Graham, on big issues, is a center-left opportunist

Graham, on big issues, is a center-left opportunist

by Dr. Ecarma (bio: Reggie Ecarma has a Ph.D. in political communication, teaches for North Greenville and Furman universities in mass communication and politics. He is also Republican precinct chairman of Travelers Rest, member of the Greenville County GOP Executive Committee, faculty advisor to the NGU College Republicans, and serves as fire commissioner at Tigerville, S.C. fire district. He can be reached at reecarma1@yahoo.com)

Fresh from a 67 percent GOP primary victory and the first state candidate to win more than 1 million votes in a general election, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham sounded confident, if not cocky, at the Greenville County Republican Convention this past April. He said that he wants to grow a center-right party, which reflects the country, to win elections. And if any Republicans in the room did not support his efforts, they could leave.

He echoed this sentiment at the Furman University town meeting last week. Question: If Graham is growing a big-tent center-right party, why is he telling a vocal and engaged group to leave. Doesn’t center-right include centrists and rightists; a big-tent includes activists from center to right. At both places, Furman and the GOP Greenville convention, Graham sounded downright condescending.

With all his heroics, Achilles has a weakness. Graham’s heel is his hometown region, the Upstate. As the biggest part of the Upstate, Greenville County voted against Graham in the primary. The 200 vote margin by little known Buddy Witherspoon should be a warning to Graham, perhaps humbling.

Apparently, after making rounds in the national media circuit and enjoying conclaves with the likes of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and the late Ted Kennedy, his homies have become prudish party poopers. Just like a BMOC (big man on campus) football jock coming home to his small-minded family, Graham is getting too big for his britches.

Instead of being grateful to have the privilege of serving his home folks, Graham is becoming arrogant like Lonesome Rhoades of the 1950s movie A Face in the Crowd. An arrogant centrist, he is quickly outgrowing his humble conservative roots.
An explanation: In the Greenville News article “Graham vows to challenge ‘radical’ views” and editorial “Sen. Graham holds his own,” both articles miss the critical “constitutional” point: Graham says that he is conservative, fair enough, but on big constitutional issues, he is center left. Consider these landmark issues:

1. Constitutional option on judicial nominees of 2006: the leftists and the centrists, including Graham opposed it; constitutional conservatives like U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.C., supported it (see http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/5/31/32726.shtml
2. Illegal immigration of 2008: the center-right and center-left and far left supported the Kennedy-McCain –Graham bill, constitutional conservatives like U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint opposed it;
3. Climate change 2009: Graham is working with far left U.S. senator, John Kerry; constitutional conservatives oppose any new regulation on carbon emission whether by legislation or the Environmental Protection Agency;
4. Sotomayor U.S. Supreme Court vote of 2009: centrists and leftist voted for the nomination, conservatives like U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, opposed the high court nomination.

To be fair, Graham is a reliable pro-life vote, according to Citizens for Life. He is strong on military issues, and he also voted against Obama’s stimulus bill. It is also true that, as reported by the Greenville News, Graham has an 82 percent rating according to the American Conservative Union and votes 90.7 percent with his party (The Washington Post’s congressional vote database).

But the preceding record on big issues and the on-going record of Graham, including climate change and health care are troublesome. For example, the heated debate on health care clearly pits constitutionalists/conservatives vs. centrists/leftists. Where is Graham on this—in the center-left. Consider this quote from Greenville News on September 21:

“Graham, in signing on to the bipartisan Healthy Americans Act, has agreed to requiring people to buy health-care insurance, an unpopular idea among Republicans.
“I have found common ground with Democrats,” Graham said of the bill backed by seven Republicans and seven Democrats.

Such common ground or center-left decision of historical constitutional issues has moved Graham from right toward the center-left over the years. With the illegal immigration vote and the constitutional option on judicial nominees he took the center-left ground, along with his senior partner and senate mentor, U.S. Sen. John McCain , R-AZ. But in the Sonya Sotomayor vote for U.S. Supreme Court justice, even centrist and maverick McCain voted to oppose Sotomayor, while Graham voted for President Obama’s judicial “empathy” nominee and got kudos from the media and cultural elites.

