With Washington outsiders Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina leading the Republican presidential field, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a 2016 contender himself, says voters should be wary of electing another “novice.”
During an interview with the Washington Examiner, the Southern senator expressed concern that GOP voters are losing sight of what, he says, is the most redeeming quality in a potential president.
“I think the experience when it comes to being commander-in-chief does matter, and will matter more over time,” Graham told the Examiner. “We’ve elected one novice, let’s not pick another.”
Asked specifically about Trump, Carson and Fiorina, the South Carolina senator described them as “fine people.”
“I don’t think they can hold a candle to me when it comes to foreign policy though,” Graham, who ranks eleventh in the Examiner‘s presidential power rankings.
The Palmetto State’s senior senator has more than three decades of experience in the military and frequently tells voters his extensive travel in the Middle East gives him a unique advantage as a presidential candidate. Graham currently serves as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs.
“I’ve spent time understanding this world, how this war [with radical Islam] got to where it is, and how to win it,” he told the Examiner.
The retired Air Force Reserves colonel added, “I think every voter owes it to the military to pick somebody worthy of their sacrifice to be their commander-in-chief.”
According to RealClearPolitics’ average of national polling data, Graham has polled at less than 1 percent among Republican voters for most of the summer. He currently trails front-runner Trump by nearly 30 percentage points in his home state of South Carolina, according to a recent poll by Gravis Marketing/One America News.
