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Lindsey Graham 'Courageous' Defying GOP

He's often alone in bucking the Republican purity police

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 13, 2010 10:14 AM CST

(Newser) – After offering a Gitmo compromise to President Obama, Lindsey Graham got called everything from a "cretin" to someone making a "deal with the devil" this week by his fellow Republicans. That's just business as usual for Graham, whose designation may as well be "R-No Man's Land," writes Dana Milbank. Graham seems genuinely concerned with getting things right than with blindly sticking to some ideological purity test, and that, sadly, makes him an "oddball" on Capitol Hill.

"Though Graham doesn't have to face primary voters until 2014, his defiance of the GOP purity police is still courageous," writes Milbank in the Washington Post. "His Republican colleagues in Congress, wetting their pants out of fear of the tea party movement, show no sign of joining him."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pauses during an interview in his Capitol Hill office on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009, in Washington.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pauses during an interview in his Capitol Hill office on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 54 comments
Derni
Mar 15, 2010 1:48 AM CDT
Per pressure..in DC you're not rewarded for thinking outside the box--being creative...trying to solve problems with other parties..sorta like education..
sailor86
Mar 14, 2010 5:05 PM CDT
Brah-Vo.
schmidtkoff
Mar 14, 2010 5:04 PM CDT
do not delude yourselves. graham is still an old boy network ultra conservative, i sent him a letter concerning the possibility of pursuing research on the development of industrial hemp to help jump start the sc economy. i received a letter from him, personally signed, sealed and delivered from him and it nothing about industrial hemp, but went on with a diatribe that he was against any decriminalization of drugs, he did not believe in any medical marijuana, (he does not in ANY way support this), he further went on to say in his letter to me that "At a time when illegal drug use remains unacceptably high among our nation's teenagers, the federal government must do everthing possible to discourage their use. Marijuana is a dangerous substance that has a detrimental effect on the health of anyone who uses it." shit. i was only inquiring about industrial hemp. i even sent him links.

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