Why Is Sen. Goober Graham Running For President?

Some dude from South Carolina named Lindsey Goober Graham is making a run at the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election.
He's a senator who just won reelection handily. For the time he has spent in the senate, Sen. Goober is the senior Solon in that august body.
And yet like the eight others who have announced their intentions, this dude, Sen. Goober, seems to be the one to ask this question.
Why is Sen. Goober running for president?
As noted in the linked story above, Sen. Goober is betting the farm that the 2016 election will turn into a foreign policy one and that he will ride in on the white horse to save America from the threat of the Islamic State and their radical Islamic allies.
If we were having an election strictly on who has the best plan to defeat the radical terrorists and the ever growing Islamic State, yeah I would put Sen. Goober in my top three.
But we are not having a one-issue election. We never do.
In fact, I will address an elephant in the room no one else will. And I write not to pass judgement but to get this out of the way before it can and will become an issue.
Sen. Goober is a single male who has never been married. Sen Goober is also 61 years old.
Yeah, there has been and will be speculation that Sen. Goober is a closeted homosexual.
Until now there is not one bit of discernible evidence other than the dude is a dedicated public servant. I really don't know and don't care. But if Sen. Goober is wanting to be a serious candidate, he better get in front of this potential issue now rather than later.
One of the reasons I don't get the Goober Graham candidacy is we had it before.
In 2008 we had Sen. John "F--- You" McCain and he tried to run a foreign policy campaign for president. The problem is that Sen. "F--- You" McCain did not grasp that he was the guy running against the seemingly dynamic candidacy of one Barack Hussein Obama, the first very serious Black candidate for president. And after eight years of the George W. Bush presidency, seen as a failure, Mr. Obama waxed poetically about a new America. Why Mr. Obama even convinced a small cadre of conservatives that he would be a different kind of president.
We all know how that story turned out.
The problem for Sen. Goober is that he is running against similar forces within the current crop of GOP announced candidates.
There is Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, two Hispanics of Cuban descent. Throw in Carly Fiorina, a businesswoman that ran for the U. S. senate from California in 2010. and the more than likely candidacy of the Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, an Inidan-American and the potential for a game-changing candidate is more of a reality now than ever before within the GOP.
And a reality is that Sen. Goober is seen as nothing more than Sen. "F--- You" McCain's lap dog. Alike on foreign policy and domestic policy. Not dime's worth of difference is correct here.
Is Sen. Goober running to avenge Sen. "F--- You" McCain's loss in 2008? Does he really think that the 2016 Republican party is just so wanting a rehash?
Again, the question that Sen. Goober has to answer is why he is running for president? What makes him different and the one that can win? So far I see nothing whatsoever that helps in any way Sen. Lindsey Goober Graham.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO IS IN THE 2016 GOP RACE!

Not exactly the world's best kept secret, but Florida senator Marco Rubio is officially a candidate for the Republican nomination for president as announced earlier today in his hometown of Miami, Florida.
Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog knows that I have been on the Rubio bandwagon since he launched his seemingly quiotix run against the then Republican Charlie Christ in 2009. The establishment GOP rallied behind Mr. Christ, who for now claims to be a Democrat, as the only candidate who could defeat any Democrat.
Where have we heard such things before?!
You can watch Sen. Rubio's announcement right here:

And Sen. Rubio, more than anyone else who has formally announced has the most to lose as he is giving up his Florida senate seat to run for president. Already shows that he is someone that is willing to take a risk. The senate seat probably was his for reelection. Sen Ted Cruz is not up for reelection until 2018. Sen. Rand Paul was able to get a change in Kentucky law so he could both run for president and his senate seat, also up in 2016.  But we will have to see how that turns out.
Yes, I know the most obvious thought out there is that why would another first-term senator, like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Kt.) make a run after in one way or another have used the current occupant of the White House, the Dear Leader, President Obama, inexperience (also a first-term senator).
The only defense, and I admit that it is lame but true.
The Dear Leader, President Obama, set the bar low enough that others could do what he did. Thus the three current GOP announced presidential candidates are first-term senators. All have positives and negatives. But Sen. Rubio has the least negatives over Sens. Cruz and Paul.
Rather than bore you with such details at this writing, let me just get you to this link to Five Thirty Eight and this article by Harry Enten as to the fact that the Republicans have a serious contender for the nomination in Sen. Rubio.
Some highlights from the speech, courtesy of Bloomberg News.

For almost all of human history, power and wealth belonged only to a select few. Most people who have ever lived were trapped by the circumstances of their birth, destined to live the life their parents had. But America is different. Here, we are the children and grandchildren of people who refused to accept this.
Both of my parents were born to poor families in Cuba. After his mother died when he was nine, my father left school to go work. My mother was one of seven girls raised by a disabled father who struggled to provide for his family.
When they were young, my parents had big dreams for themselves. But because they were not born into wealth or power, their future was destined to be defined by their past. So in 1956 they came here, to the one place on earth where the aspirations of people like them could be more than just dreams.
My father became a bartender. My mother a cashier, a maid and a Kmart stock clerk. They never made it big. But they were successful. Two immigrants with little money or education found stable jobs, owned a home, retired with security and gave all four of their children a life far better than their own.

A powerful personal story and a clear respect and love for America and what it offered not just his parents but their children, including Marco.

