This year marks the first time Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has had to run for office since the emergence of the Tea Party. Graham has never faced much Republican opposition during his two decades in Congress, but this June, he's already heading into a primary with four Republican challengers who say he's not conservative enough for the Palmetto State. Voters say the race has become a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party in South Carolina.
For many Republicans, Graham's race for re-election comes down to one question: Is he a true South Carolina conservative? When you ask Graham that question, he immediately compares himself to Ronald Reagan.
"I think I represent the traditional way of being a conservative," Graham said during a recent interview in Columbia, the state capital. "You know, Ronald Reagan was a pretty conservative guy. Tip O'Neill was a pretty liberal guy. They were able to find common ground to save Social Security from bankruptcy for about 40 years. Somebody's got to take it to the next level. I'd like to be in that mix."
Sen. Lindsey Graham shooting at the Palmetto State Armory in Columbia, S.C., where he appeared at an event this week to promote safety locks on guns.i
Sen. Lindsey Graham shooting at the Palmetto State Armory in Columbia, S.C., where he appeared at an event this week to promote safety locks on guns. Ailsa Chang/NPR
Sen. Lindsey Graham shooting at the Palmetto State Armory in Columbia, S.C., where he appeared at an event this week to promote safety locks on guns.
Graham says being a conservative doesn't mean you can't work with the other side to get things done. And he notes that Democrats need Republicans to do the big things. That's why he says he helped broker a bipartisan immigration deal last June that offered illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
But at a Tea Party Convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C., this past weekend, there were hordes of people who said a true conservative doesn't make deals like that.
"He is the Democrats' favorite Republican, which should tell you something about him," said Keith Tripp of the Laurens County Tea Party Patriots.
"He starts talking the conservative talk, but he doesn't walk the conservative walk," Carol Williamson of the Myrtle Beach Tea Party said.
Pat Dansbury of Ridgeland offered this analogy: "He's like the cow that gives you a can of milk and then kicks it back over again. He does really good things and he does really horrific things."
Horrific things, they say, beyond that immigration deal, like when he criticized his Republican colleagues when they refused to fund the government unless Congress defunded Obamacare. And when he voted for the big bank bailout.
