S.C. Senator Lindsey Graham Suspends 2016 Presidential Campaign

Lindsey Graham May Not Have Moved the Polls, But He Moved the Party

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham suspended his 2016 presidential campaign on Monday, announcing in a video that he will never give up on his devotion to national security. Since entering the race, Sen. Graham had been a voice for greater intervention in the Middle East, particularly in Syria and Iraq, repeatedly claiming candidates who weren’t prepared to acknowledge U.S. boots need to be on the ground were “not serious and not ready to be commander-in-chief.”

“Today, I’m suspending my campaign for president,” Sen. Graham said in a video. “I want to thank everyone who has taken this journey with me. You have honored me with your support.”

Graham had been relegated to the undercard debate since the beginning of the cycle, though was widely seen as the winner of nearly all of them save for the first hosted by FOX News. Former Hewlitt-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina gave a strong performance that landed her on the primetime stage, where she has remained.

“This has been a problem-solver’s campaign,” Graham said. “However, the centerpiece of my campaign has been securing our nation. I got into this race to put forward a plan to win a war we cannot afford to lose.”

PPD’s senior political analyst says Graham’s exit is unlikely to change the dynamic of the race.

“The polling won’t move in any significant direction toward or against anyone,” Rich Baris, the People’s Pundit said. “Sen. Graham was barely registering nationally and had zero support in several of the early states. However, his contribution to the race was significant in the sense that he moved the party in a more hawkish direction as terrorism and events played out in Europe, the Middle East and in the U.S.”