Graham Stands His Ground

By Lee Bandy
SouthCarolina Insider

(8/31/07) Hardly a day passes here when a conservative Republican doesn’t blast GOP U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Just this past week, a woman cornered a reporter at a Publix super market in Forest Acres to register her complaint.

“I can’t stand Lindsey Graham,” she said. “And I voted for him. Not again.”

She was primarily upset with the senator’s stance on immigration reform.

She is not alone in her criticism of the Seneca senator.

The executive committee of the Greenville County Republican Party voted April 8 to censure Graham not only for his stance on immigration but other “liberal” positions.

The Spartanburg County party has scheduled a no-confidence vote on the senator for Nov. 1.

Rick Beltram, chairman of the Spartanburg GOP, said Graham is at the “cusp. If he does anything more wrong, he is in trouble.”

Beltram said there are a number of matters involving Graham that disturb GOP voters in the Upstate. Among them:

- His close ties to Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
- His paling around with U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
- His role with the bipartisan group of senators, known as the “Gang of 14,” who cleared he way for the confirmation of conservative justices to the U.S Supreme Court.
- His support of President Bush’s immigration reform package.

“Republicans don’t like him dealing with loud-mouth Democrats,” Beltram said.

Graham, no shrinking violet, likes a good scrap.

On Monday night, he appeared before a packed meeting of the Richland County GOP. He was prepared for the worse.

But Graham, who can disarm a hostile audience better than most, had them eating out of his hand before the evening was over.

He stood his ground.

“People in South Carolina have a tradition of sending people to Washington who speak their mind and stand up for what they believe,” he told his audience.

Conservative Republicans unhappy with the senator are looking for someone to run against him. But so far they’ve been unsuccessful in their efforts to recruit a candidate.

One reason may be Graham is sitting on a campaign reserve of $4 million, enough to discourage anyone from taking on the senator.

Rusty DePass, a veteran Republican activist from Columbia, said it would take someone of the stature of Gov. Mark Sanford, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson of Lexington, or former S.C. House Speaker David Wilkins of Greenville – and now U.S. ambassador to Canada – to give Graham a run for his money.

“A primary contest would be the greatest worry for Graham ,” said College of Charleston political scientist Bill Moore.

But even so, the odds of Graham losing are slim to none, he said.

“What you have in South Carolina is a vocal minority who talks a good game but ducks tail and runs for cover when the say of reckoning comes,” Moore says.

Hardcore conservatives are trying to portray Graham as a “liberal” but the effort is falling on deaf ears.

“Lindsey’s record is nothing but solidly conservative,” said Winthrop University professor Scott Huffmon.

“He needs to do a better job of communicating this to voters across the state,” Moore said.

Unhappiness with Graham is not confined to the Upstate. It’s pretty much statewide.

In the short time he has been in the Senate, Graham has become a national figure. He frequently is called to appear on the television talk shows. He has said things on those programs that alienated voters back home..

Hardcore conservatives say Graham is really a RINO – Republicans in name only.

“Look who he hangs around with in the Senate. Hillary Clinton,” observed Francis Marion Unversity analyst Neal Thigpen.

Unless a candidate of stature enters the race. Graham should win handily.

The general election should be a cakewalk for Graham. The Democrats love him.