Posted on 04/23/2014 5:25:03 AM PDT by cotton1706
In July 2010, at the height of the Tea Party’s power — when Don’t Tread on Me flags bloomed across South Carolina and fresh-faced insurgents vanquished establishment GOP stalwarts — Lindsey Graham wasn’t worried.
His next election was four years away, and as he rode in a sedan through his native Upstate with a New York Times magazine reporter profiling him, the state’s senior U.S. senator explained that he didn’t think the Tea Party was sustainable.
“It will die out,” he said.
That was a bold statement in 2010 — especially from an establishment Republican figure like Graham in a politically volatile state like South Carolina. A month earlier, a Tea Partier named Trey Gowdy had taken down Republican Upstate Congressman Bob Inglis in a primary. That same year, relative unknown Nikki Haley vaulted over an establishment GOP field to take the governor’s mansion on a Tea Party wave.
By that time, grassroots conservative resentment had also been bubbling up around Graham, a mainstream, business-oriented Republican insider known for working with Democrats on big agenda items like immigration and the environment. In 2008, Graham had easily survived a primary challenge from Buddy Witherspoon, who focused his campaign almost exclusively on immigration. Later, though, Graham began taking heavy fire on his right flank. In 2009, while making the case for a bigger Republican tent during a speech at the state party’s convention, Graham faced down hecklers when he said U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was “not the leader” of the GOP and warned that he wasn’t going to turn the party over to people who couldn’t win.
“I’m a winner, pal,” Graham scolded one heckler. “Winning matters to me. If it doesn’t matter to you, there’s the exit sign.”
(Excerpt) Read more at free-times.com ...
It will truly be a shame for this country if principle-less opportunists like Graham retain their seats. There will be no change in its downward trajectory.
Linda will be free to be her true self once she gets relieved of the duties of her office.
A facility for raising money should not be the equivalent of ‘fitness’ for office... but it has become so.
Too bad. It’s become the recommendation for hopefuls who have no OTHER credentials.
The successful money-grubbing of the GOP establishment will continue, even though everything ELSE about the organization has become a daily (almost hourly) proven lie and a public failure. The mechanism for getting money is about the ONLY thing the GOP continues to do efficiently.
Unfortunately, there will always be voters who, for lack of ANY resourcefulness, integrity or genuine understanding, permit themselves to be deceived by the bevy establishment nominees the ‘machine’ has groomed or purchased!
They can do this and STILL call themselves Conservatives…
Can you South Carolinians get rid of her? Please? Really rally around one TRUE conservative and send Bessie out to pasture.
Then flirts with a wink.
Raising money is a big, big plus, of course. However, I think that the RNC et al are having a very tough time in getting small dollar donations from the rank and file Republican base.
This leaves them open to more influence from business and PAC forces which is yielding all this dancing around about specifically how Republicans are going to capitulate on it - for business. I believe if they do this and give these 12-50 million (they have NO idea how many) illegals citizenship, or even a hint of it, they will have a very big backlash at the ballot box.
‘In July 2010, at the height of the Tea Party’s power...”
Do I need to read on from here? It’s a false premise the type the left excels in.
Propaganda.
They think that if people are not organized and don’t get talking points, they’re powerless What a mystery for them, the Constitution.
Flimsey Tinkerbelle is gone in 2014. Too many primary challengers is a good thing in our state when it forces him/it into a runoff with the frontrunner. When that happens, Grahamnesty is toast.
Sick of this queer.
SC G2...
Speaking of exit signs, with a little bit if luck Graham will be contemplating life after politics in a couple of months.
Raising money is the problem. Vested interest.
There’s a lot of people upset at the SCOTUS for their ruling on campaign finance, but secretly the left is relieved.
Unions - by far - it isn’t even close - are the biggest campaign contributors. Our friends the Koch Bros. are about 54th on the list.
If SCOTUS had gone any other way, the next year would have seen action against the unions. To wit: “If your ‘contributions’ come in states that are not right to work, then they essentially aren’t voluntary, and as such, doesn’t amount to ‘speech’.
Say it ain’t so, Joe!! You can’t be supporting Lindsey! NO!
“Say it ain’t so, Joe!! You can’t be supporting Lindsey! NO!”
I hope you don’t take from the post that I support Lindsey. I’m just keeping people abreast of what’s going on.
All these articles are very premature and are in fact intended to depress turnout for primary challengers.
As improbable and comical as it sounds, and I’m sure he’d have his hands on both hips if he actually tried, Lindsey Graham will have “stared down” the tea party if he avoids a runoff. Not before, and not if he does face a runoff.
Just like your reverence for the Constitution Gramnesty. You human scum POS.
“All these articles are very premature and are in fact intended to depress turnout for primary challengers.”
You’re absolutely right. I post anything I can find so we can all see what the trends are. And when you see a number of similar articles appearing at the same time, you can tell there’s some kind of manipulation going on. We are not fooled by any of this.
Are you serious? Did you read the article? It states that JOE WILSON announced his support of Graham.
“Are you serious? Did you read the article? It states that JOE WILSON announced his support of Graham.”
Oh, sorry. I thought you assumed I was supporting Graham because I posted the article.
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