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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was clear Sunday on what he wants in a 2012 GOP presidential nominee: "the most electable conservative." But the senator was pressed on NBC's "Meet the Press" on specifically which of the current names believed to be in the ring would deliver. "Probably [Mitt] Romney," Graham said. "He's got his problems as a candidate, but so does everyone else," he said.

Outgoing Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) said Thursday that a "credible conservative" movement that doesn't focus on "hatred" of President Obama is needed. Inglis was defeated in a landslide by Trey Gowdy in the June primary runoff. Gowdy, a staunch conservative and Tea Party favorite, went on to win the 4th District seat in November. Inglis lamented on CNN that the current wave of populist conservatism is unlike that of Ronald Reagan. "We'll get through and we'll get back to optimistic conservatism," he said. "We just got to get through this unfortunate period." The congressman said he was wounded in his...

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The recent repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell will likely leave Sen. John McCain's congressional legacy as one of a crotchety old miser. As his wingman, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) could also see his maverick rep reshaped in the aftermath of the gay rights victory. Graham's angry defense of the 17-year Congressional ban on out gay service members has renewed attention on what's in his closet. The question has come up in interviews and Graham has politely maintained that he's a straight, content bachelor. But he can't shake the questions about why he's never put a ring on it. For...

2011 could bring some quick indications on whether this year's collapse of energy and climate legislation in the Senate created lasting wounds.

 Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) chatted Wednesday about reviving their partnership on energy, Lieberman told E2. “It is one of the things we want to work on together next year, start again,” Lieberman said Wednesday in the Capitol. His comments come as President Obama in the new year will seek talks with Republicans on energy. Lieberman said areas on the table include a “clean-energy standard” for utilities, which Graham is already pushing, and efforts to...

Ever since 13 Senate Republicans joined Democrats in consenting to the terrible New START treaty, Sen. Lindsey Graham has been on a tirade, telling any conservative who’ll listen that “Harry Reid ate our lunch,” meaning that Democratic leadership outmaneuvered Republicans in getting the treaty and other agenda items enacted during the lame duck session. My trial lawyer antennae tell me it sounds remarkably well rehearsed for a bit of spontaneous indignation. I first heard him do the rant on Greta Van Susteren’s Fox show last night. But then this morning, Fox’s Brian Kilmeade reported that Sen. Graham had actually called...

A blogger who specializes in outing “closeted” gay political figures claims that evidence of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (RINO-S.C.)’s homosexual lifestyle is about to be released. “I wonder if Lindsey Graham knows I have pictures of a man who spent the night at his house,” blogger Michael Rogers recently tweeted. A later tweet from Rogers indicated that he was meeting with an attorney on December 21 to discuss the release of the alleged pictures. On his website, BlogActive, Rogers writes that the meeting with his attorney indeed took place and that a letter has been sent to Graham’s office. “I’ve...

Gay rights activist Mike Rogers, the professional outer of closeted, hypocritical gay politicians, claims to have "pictures of a man who spent the night" with Sen. Lindsey Graham. He's supposedly meeting with his lawyer today before releasing them. Rogers' previous outings of Ex-Rep. Mark Foley, Ex-Sen. Larry Craig and Ex-RNC chair Ken Mehlman, among others, once earned him the completely arbitrary title of "most feared man on the Hill." He keeps a list, and there are still many names on it. Lindsey Graham has been hounded by gay rumors since his first runs for Congress in the '90s.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that the Tea Party needs to commit to being problem-solvers in the new Congress. On "Face the Nation," Graham was asked about the prospects for bipartisanship come January. "The House is in revolt," he said of the difficulty of extending the Bush-era tax cuts. "People are pissed off in the House at the estate tax. That's going to carry over a bit." Graham said that big government and spending is on the "run and retreat," but that the coming months will test the grass-roots movement that helped turn the tide in the midterm election. "The...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Saturday that the failed Democratic effort to pass the DREAM Act in the lame duck session dealt a blow to future talks on a wider immigration bill. “It was an exercise to try and taint Republicans with Hispanic voters, knowing that the DREAM Act under these circumstances could never pass,” Graham told reporters in the Capitol after the bill sputtered on the floor. “What they have done on the DREAM Act is hurt overall comprehensive immigration reform,” he said. The DREAM Act, which would give legal status to illegal immigrants who came to the country...

