For many years in the US Senate, it was well known that Arizona Senator John McCain’s closest friend was South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Few friendships have been more intimate than these two men, often traveling to foreign battlefields, and in unison on just about every imaginable issue.
So it was not surprising that both McCain and Graham were highly critical of the candidacy of Donald Trump for President, and when Trump said McCain was not a war hero for being in a North Vietnamese prison camp under torture for five years, Graham condemned Trump and spoke up for his good friend.
But then, McCain died seven months ago, and overnight, Graham transformed into support for Trump, and it continues even now as Trump attacks the memory of a great Senator, an unseemly action by anyone against a person who has passed away.
Graham has, seemingly, gone off the deep end, and one can wonder if he is now mentally deranged, much like Donald Trump. If he is not, then he is simply a traitor to his friend, allowing Trump to continue to attack McCain, and not criticizing the President.
Could it be because he desperately wants to keep his Senate seat, which he faces election for in 2020, and is afraid to be at all critical of Trump?
Certainly, Lindsey Graham has lost all credibility and is seen as a total disgrace, and a coward!
In the United States presidential elections of 2004, 2008, and 2012, nearly 80 percent of the states with scheduled U.S. Senate elections aligned to the same party. For example, in a U.S. presidential with 33 states having U.S. Senate elections, that would be between 25 to 27 states having given carriage to the same party for U.S. President and U.S. Senate. In the United States presidential election of 2016, for the first time in history, the full 100 percent of states with scheduled U.S. Senate elections aligned to the same party.
The way it is nowadays—a Democrat would have to prevail with winning either 31 or 32 states to carry South Carolina. (This is keeping in mind that, since 1992, the number of carried states have been between 26 and 32.) This is referencing a ranking of states, for Republicans and Democrats, for their percentage-points margins. (The state of South Carolina is more within reach for Democrats than, say, Missouri and Indiana.) In 2016, South Carolina was Donald Trump’s No. 20 best state. (He carried 30.) It was Hillary Clinton’s No. 31 best state.
If Lindsey Graham is worried about re-election, he may be anticipating Donald Trump getting unseated—and to an extent in which South Carolina and Lindsey Graham are both vulnerable.