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Have Democrats been dismayed by Lindsey Graham's coziness with Trump? Yep. But they also see a silver lining. They're lining up to work with him on bills & hoping he can use his influence -- like when he helped convinced Trump not to abandon Syria:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Graham told me his major effort is to convince Trump to do a deal with Democrats on immigration. But so far not going as planned -- Trump later walked out of his infrastructure meeting with Schumer & Pelosi and declared he wouldn't work with them while they are investigating him.
Graham told me one of the reasons Bill Clinton stayed popular while he and other Rs were impeaching him was he separated governing from the investigations.
Graham on his Trump strategy:
“The key to most people, particularly this president, if he thinks you want him to be successful, he’ll take criticism,” Graham said. “If he thinks you’re out to get him, he locks down and that’s it, and he lashes out.”
“The key to most people, particularly this president, if he thinks you want him to be successful, he’ll take criticism,” Graham said. “If he thinks you’re out to get him, he locks down and that’s it, and he lashes out.”
There are political benefits and risks to Graham's backing of Trump (and Kavanaugh). Graham's approval rating among SC Republicans was just 49% two years ago. It was *74%* earlier this year -- the opposite of the free-fall experienced by Flake and Corker. He's up in 2020.
Dem challenger @harrisonjaime is trying to capitalize on Graham's head-spinning switcheroo on Trump. Graham went from calling Trump a kook and a bigot and refusing to vote for him to buddies after Trump won. But Trump at +10 net approval in Morning Consult SC polling, so...
Being buddies with Trump has also required Graham to set aside and compartmentalize lots of things he doesn't like, including Trump's repeated slagging of John McCain. But Graham says he's gotten to know Trump personally, and he's fun to be around:
