Lindsey Graham Drops Out of 2016 Republican Presidential Race
Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham is dropping out of the 2016 race for the White House.
The South Carolina senator, who revealed the news in a CNN interview Monday morning, is the fourth GOP contender to drop out of the race, following Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. The move leaves 13 candidates remaining in the race for the Republican nod.
"I must suspend my campaign," he said. "I'm not going to suspend my desire to help the country. I'll probably go back to Iraq and Afghanistan and get another update. 36 trips has informed me. But the one thing I feel really good about is I did it with a smile on my face. I talked about things that are important to me and somebody better fix one day."
Graham had been included in the undercard debates during his campaign, struggling to garner any significant support in national or early state polls.
"I have offered a detailed plan to win a war we cannot afford to lose and to turn back the tide of isolationism that has been rising in the Republican Party," said Graham, whose campaign for the presidency lasted 204 days. "I believe we made enormous progress in this effort."
He just could not get any traction, most likely because of his inability to break into the main debate forum. Had he been able to do so he'd have done exceedingly well versus the competition; he has really shined in the under-card debates. I had hoped that the shift in national focus to terrorism might give him a boost, (no one's message on this seems better tailored to address these concerns than Graham's) but it came too late for him to really be able to take advantage of the shift in national mood...
As I said before, it does not speak well for the current state of our democracy when an intelligent, articulate, thoughtful, and highly qualified candidate like Graham can't even get a hearing, while a crass, loud-mouthed charlatan know-nothing like Trump dominates the news cycles....
The country is poorer for Graham's exit from the race, (the same of course could never be said of Trump's) but I'm sure he will remain active in the national debate. If a Republican is elected President next fall, their number 1 choice for Sec. Of Defense should be Lindsey Graham.
