Why Is This Man Smiling?

graham1.jpg
Doesn’t Lindsey Graham know that his poll numbers are sliding downhill? Hasn’t the national spotlight on his angry attacks against opponents of his immigration bill made him nervous about his re-election bid next year? At Heading Right, we look at The Politico’s report on Graham’s prospects and discover why he felt so comfortable in going apoplectic this summer.

19 thoughts on “Why Is This Man Smiling?”

  1. He’s smiling because he hears a bunch o’ Yankees getting involved in picking his primary opponents. That’s as safe as you can get in South Carolina. 🙂

  2. Why is he smiling?
    Because (A) he’s an idiot and (B) he knows that the average member of Congress, unless caught committing an actual crime, has something like a 95% chance of being reelected.
    In short, he’s looking at the people of South Carolina and thinking, “SCREW YOU, SUCKERS!”

  3. Lindsey Graham and Trent Lott are the poster childs for why we need federal term limits.

  4. Any primary opponent would immediately have money raining from all over the country. Is there anyone with a sack in South Carolina? I am waiting to write a check to that man or woman.

  5. GrandMufti
    Term limits don’t work, you then shift the power to the totally unelected beltway set of professional career congressional staffers.
    New kids elected to office are at the mercy of all those pros who have lobbiests on their speed dial and visa versa.
    So you end up with the elected person being the sock puppet for the staffers.

  6. Even if there’s no challenger, you might still be able to unseat him if South Carolina gets “None of the Above” on the ballot. The rationale being that if “None of the Above” gets the majority of votes, the seat goes vacant until the next election. Also, there should be no interim appointments allowed.
    During WWII, the German Army had a saying about the quality of its leadership: “Better no officer than a bad officer.” They understood the damage a poor leader could inflict. How about updating the message: “better no senator than a bad senator”?
    “None of the Above” might be a useful tool if you can’t get term limits implemented.

  7. You’re right, daytrader.
    I see the same thing in the DoD all of the time.
    Officers are “term-limited” to 2 to 3 year tours.
    So they depend so heavily on the GS’ and the contractors, that they are in effect sock puppets, at least until they get their sea legs.
    And by that time, they’re usually turning over to the FNG.

  8. Daytrader,
    Certainly there will be a period of mass confusion and backseat driving on the Hill after term limits are imposed. But this will end quite quickly as lobbyists learn how much it costs to turn a Congressman in 2-4 years. It’s much easier now because the long-term veterans can point lobbyists to up-and-coming congressmen that are corruptible. After term limits, there will be no veterans, ending the life-long grooming process. The staffers will simply leave, knowing there is no more power or money for them.
    Nothing bad can happen as a result of term limits. NOTHING. When someone tells you that term limits will throw out experienced legislators, ask them how that experience is being used today……

  9. That “lobbyists and staffers will run things” argument has been tossed around here since Michigan voters were asked if they wanted term limits for their legislators. I see no evidence it has happened to any significant extent. The legislature still functions as well/badly as it ever did. The latest ploy is our esteemed political elite offering to make themselves part-time if voters will revoke the term limits. (And if you believe they would stay part-time, I have a bridge to Windsor I’d like to sell you.)
    You must realize that term limits still enables politicians to move from one office to another after they are term limited in one. For example, we have people who start in city government, move on to county government, then on to state government, then on to Congress. One even moved back to state government after being redistricted out of his congressional seat.
    There is no shortage of “experience” for many of these people. The shortages that do exist are in character, honesty and keeping their word.

  10. I live in South Carolina and “none of the above” is not an option.
    I voted for Graham for Senator because I thought he would be as conservative as he seemed in the House.
    I have called his office several times and sent several emails telling him how disappointed I am in him, as he is not what I thought I voted for.
    If he has primary competition I will vote for his opponent, but if he wins the primary I will vote for him again simply to keep the R headcount as high as possible in the Senate.

  11. We should have term limits but not too short. I would suggest 5 terms for congresspeople and 3 terms for senators phased in in shifts so that all of congress isn’t replaced at once, similar to the way we reelect senators now. That way you keep experience but stop the lifetimers who become completely unresponsive to their constituents. It has worked well for the presidency. We really need it in Congress.

  12. The problem I see in term limits is that it takes power away from me. Suppose I want to vote for somebody who’s served several terms before?
    I live in a Congressional District where the incumbent Representative has been in office forever and normally gets reelected with 60% to 70% margins. He doesn’t vote the way I’d like him to on some occasions but on others he does. But if 70% of my neighbors in the District vote for this guy, why shouldn’t he be able to run? He obviously fits the electorate of my District better than anyone else who runs against him, whether primary or general. What’s the problem?
    It seems to me that if we’re going to change the way these folks behave, and believe me when I say that it truly needs changing, we have to first abandon the notion that there is some quickie clever fix or and easy little systemic tweak that will do the deed for us. We just have to finally admit to ourselves that there are no shortcuts, and if I really want to change the way my Congressional Representative votes and behaves, then I’m going to have to change the minds of the people who keep him in office. There is no other way to affect lasting and permanent change than to change the minds of the people themselves. There is no trick or maneuver or tweak to the system that can’t be overcome or gotten around.
    Furthermore, let me propose the idea that the reason such quick fix shortcuts keep coming up is that they allow us to stay firmly seated on our butts in front of our computers and TV sets, and pretend we are taking a real role in the politics of our time. They allow us to look relevant while we treat politics as just another spectator sport, like going to a baseball game and imagining we’re really on the field.
    For my part in this discussion, I can feel your pain and your anger, but I think term limits is a false answer to the question.

  13. The general election is safe for Graham, Botsch maintains. “He is the closest thing we’ve had to a Democratic senator in a long time,” Botsch noted.
    What is wrong with the SC GOP? I’m tempted to move there and run against him myself.

  14. Captain Ed, I think that you may have missed half of the story.
    It is true that no big-name GOP challenger has emerged. However, the SC Democrats could nominate someone who is willing to sound conservative – at least temporarily. The MSM would line up behind Senatorial Candidate Democrat and possibly beat Graham. Don’t forget that the MSM is capable of providing their Democrat pets with tens of millions of dollars of free favorable publicity. Just ask George Allen and Rick Santorum what happens when the MSM gets solidly behind a Democrat candidate.
    Of course, the hypothetical SC Democrat candidate would never actually vote as a conservative.

  15. TUES JULY 2 Has Lindsey Graham Become the Conservative Scape-Goat for Their Abject Contempt for GWB?

    I am posting quick and dirty today.  At 6PM I will be signing copies of several of my books at …

  16. I hope the Trunks will run a primary challenger, but if they don’t, I will vote against Opie in the general election. With arrogance like his, a high Trunk head count doesn’t matter.
    Gang of 14 lost how many judges?
    Opposition to illegal immigration is racist?
    Throw the bum out. D or R doesn’t matter. Right and wrong does matter.

  17. California has term limits for the state legislature (gov, too, IIRC). Hasn’t seemed to help the People’s Republic much that I’ve noticed.
    Actually, I think the one thing that would definitely make Congress less dangerous to the public liberty is to limit the amount of time it’s in session-say, January-April every year. And they can only extend that time at the request of the President, and they don’t get paid anything extra for the extra time.
    It doesn’t ensure they’ll do the right thing, but it does limit the damage they can do, and should (in theory) make them less cocooned in DC.

Comments are closed.