If we reform our tax code, reduce regulations, control spending, modernize our immigration laws and repeal and replace ObamaCare, the American people will create millions of better-paying modern jobs.

Short, to the point, concise. One thing that will bore the American people is an overly detailed plan explained in such fashion by the candidate. It is the general theme on which Sen. Rubio is basing his whole candidacy.

Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for President by promising to take us back to yesterday.
But yesterday is over, and we are never going back. We Americans are proud of our history, but our country has always been about the future. Before us now is the opportunity to author the greatest chapter yet in the amazing story of America.
We can’t do that by going back to the leaders and ideas of the past. We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them.

Yes, that is a direct hit at the presumptive and now official Democrat candidate, former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. And a little jab at potential Republican candidate, former Florida governor, Jeb Bush. And the following is a more direct jab on Mr. Bush:

My candidacy might seem improbable to some watching from abroad. In many countries, the highest office in the land is reserved for the rich and powerful. But I live in an exceptional country where even the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as those who come from power and privilege.

Although it is clear it is anti-Bush, it is another assault on the Clinton candidacy as well.
As I write this, I realize that there are some who will not forgive Sen. Rubio for trying to work with the so-called Gang of Eight in pursing so-called "comprehensive" immigration reform. I can't fault him for the effort. But Sen. Rubio clearly realized that the so-called Gang of Eight had no desire and want of a strong border security aspect of the plan and he bailed out. A leader does sometimes make mistakes. This was a mistake and we should be glad that when it came down to voting on it, Sen. Rubio pulled his support and is going to pursue border security first, then what to do with the millions of illegal aliens here.
People underestimate Sen. Rubio at their own peril. Remember as I noted earlier, the whole of the GOP establishment in Washington and Florida were lining up behind Mr. Christ for the senate seat. When Mr. Christ lost the nomination to Mr. Rubio, a rather large margin of victory, the spoiled-sport Christ mounted an "independent" challenge in the general election and all that did was put the Democrat candidate, Kendrick Meek, in third place. Mr. Rubio almost won a three-way race with 50% of the vote.
Not bad for a candidate with no chance of even getting the GOP nomination.
And now, the giant killer, Marco Antonio Rubio, is officially in for the Republican nomination for president. Can Sen. Rubio kill some more GOP folks and be the 2016 presidential nominee? I think that is a very real possibility.

First It's Jeb Bush, Now The Rev. Mike Huckabee In The Running For The '16 GOP Nod

Let's get this out of the way.
Whenever any candidate for president is either "exploring" or setting up an "exploratory committee", you can bet your bottom dollar that they are and will be running for president.
Late last year, former Florida governor and latest member of a certain family, Jeb (John Ellis Bush) Bush announced that he is setting up a presidential "exploratory committee" for a "possible" run for the 2016 Republican nomination for president.
Tonight on his Fox News Channel program, the former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, the Rev. Mike Huckabee, announced that he is leaving the Fox News Channel as he too is "exploring" entering what should be a crowded GOP field for 2016.
As I have my issues with Mr. Bush, I have issues with the Rev. Huckabee.
My main issue with the Rev. Huckabee is that I believe, despite denials on both sides, that he teamed up with the eventual GOP 2008 presidential nominee, Sen. John "F--- You" McCain to deny the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, the GOP nod.
Also, the Rev. Huckabee did seem to love his tax hikes while governor of Arkansas.
But he sure can say this.
He led the way for the Republican party to take over the state of Arkansas. Granted much of the GOP gains in Arkansas occurred after he left office and was capped off by the GOP winning control of the state legislature and all elected offices in the state.
The Rev. Huckabee has a lot of supporters and he does talk up a cultural populism. But again, I am not sure that he can gain much beyond his base of primarily Evangelical Christian voters.
Having a weekly talk gig on Fox News Channel has helped him communicate a message beyond politics and he has had many guests on his show that are very political polar opposites such as singer Melissa Etheridge.
And the Rev. Huckabee had the highest-rated cable show for his time slot on Saturday night.
It is possible that because of that he could be appealing to the populist wing of the GOP, which is growing and the strongest it has been in many years.
And why even if Jeb Bush does run for the GOP nomination, as I suspect he will, he will have a hard time winning over those voters period. He will lose many votes on his pro-amnesty for illegal aliens and strong support for Common Core educational standards. And Mr. Bush was a very good, conservative governor of Florida, his last year was 2006 as governor. Twelve years and many issues ago.
The fact is one can't win the nomination today being a moderate and or a Bush.
Another reality is don't count two moderates out from setting up their own "explorations" into the '16 campaign.
That would be the aforementioned Mr. Romney and the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie.
The usual wisdom is that a center-right candidate usually emerges as stronger conservatives field multiple candidates. Kind of what happened in 2012 and Mr. Romney was the beneficiary of conservative infighting.
But what a treat it would be for us conservatives to watch three moderates, Messrs. Bush, Christie and Romney duke it out. And a conservative consensus candidate emerges. That candidate probably will not be the Rev. Huckabee. I would look very seriously at the former Texas governor and 2012 candidate, Rick Perry. He is emerging now that he is no longer governor, is not fighting the effects of a back operation as a serious candidate.
But as of now, in the death march for just the Republican nomination for president in 2016, we have two serious candidates. Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee.