Is Lindsey Graham a good guy?

[romantico]

I keep hearing how fair he is & the times I've seen him he seems very sincere. I heard him praising Hilary Clinton one day & just assumed he was a Democrat. So, what the deal with Graham?

[FreedomAngel82]

1. He's a republican from South Carolina

He seems to be under a lot of pressure from the public in his home state. I read an article on dembloggers about it. He was saying everybody asks him why we're still in Iraq etc. whether in church or business people. I'm a bit weary myself since I don't know his voting record. :shrug:

[sleipnir]

2. NO!

He's no "good guy" as he's sided with Bush too much.

Graham is an old school Republican, a Nixon-era ideologue who has found himself in the present situation.

[jmaier]

3. Wasn't he one of the House managers

on the Clinton impeachment? I may have him confused with someone else. His voting record is pretty much straight along Bush lines though he has been coming out lately with some not entirely supportive of BushCo comments. I also seem to recall that he is rather close with John McCain?

[charlyvi]

5. Yes. Even though he admitted it was wrong. n/t

[KC21304]

9. Yes he was one of the House managers for impeachment.

He was just as slimy as the rest of them. Don't know how sincere he is about the war. Maybe just means he can see the handwriting on the wall.

[charlyvi]

12. Yes. He's an opportunist of the first order.

[salin]

14. yes on all fronts

but... and here is the kicker... he also is a slightly better politician than some of the other younger repubs in the Senate (those elected in the Clinton era who almost unanimously spout Newtisms and play the game based on pure ideology and power plays rather than good politics - eg reading their constituents).

Reublicans will only start to pull back from supporting all things bush, when they start to realize that to do so is going to cost them a piece of their political hide. Graham seems to be picking up on this. Interesting though, because he could stand to play party bush boy a bit longer given that he doesn't face reelection for a number of years.

Thus in relative terms -he is better than much of the newer repub senators.

But like McCain, that doesn't erase the fact that he is conservative, will generally vote the party line, and from time to time would try to cause damage to democrats. But not nearly as high profile in the partisan wars - which is very interesting given his previous role as a House Manager. Almost as if that experience soured him a little bit from the level they were willing to go in the name of inflicting political damage.

[Eric J in MN]

4. He voted to confirm Alberto the Torturer Gonzales

as US Attorney General.

[Wetzelbill]

6. He was one of the House Managers that led the prosecution to impeach

Clinton. He was over-the-top partisan and pretty loathesome at the time.

I think he's changed his tune because in the Senate they are a bit more civil - doesn't seem like it, huh? - than the House. Plus, he's got some presidential ambitions, and he just has seemed to have chilled out a lot since then. I think he's evolving into a good guy, not that you could fully trust him, though. He's become fair-minded, so maybe he just got caught up in the Clinton stuff years ago and made an ass of himself while making some mistakes. Not sure how to judge him. I want to like the guy, but his past and his political party make me have serious doubt.

[LynnTheDem]

7. Graham, Hagel, Voinovich, Snow; they're ok as far as Republicans go.

But they are still Republicans, which means fuck We the People and promote Big Business.

[Wetzelbill]

16. You are spot on

[PDittie]

8. the best thing that can be said of him is

that his conscience is beginning to give him trouble

[Jara sang]

10. I've heard Lindsay Graham may run for President.

He's probably just sucking up.

[NewJeffCT]

11. He is supposedly a closeted gay man as well

Which means he could have trouble if he runs for president.

[blm]

13. Sometimes your posts are pretty odd. Graham is a closeted gay man.

If there is any sensitivity shown by him, it comes from the horror he has lived by belonging to a party that hates him.

Unfortunately, he will never show consistent sensitivity to any group, gaus or working families, because he is too OWNED by the fascist Republicans in charge.

[seabeyond]

15. he is republican, so probably wont agree on policy

he is also christian and promotes policy thru belief. but......from what i have seen over the years, he isnt a christian hypocrit. i can respect that

[stray cat]

17. Graham thinks for himself

I may disagree with him on issues but he is at least a maverick as far as republicans go. I, at least, wish more of the republicans were like him.

[Stinky The Clown]

18. What short memories we have ........

Have a look at this photo snatched from the Wayback Machine:


See the small head, second from the right in the back row? That's ol' Lindsey. Can anyone identify other luminaries? Do the names McCollum, Sensenbrenner, Hyde, Bryant, Gekas, Canady, Buyer, Rogan, Cannon, Chabot, Barr, or Hutchinson mean anything? Can you name the group pictured here? Can you match the names to the heads?

No, Lindsey's no friend, although it does, of late, seem as if he's more in line with our side on a few small points. Plus, he's rumored to be gay, and not being one particularly associated with the efungelicals, might be ripe to flip .... not to the Dems, but at least away from being in lockstep with the homophobic leadership.

But here's a little back story that may interest you ...... Lindsey's an Army Reserve JAG officer. Military Lawyer. His home state of South Carolina, puportedly ready, in some people's eyes, to break away from the country and become a fundamentalist Christian nation, is also home to more retired military than any other state.

Now, conflate those two facts ...... Lindsey's in the military and his home state has lotsa retired military. Now look around. The military was never behond the War in Iraq®. That's no secret. Even the JCS was against it in the run up. Even good ol' boy West Tejas' Cheerleader Tommy Franks got his ass whupped by Rummy in the prewar plannng stages. Today most retired military brass are continuing to stay neutrally mum, but making it an ill-kept secret that many are opposed to idiot son's actions with respect to Iraq.

So Lindsey's playin' to the home crowd more than the WH crowd. He's lookin' moderate an' all. Reasonable. One of the 14 bipartisan moderates who kept us away from the filibluster nuke option recently.

Makes ya think ...... but no ...... he's no lefty.

[European Socialist]

19. 3 types of republicans--fascist lite, repuke, and repuke lite...

I'd put him in the repuke camp, along with McCain. Sometimes talk progressive -but never vote that way.

[flyarm]

20. he was a jag lawyer!! n/t