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FMR. SCGOP CHAIR SAYS REPUBLICAN CRITICS NEED TO LOOK AT BIG PICTURE
One of South Carolina’s most beloved GOP leaders is coming to the defense of Sen. Lindsey Graham after a county Republican Party censured the senior U.S. Senator for working toward a bi-partisan alternative energy solution.
Katon Dawson, the immediate former State GOP chairman who came in second in the race to become Republican National Committee chairman, said Wednesday that he understands both Graham’s position as well as those who are upset with him. But Dawson said folks need to look at the larger picture.
“At the end of the day, what we are looking for is offshore drilling for natural gas and Lindsey got that in the bill,” Dawson told the Huffington Post.
During his chairmanship, Dawson was a major proponent of the “Drill Here, Drill Now” proposal to create offshore oil drilling in South Carolina. And a poll published in March showed that 72 percent of state residents favored exploring for oil and gas off the coast of South Carolina.
Yet the Charleston County Republican Party censured Graham this week for working with Democrats to include in a climate change bill measures that would expand offshore drilling as well as nuclear energy, clean coal and natural gas — something the GOP has wanted for years.
“What has the base so upset was that any time you partner up with a Hillary Clinton and John Kerry or, God bless him, Ted Kennedy, you have a problem on your hands,” said Dawson. “But I know Lindsey. He is cagey and crafty. People forget that he grew up in the back of a pool hall and that his daddy sold liquor. People forget that.”
Graham’s efforts to implement renewable energy solutions has also made him a target of big oil. A front group for the Institute for Energy Research, which is funded by ExxonMobile and headed by former Enron speechwriter Robert L. Bradley, Jr., has recently begun a television and radio campaign to mislead voters into believing that Graham “supports a national energy tax called cap-and-trade.”
And it’s Graham’s willingness to reach across the aisle that has allowed some Republicans to believe the lies.
“There is a price to pay back home when you partner with John Kerry,” Dawson said. “There is a price you pay when you have photo ops with Hillary Clinton. But Lindsey has always been willing to pay that price.”
If someone in the SC GOP says he’s good, he MUST be good. Yeah, sure, whatever. Lindsey is a scourge. You don’t give up so much just to drill here, drill now. A fat load of good it will do to drill here, drill now once our economy is buried by the Cap and Tax legislation. The dems will just not honor the amendment anyway through executive order or some other under-handed garbage.
Give up the farm as long as you get to keep the cow, I guess? I guess as long as we get all MRI scans included for free in the health care bill, we should be in favor of it? What tortured logic in an attempt to toe the party line in support for the blight that is Lindsey Grahamnesty! I guess we are supposed to over-look the the criminality of creating a carbon credit exchange market too?
You really need to wake up and smell the BS that is Lindsey Graham. He stinks and he is no conservative even if he does have an “R” after his name.
Lindsey, “elections have consequences,” right? Yes, yes they do and your next one will have them too since you care more about the presidential election than your own when making decisions in the Senate (like supporting Sotomayor).
TPS has stooped to all new lows in quoting The Huffington Post. You really have some standards over there. Good job!
No Mr. Dawson, Forget the “BIG PICTURE”. You need to look at the REAL picture here in SC. And that is as long as the SCRP does not put up a viable alternative for SC voter against Mr. Graham, then they can forget my support and that includes financially. It is not just his support of cap and trade but his blatant disregard of South Carolinians on Immigration, (you ought to see the condesending, talking down replyes to my contact with his office) support of Satamayor, and several other positions that has the conservative base in an uproar and ready for a change.
Our conservative hero President Reagan got it. He understood what it meant to fight for the conservative agenda but take what you can get when you can’t get everything. Too many of our conservative brethren have forgotten to look at the big picture.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Life-Ronald-Reagan/dp/0743400259#reader_0743400259
An American Life (autobiography)
By Ronald Reagan
Page 171
When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn’t like it.
“Compromise” was a dirty word to them and they wouldn’t face the fact that we couldn’t get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don’t get it all, some said, don’t take anything.
I’d learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: “I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.”
If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that’s what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.
