Graham protests GOP retreat into irrelevance, to little avail
After announcing his intention to vote in favor of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court — the only Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to take that step — Sen. Lindsey Graham took a lot of heat from conservatives angry that he had broken party ranks.
In an interview with Politico, Graham defended his decision and returned fire at his critics on the right:
“If we chase this attitude … that you have to say ‘no’ to every Democratic proposal, you can’t help the president ever, you can’t ever reach across the aisle, then I don’t want to be part of the movement because it’s a dead-end movement,” Graham said.
“I have no desire to be up here in an irrelevant status. I’m smart enough to know that this country doesn’t have a problem with conservatives. It has a problem with blind ideology. And those who are ideological-driven to a fault are never going to be able to take this party back into relevancy.”
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242 comments Add your comment
Normal
July 24th, 2009
11:00 am
Lindsey Graham… The voice of the Moderate Republican??!!,
Who’dthunkit?
RW-(the original)
July 24th, 2009
11:01 am
I sure wish we could get to the point where people could distinguish between voting for and supporting judicial nominees. Republicans generally understand that if the nominee is qualified then you vote for them even if there isn’t a snowball’s chance in Hades you would ever have made them your pick were you to find yourself in the position of making that pick.
Of course we certainly can’t expect someone that uses any snippet of news possible to take a shot at Sarah Palin to understand that.
TnGelding
July 24th, 2009
11:01 am
What is Graham’s approval rating? He usually calls them like he sees them. I thought McCain should have picked him to be his running mate. He’s certainly right in this instance. Blind ideology helped get us into our current difficulties, some would classify as a mess.
Normal
July 24th, 2009
11:03 am
I am glad that at least one Republican has pushed away the mantle of the neo-conservative. If more follow suit, we might have a Party that can do some good. The talibabtists are going to have to be put back in their place. We have too much to fix and we need evrybody to help.
Once it’s fixed, then we can argue other things.
RealityKing
July 24th, 2009
11:04 am
Our progressively liberal President and ideological-driven 111th Congress are doing a fine job at bring the republican party back into relevancy..
George American
July 24th, 2009
11:07 am
By siding with Hussaine Oblunder and nominating this “wise (cough and laugh) Latina woman(?)” our old pal Lindsay has given his conservative southern brothers the finger.
There will be hell and his job to pay.
ByteMe
July 24th, 2009
11:09 am
Note the gratuitous Palin reference.
And pretty much any mention of her these days is ‘gratuitous”. It’s like mentioning a sex toy when talking about shopping for a new car. Ok, maybe not quite like that.
ByteMe
July 24th, 2009
11:10 am
Is he tacking left as a prelude to bigger things?
booger
July 24th, 2009
11:10 am
Can’t have a conversation without bringing up Palin, can you? I know, you know, and most people know Palin will not be a nominee for president, yet when you want to compare and contrast Obama with someone, out she comes. This is a not so subtle way for you to marginalize the entire party.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 24th, 2009
11:10 am
When did Graham become a Republican?
ByteMe
July 24th, 2009
11:11 am
booger: really, though, don’t need Palin to marginalize the Republicans at this point. Even without her, they’re doing just fine in that department.
Just sayin’.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 24th, 2009
11:14 am
Obozo is on a damn the torpedoes hellbent crash landing into the happy perch once occupied by no other than Dhimmi Carter, bookman says the Repugs are irrelevant, you got to admire his toe the party line roboticism.
Fetch.
Good doggy.
ByteMe
July 24th, 2009
11:16 am
Thanks for posting that @ 11:14, Whiner! You’ve been wrong all along, so it’s good to know that Obama’s going to keep taking us to the heights the country wants to go. Great news!!
md
July 24th, 2009
11:17 am
“Blind ideology helped get us into our current difficulties, some would classify as a mess.”
And blind ideology continues with a one sided gov’t. The “mess” is likely to continue as well.
@@
July 24th, 2009
11:18 am
What I found most interesting was how Sotomayor had to disavow her liberal credentials to win favor. Of course it’s easy to say one thing and end up doing another when looking for votes/support.
The Transformer — from SCOTUS to POTUS or vice versa.
Normal
July 24th, 2009
11:18 am
Whiner, you may be correct,(nearly said “right”) Lindsey’s home page says South Carolina Senator and nowhere mentions the word “republican”.
Hmmmmm..
booger
July 24th, 2009
11:19 am
ByteMe,
If you believe that, then that’s all the more reason for Jay to move on to new territory. It,s actually getting a little embarrassing.
If VP candidates are that interesting, think how much more interesting a real VP, like Biden could be. I’m not sure Jay knows how to spell his name, at least I have never seen him try.
