Lindsey Graham: If I Run in 2016 ‘I’m Doing It to Change the Country

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that if he runs for president in 2016 he’ll be “doing it to change the country” on Wednesday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show.”

“If I do it, I’ll be on all the ballots. I’m not doing it to make a statement. I’m doing it to change the country and offer what I have to offer to the American people, and to my party. And I think I’m uniquely qualified to deal with the threats we’re talking about. So when I hear a United States Senator trying to rationalize that Iraq created the problems in France, and when I hear some libertarians on my side of the aisle associated with the Republican Party say that it is our interventionist policy that has brought people down on us, they don’t know what they’re talking about. When I hear the president of the United States and his chief spokesperson failing to admit that we’re in a religious war, it really bothers me. And I want to be somebody who can talk about the world as it really is” he stated of a 2016 run. Adding, “if there’s a pathway forward, credible pathway forward, a competitive pathway forward, I will take it.”

Graham also sung the praises of Mitt Romney saying there was “probably no finer man ever run for the office. He’s one of the most decent people I’ve ever met. I don’t know if the third time is the charm.”

Although, he criticized some of Romney’s positions, stating “I do know this. If he runs for president again, and he embraces self-deportation as a way of solving the immigration problem, we’re going to have a problem as Republicans in general. I don’t know where Mitt is coming from, from the third time around.”

Graham added that he would make his decision “I think in the next few months. I’ve got to look and see. I know I do well in South Carolina. I should, because that’s where I’m from. But you can’t be president of South Carolina. So I’m going to have to look and see. Is there a lane for a guy who really does understand the threats we face regarding our national security, understands the consequences of sequestration’s ability to defend ourselves? Is there a lane for a guy like me who will say you’ve got to reform immigration, not just secure the border, but rationally deal with the 11 million? At the end of the day, I don’t know until I look.” And “I’m getting encouragement to look, so we’ll see.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett