The Sunday Morning Talk Shows' favorite Senator, Lindsey Graham (R. SC), made this threat on Friday:
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took a shot at Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during an interview published Friday by The Weekly Standard, saying the younger lawmaker is "not quite ready" to be President.
Graham did, however, offer an alternative: himself.
Graham told the magazine he began questioning Rubio's ability as a candidate after working with him on a Senate immigration bill.
"He’s a good guy, but after doing immigration with him — we don’t need another young guy not quite ready," Graham said. "He’s no [President Barack] Obama by any means, but he’s so afraid of the right, and I’ve let that go."
Quick side note: Graham helped drum up support for the Gang of 8's immigration reform bill amongst Evangelical voters in his home state of South Carolina. So he's actually working with the President on immigration reform as well since Obama backs the proposal. But who cares about facts, right? Well the Sunday Morning Talk Shows' other favorite war hawk and Graham's BFF, Senator John McCain (R. AZ), has told the press that Graham is his ideal candidate for 2016:
If U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham decides to run for president in 2016, he can count on the whole-hearted support of the 2008 Republican nominee, U.S. Sen. John McCain, his longtime ally on national security, immigration reform and other matters.
"Of course," McCain, R-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic on Friday. "I mean, we're the closest of friends."
"He'll be looking at it," McCain said of Graham. "One rationale is because, obviously, national security has assumed a much more prominent place in our political calculations. And Lindsey Graham is as experienced and knowledgeable as anybody in America."
Like McCain, Graham sits on the Senate's Armed Services and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The two senators frequently issue joint statements that blister President Barack Obama's administration over foreign policy developments. Graham also was a loyal backer of and adviser to McCain's 2008 effort, frequently campaigning with McCain in Graham's home state of South Carolina, a key early primary state where McCain narrowly won.
But when the question about Graham's threat to run in 2016 came up from Candy Crowley on "State of the Union", Graham decided to punt on that one. You can see in the clip above. Crowley even compliments him on such a punt. Who knows how serious Graham is about running for President or what chance he has at even winning the nominee. It's going to be hard for him to explain to GOP voters why he had three Tea Party candidates challenge him in his own primary this past year as he gears up for a third term in the U.S. Senate. Maybe Graham knows he has zero chance of winning and thinks he can get the big name GOP contenders to fully adopt his foreign policy positions which consists of a lot of pants shitting and "bomb first, ask questions never". But if Graham really thinks he's the best alternative to Marco Rubio, he's fooling himself.
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