LINDSEY GRAHAM BOWS OUT OF 2016 RACE:
MOST SC VOTERS PREFER TRUMP.
SANTORUM WAS RIGHT; US TROOPS SHOULD STAY OUT OF SYRIA.
GRAHAM'S POLL NUMBERS REMAINED LOW & SC CONSTITUENTS DON'T TRUST HIM.
Sen. Lindsey Graham is dropping out of the presidential race, his campaign announced this morning.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican serving his third term, addressed his supporters in a video and an email.
"While we have run a campaign that has made a real difference, I have concluded this is not my time," Graham said.
Graham's focus on national security and fighting terrorism was influential in the overall primary debate, but he was not well known outside South Carolina or the Senate. He failed to poll above single digits nationally or in the early voting states.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that with Graham's announcement, "Republicans lost our most qualified, thoughtful, fearless and honest presidential candidate, not to mention the candidate with the best (and it seemed sometimes the only) sense of humor."
"Despite the disadvantages he faced in resources and debate opportunities, Lindsey’s message of serious statesmanship and problem-solving in public affairs, his forthright opposition to policies and attitudes that would endanger our country and reflect poorly on our party, and his genuine decency and humility won him many new admirers," McCain said in a statement.
Graham stood out in the crowded Republican field by promoting his efforts at compromise with Democrats on issues such as reducing the federal debt and fixing immigration laws.
"This has been a problem solver’s campaign. However the centerpiece of my campaign has been securing our nation," Graham said in his farewell video. "I got into this race to put forward a plan to win a war we cannot afford to lose and to turn back the tide of isolationism that was rising in our party.
I believe we have made enormous progress in this effort."
Graham, 60, won a third Senate term last year after defeating a big crowd of primary challengers without a runoff. He returns to the U.S. Senate with five years left on his term, and is frequently mentioned as potential defense secretary if a Republican wins the White House in 2016.
Although his poll numbers suffered in the last few weeks, even in his home state, he has the backing of several Republican leaders in South Carolina. If Graham chooses to endorse one of the other remaining candidates, it could sway some votes before South Carolina Republicans go to the polls in February.
"Senator Graham has an incredibly strong and loyal grassroots network in South Carolina," said South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore. "Given Senator Graham's huge primary victory in South Carolina just last year, the Graham network could have a major impact on South Carolina's presidential primary."
Graham began exploring the possibility of a campaign early this year and officially declared his candidacy on June 1.
He raised enough money to travel to Iowa and New Hampshire, but started losing ground when the national Republican party and the sponsors of the televised debates divided the field into front runners and long shots, and he was relegated to the second tier debates.
Depsite several stand out debate performances, his poll numbers never went up enough to qualify for the prime time events, where he would have relished the confrontations with Donald Trump and the rest of the field.
Monday's decision allows Graham's name to be removed from South Carolina's Feb. 20 presidential ballot.
Sources: USA Today, CNN, YouTube
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