Graham has spent the entirety of his career in Congress building himself up as a hawkish expert on national security issues, and he’s been overshadowed completely by his equally hawkish sprat of a colleague, Marco Rubio. He’s carefully cultivated the trappings of establishment credibility and Beltway “seriousness,” only to see Republican primary voters flock to “outsider” candidates who probably aren’t even on a first-name basis with Wolf Blitzer. Even in his home state, he’s barely registering among the Republican faithful.
Faced with all these disappointments, one has to wonder: what point could there possibly be to Lindsey Graham 2016? What keeps this seemingly moribund enterprise in existence? What rationale does Graham have for staying in the race?
It turns out that the answer is “trolling Ted Cruz.” According to Politico, Graham’s mission at this point is to set himself on a collision course with Cruz over Planned Parenthood funding and the looming government shutdown:
Graham said in an interview he’s prepared to confront Cruz directly as the chamber braces for a rhetorical assault from the Texas senator, with Graham arguing that a shutdown would be futile and politically damaging. It’s an opportunity, Graham says, “to tell my side of the story here.” And, the senator with the syrupy Southern drawl admits, it won’t be because he thinks it’s going to give him a bounce in the polls.
“I’m running to be the president of the United States. And a certain amount of honesty comes with that,” Graham said in an interview. “Shutting down the government, I think it hurts our overall cause and I don’t mind telling people that. If I’m going to be a good nominee and a good president, I’ve got to tell you what I believe.”
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