Republican Lindsey Graham launched his campaign for president Monday on the promise of a muscular national security strategy, hoisting his bitter rivalry with Kentucky’s Rand Paul from the Senate chamber to the 2016 campaign trail.
As he kicked off his long-anticipated bid in his hometown of Central, S.C., Graham never mentioned Paul. He didn’t have to. The two have been fighting openly for months.
“I want to be president to defeat the enemies that are trying to kill us,” he said. “Not just penalize them or criticize them or contain them, but defeat them.”
He later added: “The Obama administration and some of my colleagues in Congress have substituted wishful thinking for sound national security strategy.”
His fight with Paul is one of the many variables Graham confronts in his underdog bid. He also has been the target of criticism from some conservative activists who say he has been too liberal on domestic issues, such as his support for comprehensive immigration reform. And he faces a long climb out of low-single-digit territory in polls.
Despite the many obstacles, Graham could prove problematic for the rest of the GOP field because his home state is South Carolina — which comes third, after Iowa and New Hampshire, in the nominating process.
