants to work within the structure of government. Jindal was pressing Graham on why they were not trying harder to defund Planned Parenthood, and the response was that with the math in Senate and Obama with the power of the veto it is not worth it to shut down government over a losing plan and would probably hurt the party next November. So he is not for the chaos of the Ted Cruz style of governance. While you have the same fear of President Graham that you would of a President McCain as far as what trouble their uber muscular foreign policy would cause, they would have at least have a semi-sane domestic approach and would probably work with Democrats to get actual legislation done.

  Unlike Gilmore or Pataki I at least think I have an idea of why Lindsey Graham is actually running for president. While I think he would really like to president specifically commander in chief I think the real goal is to be Secretary of Defense or State in the next Republican administration. By having a position like that he can focus on foreign policy which seems to be his true area of interest. Although the idea of President Cruz with Secretary of Defense Graham is enough to keep you up at night, and thank goodness that seems unlikely. The question is will hang around until the South Carolina primary. He is not polling well and it might be embarrassing to lose badly in your home state. No matter what Lindsey Graham will be fine in the long run. He will continue to be a favorite of cable news and the Sunday talking head shows. He often gets labeled a RINO, but seems safe in his Senate seat for now. While I am not even remotely a fan Graham on a policy basis, Washington needs more pragmatic Republicans who believe in the system and are trying to actually get something done and not to burn it all down.