“There are many subjects South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to talk about on the campaign trail, but it’s the fascination about his bachelor status that has surprised him most,” CNN reports.
“So Graham — best known as a flame-thrower on immigration reform and an outspoken critic of President Obama’s foreign policy — has opened up about his lost loves and a near proposal to a Lufthansa flight attendant in a 126-page e-book released on his website this week.”
“We tried tall, good looking, smart, nice, great family man. Vote for me, we’re not going down that path again.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the Boston Globe, speaking at Mitt Romney’s summit over the weekend.
“Here’s the question for the country: Can you be single and still be president? Is it a job for married people only? Is there a sign on the White House, ‘Single people may not apply?’ I don’t know, I haven’t seen it.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in an interview with Yahoo, on being unmarried and running for president.
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Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) was caught on a live microphone saying Republican presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is unmarried, is a “bro with no ho,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Said Kirk: “I’ve been joking with Lindsey. He’s a bro with no ho. That’s what we’d say on the South Side.”
“I’ve got a lot of friends. We’ll have a rotating first lady.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham, quoted by the Daily Mail, on how the unmarried presidential candidate will handle the job of First Lady.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told CNN that he welcomes Caitlyn Jenner into the Republican party.
Said Graham: “I haven’t walked in her shoes. I don’t have all the answers to the mysteries of life. I can only imagine the torment that Bruce Jenner went through. I hope he’s — I hope she has found peace.”
He added: “I’m a pro-life, traditional marriage kind of guy, but I’m running to be president of the United States. If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party.”
First Read: “One of us talked to Lindsey Graham yesterday about his 2016 pitch, and one big takeaway was just how much he’s trying to claim the mantle of truth-teller within the GOP. On immigration, Iraq and fixing congressional gridlock, Graham wants to be the guy who’s not afraid to take on his party, who speaks truth to power and who’s happy to lay out unpopular solutions — polls be damned. It’s McCain 3.0 – a recipe that worked for the 2008 GOP nominee, by the way, in part because he was accessible to the press and acceptable to the chunk of the GOP that believes the direction – or at least the tone – of the party is off track.”
“But Graham isn’t the only player in the 2016 field who’s vying for the Truth Teller spot. John Kasich and Chris Christie are also positioning themselves as the candidate who’s willing to be honest with the GOP base about its problems. (Even Ted Cruz is perhaps serving that role specifically within the conservative movement.) Right now, none of these candidates is brushing the top tier, but one of them is almost sure to pop at some point in the race. And if they do, the person it will hurt most is Jeb Bush.”
“For a guy like me, it’s pretty simple. I do well in Iowa and finish in the top tier in New Hampshire, I’ll win South Carolina. By the end of South Carolina there are three or four people left at the most.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the Washington Post.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “barely registers in national surveys testing support for Republican presidential candidates. But here in South Carolina, which holds an early slot on the primary-election calendar, he is a household name who has won every race he’s run for 23 years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“That makes Mr. Graham, who is expected to launch his presidential campaign on Monday, a wild card in an important state. Even if Mr. Graham doesn’t win here, his pull among voters, donors and campaign operatives is likely to change the calculation of other candidates.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “plans to enter the crowded Republican presidential primary field Monday with a campaign that probably won’t deliver him to the White House, but will highlight the party’s divide over national security,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Graham lacks the big-money backing and name recognition that’s likely to be needed to pull away from the party’s increasingly unwieldy field. But for him, that may not matter.”
“For the last several years, Graham, a former Air Force colonel and legal officer, has played a central role in a sometimes-bitter battle between the GOP’s traditional defense advocates and newly emergent isolationist-leaning libertarians led by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is also seeking the party’s presidential nomination.”
“Allies of Lindsey Graham have created a super PAC to raise cash for the outspoken Republican senator as he prepares to launch his long-shot presidential bid in South Carolina next week,” National Journal reports.
“The new super PAC is named the Security Is Strength PAC—a not-so-subtle play off Graham’s own political committee, which is called Security Through Strength.”
The Fix: “Aside from simply pure name recognition, announcing that you will announce also primes the pump for donors who might not be aware of if/when you are getting in. Think of the announcement of an announcement as akin to pressing that little red button on your lawn mower a few times to get the gas flowing through the system before you try to start it. Or like a ‘save the date’ reminder for a wedding. You get the idea; it’s a way for Graham to get his planned announcement on the calendar of the political, donor and media world.”
“What the announcement of the announcement is not designed to do is increase the drama of what Graham will say. Because, everyone already knows what he will say.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham said he’ll announce his presidential plans June 1 — but seemed to have already made up his mind, CNN reports.
Said Graham: “I’m running because I think the world is falling apart. I’ve been more right than wrong on foreign policy. It’s not the fault of others or their lack of this or that that makes me want to run. It’s my ability in my own mind to be a good commander-in-chief and to make Washington work.”
“Everything that starts with ‘Al’ in the Middle East is bad news.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by TPM.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “used his short speech to a Friday night Republican gala to dispel any doubt that he will run for president,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Graham: “Get ready. Get ready. Get ready for a debate that’s been long overdue within the party. Get ready for a voice that understands you can’t save America without someone willing to sacrifice and die for America. To our enemies: Get ready, because there’s a new way of doing business coming. To our friends: Get ready for the America that you used to know. To Iowa and New Hampshire: Hello.”
“At the end of the day, his record, in my view, shows a foreign policy vision one step behind leading from behind. And all I can say is that if he’s the nominee, I will support him. But if he’s the nominee of the party, we risk giving up the central issue of the 2016 campaign which will be foreign policy.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Politico, taking offense at Sen. Rand Paul’s comparison of him as one of President Obama’s lap dogs.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “says his friendliness with the Clintons should not deter Republicans from considering him for the Republican presidential nomination,” Politico reports.
Said Graham: “Well, that would disqualify Jeb, because apparently Bill is like his illegitimate brother.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) oddly told Fox News he is “91% sure” that he’ll jump into the 2016 presidential race.
Said Graham: “If I can raise the money, I’ll do it.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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