U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint once against canceled each other’s votes on major legislation Wednesday as Graham backed but DeMint opposed a compromise two-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. Graham said the deal between President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders isn’t perfect – but that it achieves the critical need to prevent tax hikes on some Americans. (snip) “The Obama administration agreeing to extend the tax cuts for all Americans is one of the first dividends from the election of more Republicans to the House and Senate,” the Seneca Republican said

We now know how cap-and-trade will be rebranded for the start of the 112th Congress - and we also know the Republican weak spot in the Senate. As reported today by Energy & Environment News, [A] proposal for a clean energy standard, which has been batted around for years and introduced most recently by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), has created a buzz on and off Capitol Hill in recent weeks. What is a "clean energy standard" (CES)? Graham's CES is essentially a national renewable electricity standard (RES), where nuclear power and so-called "clean coal" qualify to meet the RES. Reportedly,...

Sen. Lindsey Graham is concerned that the Republican Party faces political dangers by resisting efforts to reduce carbon dioxide and other air pollution. That assertion seems to challenge GOP campaigns this year, in which candidates often rejected the science behind climate change. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, is designing an agenda for next year featuring a clean energy standard for utilities, which rewards increased nuclear and renewable power alike. Similar ideas have failed because they tended to dilute incentives for wind and solar. But under an increasingly conservative Congress, many advocates see that outcome as a potential victory, under...

Is a 2011 Senate coalition on energy starting to take shape? Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) said he called Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) late last week after learning that the South Carolina Republican wants to be a player again on energy in the next Congress. The freshman Begich says he, too, wants to be in the thick of talks aimed at crafting a long-term U.S. energy policy – a politically tricky and elusive task. “That is what I am going to be pushing hard for,” Begich said in the Capitol Monday. “I will continue reach over the aisle with other Republicans...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Six years ago, Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a rare type of bill that blocked the U.S. government from punishing an South Carolina high school girl for a crime her mother had committed long ago by smuggling her across the Mexico border.</p>

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that Republicans "made some pretty poor choices" in choosing their Senate candidates this fall. Graham, in a Senate floor speech on Saturday, made an aside comment underscoring the frustration the GOP faced after some Tea Party-aligned nominees fell short in their campaigns. "The House had a dramatic election. We picked up seats in the Senate," Graham said, video of which is posted by C-SPAN. "Some of us thought, maybe we could pick up two or three more, but we made some pretty poor choices when it came to candidates." The South Carolina Republican made...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Friday permanent bases in Afghanistan would help keep the country out of the hands of the Taliban. Graham, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, was interviewed on CNN by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. The interview was scheduled to air at 8 p.m. EST on CNN's "Parker Spitzer." The senator said he supports two permanent bases. "Under the right circumstances, I think it would really secure the gains we made as a way to make sure this country never goes back into the hands of the Taliban,"...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday that he no longer favors closing the terrorist detention center maintained by the U.S. at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Graham, who'd previously sought to work with the Obama administration to close the prison, said there's "no way" to close the facility at this point. "There's no way to close Gitmo now," Graham said Thursday on Laura Ingraham's radio show when asked if he still favors closing Guantánamo. "I'm being honest. Quite frankly, it doesn't matter to me where you house these people; it matters what you do with them," he added. That's a shift for...

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The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act passed unanimously through the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday, but fortunately didn’t get much further. Oregonian Senator Ron Wyden exercised his power to place a hold on pending legislation to stop the bill from traveling to the senate floor, saying that Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile. His hold will prevent the bill passing out of committee this year; proponents of the bill will have to wait until the next time Congress convenes, and then...