RW-(the original)
July 24th, 2009
11:19 am
Just to add some context, a new Fox poll puts the American populace at 40 percent Democratic, 34 percent Republican and 20 percent independent, with those independents overwhelmingly approving of Obama’s job performance (54 percent approve, 36 percent disapprove, an 18-point differential.)
Overall, Obama is viewed favorably by 62 percent, with only 33 percent disapproving.
I’ve gone back and forth to the link five times now and can’t find this current “62% overall approval” number. It very clearly says the overall number is 54% which is down from 62% last month. If you click to the full poll results the Independent number is the same as the overall 54% approval number, but it’s down from 66% a month ago.
Brad Steel
July 24th, 2009
11:21 am
Palin is the cover girl for the strategic blunders, half-wit stupidity, and cynical bend to the GOP.
Thanks, Jay, for reminding the GOP and the wingnutters that they need to get in the game or remain irrelevant.
RW-(the original)
July 24th, 2009
11:25 am
Never mind my 11:19. I found the bait and switch from an approval number to a viewed favorably number. Nice fun with numbers gymnastics Jay B.
Imbedded links in articles
July 24th, 2009
11:25 am
RW has a point.
Like those of other blogs, imbedded links to assertions or references would enhance the credibility of the opinions.
TnGelding
July 24th, 2009
11:26 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 24th, 2009
11:14 am
It was Graham that said he didn’t want to end up being irrelevant.
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2009
11:28 am
“Of course it’s easy to say one thing and end up doing another when looking for votes/support.”
Sure…and exactly the same thing was said about Roberts too.
USinUK
July 24th, 2009
11:28 am
ByteMe –
“It’s like mentioning a sex toy when talking about shopping for a new car.”
you say that like it’s a bad thing …
Bud Wiser
July 24th, 2009
11:32 am
That is because the 62% number is fiction.
Obowo cracker eaters just make stuff up, and we are supposed to believe it is true, simply because they say it, plus the fact that they will tell us that they actually believe they are smarter than the rest of us, and again, just because they say so, so, we had better believe everything theysay, because it MUST be true!
Take this global warming thing; everyone has heard about the record cold temps for July in Nashville last week, capital of GreenJeans Gore home state, a state, by the way, that had they voted in majority for Gore in 2000, HE would have been president, and not GW Bush.
The (green)Gashouse Gang of the 21st century still stick to their smoking, but empty guns. Every ’scientific data’ they can toss has been, or can be refuted by someone else. All Gore wants to do is get himself and his buddies in on the ground floor of the carbon credit ripoff, making themselves so rich as to make Bill Gates look like a street corner pencil peddler. And Obowo is paving that highway with cap and trade.
Amazingly enough, there are still plenty of idiots that haven’t a clue, but believe firmly in their hearts that one day they and their children will frolic naked through Elysian Fields made possible because of Gore and Obowo, and everything in life will be free because someone else, NOT them, will be paying for it.
Oh wait, I just described the basic garden variety dimwitocrat!
jt
July 24th, 2009
11:34 am
When did Graham become a Republican?
When the republican party betrayed their base, grew and empowered the federal goverment, spent like drunk sailors, and otherwise emulated/morphed into the democratic party.
Graham fits in quite nicely with Steele, Snowe, Chambliss, Isackson etc…….ad naseum.
Kennedy bootlickers all.
Normal
July 24th, 2009
11:34 am
USinUK…Manual shifting make ME smile…
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 24th, 2009
11:34 am
TN- If Graham keeps on with it, he won’t have to worry about being “irrelevant.”
I mean, Dhimmi Carter was never “irrelevant,” after all, he gave rise to Ronald Reagan.
Part Duhx?
USinUK
July 24th, 2009
11:36 am
“everyone has heard about the record cold temps for July in Nashville last week”
huzzah!!! cold weather in Nashvegas = no climate change!!! calloo, callay!!!
(meanwhile, just ignore the fact that the UK had record temps a few weeks ago and that Eastern Europe is currently in the middle of a record-breaking heat wave … it was cold in Nashville, so that’s good enough for me)
USinUK
July 24th, 2009
11:37 am
Normal –
“USinUK…Manual shifting make ME smile…”
speed bumps, babbbeee … s’all I’m sayin’
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 24th, 2009
11:38 am
I yield the Misses Popularity contest to bookman-
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 30% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -8 (see trends).
And I rule.
ByteMe
July 24th, 2009
11:40 am
booger: yes, I actually do believe that. Bringing her up between her regularly scheduled screw-ups is unnecessary. We all remember her. I’d rather make fun of Inhofe anyway. He’s not pretty, but he’s pretty screwed up.