To h*** with reaching across the aisle! When have the democrats ever “reached across the aisle?” getting something “put in a bill” is useless. It can always be removed in conference. Does he think we’re stupid? Cap and tax is a bad bill and needs to be defeated! If the republicans won’t do it, where does that leave us?
Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is also on Graham’s list. Another Agnes type plant to service U.S. and foreign spent fuel could be built in SC as part of the deal. Wonder what Jimmy Carter would think of that?
Dawson defends Graham? My thoughts can be summed up in three words: “I Don’t care!”
Graham has stabbed conservatives in the back too many times. Methinks he’s feeling the heat on this one and is lining up whoever he can get to pull his ass out of the fire.
It’s not going to work.
He needs to start representing the voters of SC and not some willy nilly bunch of Washington insiders who still think global warming is a problem!
Obama lied during the campaign when he said he’d allow off-shore dilling and nuclear plant development. And, yet, Lindsey Graham still believes Obama would compromise??? He’s either hopelessly naiive or he got paid for the so-called compromise.
We are outraged that Obama and Pelosi bought all the House votes last week to get health care reform passed. They bribed them with taxpayer money…and they still have plenty of stimulus money left. We The People don’t doubt that Obama and any willing co-conspirators in the Senate will betray us again.
Graham is not stupid; he’s been in Washington too long — he now represents himself first, the people last. He’s being bribed with our money!
Dawson shows his true colors … RHINO Hunting season begins in 2010!
[...] 11/12/2009: Dawson defends Graham against climate change critics [...]
[...] FMR. SCGOP CHAIR SAYS CRITICS NEED TO LOOK AT BIG PICTURE [...]
Katon is the reason we have a party of Rinos.
Please, Katon supported Bob Peeler too and Sanford….both ADULTERERS and losers all!
Please Katon, you supported Bob peeler and Mark Sanford both dishonest Adulterers! Did you support John Edwards too?
Earlier this week, Senator Graham’s new friend, John Kerry, totally debunked “the reason” we need to pass their cap-and-trade energy tax. Check it out:
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2009/11/12/facts-are-stubborn-things/
Which would you rather have – a bill in which we get half a loaf by working with Democrats to get SOME of our priorities (domestic exploration and dramatic nuclear power expansion) in exchange for some of the Democrat priorites, or having the Dems roll us and give up nothing? Remember, it’s 60-40 for the next year, and that’s a long time to fight a holding battle. Or, worse yet, the Dems do as Obama is signalling and punt on the legislative path and go to EPA regulation to achieve their purposes, and we’re even worse off. THAT will make the IRS look like Mother Teresa by comparison. Lighten up and get a grip on the realities of the situation. It’s not a perfect GOP world right now – Lindesey’s doing the best that can be done.
Why not get Senator Graham started on a new scare, so he and the Dems can really join together. Scientific research has shown that the American SUV is polluting the Milky Way. The galaxy is negatively affected by the lighter-than-air carbon dioxide sourced directly to the American SUV. Because of the elevated concentration of America’s lighter-than-air carbon dioxide, the galaxy is being contracted and, within two or three decades, will be drawn n so close that stars and planets will be as close to earth as the moon, so close, in fact, they will bounce off one another like billiard balls. The green earth coalition has mounted an intense program to have government declare as criminals, all who drive an American SUV on all American Roads. The United Nations has assembled troops from all third world nations to occupy the United States, quartered in American homes, arresting and imprisoning all who violate laws against American SUV’s. President Obama and his family have designed the three wheel mini car for all Americans that run on animal waste gases, assuring the UN forces occupying America that they will solve the problem and keep the Milky Way milky. claysamerica.com
Let us not forget that Lindsey Graham also gave us Eric Holder as AG (along with his Maverick buddy). The same Holder who facilitated the Mark Rich pardon & donation quid pro quo.
Graham clearly has no clue how to represent his constuents and the average American. He is just another big government politician who will do anything to get in front of the cameras and make an ass of himself.
I would encourage senator Graham to go to climateaudit.org and check out how this “science” is a scam done with cherry picked, massaged data.
He should also consider having a nice chat with Lord Mockton, Vaclav Klaus or any of the other world leaders who have actually studied the science on this subject.