As Clemson University political science professor, David Woodard, a one-time Graham confidant, said, he (Graham) “make[s] a point of his foray across the aisle to work with Democrats.”

Colluding with liberals is a prominent project for Graham. Furman University political science professor Danielle Vinson said Graham “needs to get past those headline-grabbing moves.”

Graham is not only moving from right to center -left, depending on the big issue, he is garnering more face time on the broadcast networks. If one watches national politics and the news on a regular basis, it is hard to miss Graham. Recently, on the Greenville News article of Sep. 21, Obama remarked about extremist talk: “The easiest way to get 15 minutes of fame is to be rude to somebody.”

Conversely, for a Republican, the easiest way to get 15 minutes or even 15 hours of fame is to work and act in concert with other maverick Republicans or liberal Democrats. Ask U.S. Sen. Olympia Snow during the Democrat health care and Obama stimulus bills debates during the last few months. It is awfully difficult to deny oneself of the red carpet treatment by the media and cultural elite of Washington, DC and NYC.

Graham’s timing also needs to be scrutinized. When it was popular to challenge the senate Republican majority in 2006 regarding the constitutional option on judicial nominees, Graham, as part of the “Gang of 14” (7 Republicans and 7 Democrats) went against President Bush and conservative Republicans. The Gang opposed Bush’s full slate of strict constructionist (constitutional and conservative) federal judicial nominees.

Social conservatives around the country were rallying in churches across the nation to encourage U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-TN to go for 51 senate votes instead of the customary 60 cloture votes to let the full slate of judicial conservatives ostensibly reverse Roe v. Wade.
So Graham short-circuited the social conservative effort to attempt to stop judicial promotion of abortion-on-demand.

In the health care issue, where is Graham in voicing his criticism on the constitutional option that is, most likely, to be employed by the Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV?

The political and media elites in DC are cheerleading health care through, so let’s see if Graham, their new “conservative” darling from the belt buckle of the Bible belt crows against their sacred health care for the uninsured, including (probably) illegal immigrants. Graham has had many months to voice his previous concern about using the constitutional option of 51 senators to pass a non-emergency and non-budget issue. Rather, he appears anxious to pass a health care bill by working hard with Democrats, again.

Ironically, Graham said in the same Greenville News article he also feels a responsibility “not to let the president have it both ways here.” Perhaps, the libertarians and constitutional conservatives feel the responsibility not to allow Graham to have it both ways either—calling himself a conservative and then chooses opportunities to grab the headlines and the TV lights by forging liberal leaning bills.

Graham seems more of pragmatic political opportunist than a principled, constitutional conservative.

Many Republican party loyalists will not openly oppose him, as Sam Harms, the former Greenville County Republican chair, who promptly lost his position. Party loyalists prefer acceptability and collegiality as a norm; however, if a credentialed and monied Jim DeMint like person arose to challenge Graham, he would humble Graham, if not defeat him in 2014.

Graham should take stock that Thomas Ravanel, former state treasurer, who lost his job and credentials in 2007 due to cocaine charges, could have effectively challenged him in 2008. Instead Graham got a free pass, relatively speaking. Is there going to be credible challenger in 2014 such as a David Beasley or a Jim DeMint clone or . . .

If he continues his centrist ways, Graham would lose big in the Upstate (his home region) and would have to fight hard and win big in the moderate Low Country, perhaps with the help of his new Democrat friends.

Why does Graham want to “grow” the party? Is it for altruistic reasons? Perhaps, but it may also be for power. Is he looking at the majority party leadership? Probably not. Is he looking at a presidential run in 2016? If he is, then he should look at his mentor McCain. McCain tried the maverick route for 10 years. He was loved by the liberal media elite in DC and NY, but when he ran for president as a Republican, his fawning media coverage dissipated.

By 2014, Graham will be feigning right to re-establish his conservative credentials, but by then, his Achilles heel may be overly exposed by video records in YouTube and other Internet sources. The SC Achilles needs to represent the felt needs of his state--the Upstate.

What do you think?