Graham 91 Percent Sure He's Running for President

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he’s 91 percent sure he’s going to run for president, and needs the needle to move up “another point or two” before he takes the plunge.

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“I’ve got to put the financing together. It sort of goes like this: Exceed expectations in Iowa,” Graham told MSNBC this morning. “Finish in the top tier in New Hampshire, win South Carolina. And by then, I think three or four people are left. And I’d be one of those three or four.”

It’s going to certainly be a campaign heavy on foreign policy.

“This whole idea, their problems are their problems, makes no sense because radical Islam is trying to kill us, not because we’re in Libya and Iraq, because we just don’t agree with their religion,” he said. “…Radical Islam is not a grievance about us supporting dictators.”

“This is a religious war. They’re trying to purify their religion. They’re trying to create a caliphate in the Mideast, destroy Israel, and come after us.”

Graham acknowledged that he and Hillary Clinton are friends, but saying that means he can’t run a strong campaign against her “would disqualify Jeb because, apparently, Bill is like his illegitimate brother.”

“The bottom line is there used to be a day in American politics where you could like people and say: You’re going to take the country one way and I’m going to take it another way. You’re not a bad person, I just disagree with you,” he said. “I don’t dislike Hillary Clinton. I think she’s the third term of Barack Obama. I think she’s the architect of failed foreign policy. Her and Bill did a better job of selling Obamacare than he did. So to me, if we can get a qualified nominee, she loses, because she represents a failed president. She is part of it.”

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Not counting himself, who could win South Carolina in 2016? “I think Jeb would do well. The Bushes are well-likedAn,” Graham replied. “Anybody who do — wins New Hampshire, other than Mitt Romney — I like Mitt Romney, but he would never play. I don’t think Chris Christie would go from New Hampshire to South Carolina. Marco would. Anybody that wins New Hampshire is going to do pretty well in South Carolina. Don’t discount how New Hampshire affects South Carolina. But Marco, you know, Jeb, there are several people that could do well.”

Graham gave some more opinions on CNN Sunday on the other Republicans in the field.

“Marco Rubio, I think, will be president some day. Whether 2016 is his time, time will tell. He embraced immigration reform. He seems to have backed off. I’ll let him explain why. I think comprehensive immigration reform while securing your border and dealing rationale with 11 million is the only way we’re going to solve this problem. I like Rubio,” he said.

Graham previously disagreed with Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) assertion that the Second Amendment is the ultimate defense against government tyranny.

“The ultimate check against government tyranny is an informed electorate who will elect people who believe in limited government. I don’t want to embrace the idea we want people to take to the streets with guns. I want people to go to the voting booth and check an out of control government by electing conservatives,” Graham said.

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On Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), “the Lindsey Graham view of foreign policy is going to beat Rand Paul’s libertarian view of foreign policy.”

“He said at this summit that a terrorist detained under the law of war at Gitmo is entitled to a trial. I’ve been a military lawyer for 33 years. A member of al-Qaeda or their affiliate group can be detained under a law of war as long as their threat to our nation without a trial,” Graham said. “He wants to fight a crime. I’m fighting a war. Big difference.”

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