Graham is totally incompetent and a shameless attention whore.
Graham should also have shown some judgement with his Cap n Tax scam.
This country can not afford to continue to give away our competitive advantage as we become totally beholden to the Chinese monetizing our debt (along with Uncle Sam).
This man does not understand the situation this country has been put in by clueless (”well meaing” or not) professional dealmakers. True leadership has become a scarce commodity in the Republicrats for decades now.
We need change at the nation level of the GOP leadership. Michael Steele’s shocking silence on the cap n trade scam Graham has co-sponsored just shows how sick the party is and it’s continued “go along to get along” mentality that has the public so furious.
[...] viewing those polling numbers, Graham’s team compelled former SCGOP Chairman Katon Dawson to throw Lindsey a bone earlier this week in an effort to stop the bleeding among Republican voters. Possibly related [...]
Good Lord! Getting something good put in a bad bill is not something to be patted on the back for, Lindsay Graham.
When I heard Sen Graham in a snotty little tone criticizing conservative talk show hosts, I knew it was over for him. To that point he was tolerated. After that, I knew he would be vilified, and deservedly so.
He evidently thinks that just because he just got elected by a good margin, he had some sort of mandate. Well, that was before Conservatives became revolutionaries, and recognized the need to demand of local crony Republicans that they stop putting up RINOs and expecting them to be supported by conservatives. People held their nose to vote for him. But that doesn’t need to happen anymore. Next time, there will be a Primary, and there will be a Conservative running against this RINO Compromiser of Principle.
Once again, hiding goodies in a bad bill won’t get praise anymore. WE are reading the bills!!!!
Graham has a death wish. Those Repubicans who also seek political death, join up with Lindsey. You have no clue how furious the conservative base has become with Graham’s ridiculous , treacherous, patronizing behavior. Condescend to us at your peril.
“Tell those bigots to shut up” “Angry what (white) people”
Do you think we’re not paying attention?
If you keep doing what you insist on doing, you will lose your precious little careers to third party candidates. We no longer care about Republicans enough to tolerate this kind of trash. Oh, woe, you’ll have to try to get honest jobs in this terrible economy!!
You always smirked and said…”where else are you going to go?” Guess what, we’re angry enough to leave you in the dirt and let the Democrats take it all.
PAY ATTENTION TO NY23
Tell Lindsey to become a Democrat like Arlen Specter. He now disgusts us.
I’m very disappointed in Joe Wilson. Tell him not to expect any more donations.
Here’s the big picture! Without Graham’s involvement, the bill gets crafted with no conservative policies integrated or worse yet, no bill gets passed and the EPA institutes policies that are much, much worse for the American taxpayer, especially those in SC. This is not an all-or-nothing proposition. If you want to live solely by your ideologies, then close your doors and windows and do so.
This is politics and this is how things get done.
I’m happy Graham is showing his true colors so brilliantly. Reaching across the isle is what has put us in our current position. Graham and those like him, and there are many, must be purged. Our only chance is solid conservative representation unwilling to compromise their position. Graham must be disposed of.
This claim that EPA policies could be worse than cap and tax is a bunch of nonsense. Read what cap and tax is really about and you will see that nothing could be worse.
[...] get a shit load of criticism from the crazy nut jobs in their own party (1 2 3). I don’t know how to make this any more clear, science is NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE. It [...]
To Lindsey Graham and his ilk in the GOP:
You will not get one red cent of my money…ever! Your days of reaching across the isle to the communist democraps is coming to an end. Lindsey and his ilk are the reason we are in the mess we are with Obama as president.
I will personally be supporting JD Hayworth in AZ against McCain, and other ‘conservative’ GOP candidates who are working to take out the RINO’s. Our country is in a cultural war with communists in the liberal world. I am not going down without a fight, and there are many like me who will refuse to give up and be silent.
Shame on the GOP for loosing it’s path. The McCain’s, Bush’s, Graham’s, Collins, Snowe’s, Bond’s, Emerson’s, Steele’s and others will be in for the fight of their careers. I will never give the GOP another red cent until their support of RINO’s is gone.
RINO season is upon us and I look forward to the trophy’s hanging on the wall.