The Tea Party movement, earlier labeled by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham as unsustainable, has focused its anger and energy toward Graham whose is not up for re-election until 2014. Graham has been criticized by members of the Tea Party and other conservative groups as being a liberal. They cite his efforts to work with democrats for compromises on issues like immigration and health care, and his vote to confirm Obama nominee Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Graham met with Tea Party members in Charleston Thursday night to listen to their concerns and to drive home the point that he is still very much a conservative. Clemson Political Science Professor David Woodard says Thursday night’s meeting and any subsequent meetings with Tea Party members indicate that Graham now sees the Tea Party as a force to be reckoned with.
Woodard suspects that Graham got a “wake up call” on the growing power and influence of the Tea Party after one of his South Carolina GOP congressional colleagues, 4th District Congressman Bob Inglis, was soundly defeated in the Republican primary by South Carolina 7th Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy.
Following Thursday night’s meeting that was closed to media microphones and cameras, Graham told Charleston’s WCBD-TV that his message to Tea Party members is that he is a conservative, but he realizes that the strength of the country is compromise, finding common ground. Woodard considers Graham a very skilled politician and he thinks that his skills will be put to a stringent test as he attempts to lay out his positions on various issues to Tea Party members.
Graham said he wanted the meeting closed to media recording devices so that people would be more comfortable and open to express their views and ask questions. Woodard says from a politically strategic standpoint, Graham’s move to approach the Tea Party is a prudent one.