USinUK: I was just making my own gratuitous sex toy reference.
RW-(the original)
July 24th, 2009
11:40 am
Just this morning it was 64 degrees and now it’s 82. Take that climate change deniers!
And….
Is this lefty site calling our VPOTUS a liar?
TnGelding
July 24th, 2009
11:41 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 24th, 2009
11:10 am
Disavowing one of your own. Tsk, tsk, tsk. He’a a Republican, and a good citizen. He sees the world as it is; diverse, volatile and changing.
http://lindseyograham.wordpress.com/
TnGelding
July 24th, 2009
11:43 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 24th, 2009
11:38 am
Did someone say irrelevant?
getalife
July 24th, 2009
11:44 am
Mavericky but I want to see his birth certificate.
USinUK
July 24th, 2009
11:44 am
“64 degrees and now it’s 82″
in Atlanta??? in July??? what the heck is going on???
ByteMe
July 24th, 2009
11:45 am
Time for a laugh:
Blogger response to CNBC
md
July 24th, 2009
11:50 am
““64 degrees and now it’s 82″
in Atlanta??? in July??? what the heck is going on???”
Must be the start of the next ice age. Quick, lets start a hedge fund selling heating supplies.
Paul
July 24th, 2009
11:50 am
Sen Graham is not only showing the difference between the philosophy he represents and that of ideologically conservative Republicans with this vote
He’s also clearly demonstrating his adherence to principle and class in contrasting his ‘yea’ vote for a qualified nominee with the ‘nay’ votes for Justices Roberts and Alito, cast by then-Senators Obama and Biden.
Tom
July 24th, 2009
11:52 am
The Republicant party has always been that way. Gawd forbit any of those intellectual/moral/ethical goose-stepping goons of conformity discover and utilize a tiny bit of brain matter. They are commited to destructioon of all things positive – regardless of the cost to the nation. So utterly ignorant that they consistantly vote against their own self-interests. Really should be eradicated.
@@
July 24th, 2009
11:52 am
DoggoneIt!
“Of course it’s easy to say one thing and end up doing another when looking for votes/support.”
Sure…and exactly the same thing was said about Roberts too.
don’t you wish you could say that about POTUS Bush? While he chose to ignore the polls, Obama chose to shove his in the direction of those who were waiting patiently.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 24th, 2009
11:56 am
Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004.
Aah understand, this means we need to be more like the democrats, I got it, sure thing.
getalife
July 24th, 2009
11:58 am
I think it is Hatch that votes to give Presidents their picks for the SC so there are two.
Scooter
July 24th, 2009
12:02 pm
Tom, what has a Repub. done to you to cause your hatred?
ByteMe
July 24th, 2009
12:06 pm
Paul: Obama was clear on Roberts:
Obama said he was skeptical of Roberts’s “deepest values,” his “broader perspectives on how the world works” and his “empathy.”
According to Obama, the chief justice nominee told him that “he doesn’t like bullies and has always viewed the law as a way of evening out the playing field between the strong and the weak.”
But Obama didn’t believe it.
“He has far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak,” Obama said.
Obama’s assessment: “he seemed to have consistently sided with those who were dismissive of efforts to eradicate the remnants of racial discrimination” and “seemed dismissive of the concerns that it is harder to make it in this world and in this economy when you are a woman rather than a man.”
Although Obama did not specify what evidence he had for these judgments, he was probably referring to cases such as one in 1990, when as a Justice Department official, Roberts opposed the use of racial preferences by the Federal Communications Commission in awarding broadcast licenses, and in 1982, as a Reagan administration lawyer, when he opposed lowering the standard in voting rights cases from needing to prove a racially discriminatory intent to only needing to show a discriminatory effect.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16640635/
His criticism of Alito was similar in speeches he made at the time.
If nothing, he is consistent on his view of judges.
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2009
12:06 pm
“don’t you wish you could say that about POTUS Bush? While he chose to ignore the polls, Obama chose to shove his in the direction of those who were waiting patiently”
Is it just me, or does this make no sense whatsoever as a response to my remark about Roberts?
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 24th, 2009
12:08 pm
GRAHAM IS DEAD WRONG. NEVER CROSS THE AISLE FOR THIS POTUS POS!
just sayin’ 
Mr. Snarky
July 24th, 2009
12:08 pm
“When did Graham become a Republican?”
He seems to have a brain, so I guess he’s a RINO. Good for him.
booger
July 24th, 2009
12:09 pm
Tom,
Apparently there is a correlation between using ones brain matter, and engaging in name calling and childish behavior. Not just referring to you, it shows up a lot.