Lindsey Graham, a Full-Blown Neocon War Dog

Sen. Lindsey Graham

Small government,anti-intervention, constitutional hardliners want no part of the Graham/McCain/Bush/Romney ilk. All are central government, Fed-supporting, centric interventionists. The Washington Examiner reports on Lindsey Graham’s reelection campaign here.

Now, while his Republican opponents scramble to scrape together campaign donations and support, Graham has been hosting relaxed barbecues for supporters across the state, free of charge.

“You serve people free barbecue, and they will come,” Graham said, grinning, at a recent event in Simpsonville, S.C., where aides had just added another table to squeeze in the last few of a 130-person crowd.

Graham’s comfortable lead in this election also has afforded him the opportunity to speak out early and often, even at home in South Carolina, about his stances that might be controversial among the party’s conservative base.

“If [Republicans] get the Senate, we can’t repeal Obamacare, because the president would veto any bill to repeal it,” Graham said matter-of-factly in Simpsonville. “But you know what we can do? We can chip away at it.”

A full repeal of Obamacare is still very much in vogue for many conservative Republicans, but Graham was forthright about the facets of the health care law he supports — allowing children to remain on their parents’ plan until age 26, for example, and providing insurance for people with pre-existing conditions.

Republicans, Graham continued, cannot merely oppose the health care law, but need to propose alternatives to it.

“Remember the Contract With America?” Graham said, referring to the mission statement released in 1994 by the GOP. “Aren’t you wishing that your party would put down on paper what we’re for, and not just what we’re against?”

Regarding other potential political third rails, Graham was just as frank.

“Solving problems is not a sin,” Graham told the Washington Examiner.

“Somebody has to deal with immigration. Somebody has to deal with entitlements,” Graham added. “I want to be one of those somebodies.”