Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, while a strong conservative, comes across as a responsible opponent of the Democratic administration of Barack Obama. He is willing to speak his mind, and not be concerned about reaction by those given too much respect without deserving it.
He has come out with strong criticism of the “birthers” who continue to claim that they believe the President was born in Kenya. He has said that the Republicans need to police those who claim their party name, and yet make irresponsible, reckless statements and assertions.
Additionally, he has stated what very few other Republicans have been willing to do: that his party should challenge the right wing talk show hosts including Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, who are not to be regarded as leaders of the party, and should not set their vision for the future. They may make a lot of money, but that does not make them spokesmen for his party, Graham asserts.
President Obama, Graham declares, has energized young voters and drawn more Hispanics into the political system, and the senator is clear in his belief that that the attacks on Hispanics by the GOP is counterproductive.
It would be great to see Graham find a way to support more of the Obama program in a spirit of bipartisanship. That has not yet happened, but by attacking the whacko elements of his party and warning about the dangers to the Republicans of following extremist elements, Graham has made himself a leader of a small portion of the party that can be seen as mainstream. For that, I say we should applaud him!