Lindsey Graham to Iowan: 'I'm not your candidate'

The very first question Lindsey Graham answered Thursday in Sioux City is one he's received several times on the campaign trail: Why should we trust you?

"Here's the one thing you're going to get from me," the South Carolina senator answered. "Exactly what I believe."

Graham said he's not afraid to let people know when he disagrees with them. And he proved it about 10 minutes later.

The same man led up to a question about the Islamic State by saying the United States should outlaw Islam in order to deal with the problem.

"You know what, I'm not your candidate," Graham said, cutting him off. "I don't want you to vote for me. I couldn't disagree with you more."

Graham said that in order to deal with ISIS, he would strengthen the military and put more troops on the ground in Iraq. Outlawing Islam is not the answer, he said.

"The bottom line is I'm not trying to please him," Graham said after the event. "I'm not putting up with that. He's got a right to say whatever he wants to say, but I have an obligation to the Republican Party, to the people of Iowa and the country as a whole to be firm on this. I'm not buying into that construct. That's not the America that I want to lead."

The man who asked the question left the event quickly, but at least one other attendee said he appreciated Graham's honest and straightforward response.

"(I liked) the manner in which he answered everything," said Paul Gorski, a retired Sioux City Republican. "He's not trying to tell people what they want to hear. He's telling people who he is."

Gorski said he's looking for a candidate who, above all else, can win in a general election. Once he or she does win, he said, he's tired of inaction in Congress.

"Bobby Jindal is coming (to Sioux City) tonight, and he says 'hey I want to take the hyphen out of black-Americans, out of Mexican-Americans. We're all Americans,' " he said. "Okay. How come our Republicans and our Democrats aren't all Americans? It's like we've got two separate Americas. You can't do that."

Many attendees said they came to the event not because they're Graham supporters, but because they want a chance to hear every candidate speak. Many said they could potentially see themselves supporting Graham, but would want to hear more from him and from the other Republican candidates first.

Attendees said they liked Graham's tough-on-terrorism foreign policy plans and said many of his other solutions to issues like immigration, entitlement reform and tax policy also made sense.

• SETTINGS: Graham stopped at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor in Le Mars where he mingled with guests and ate ice cream before stopping at the Iowa GOP office in Sioux City. Earlier in the day, he stopped in Spencer and Orange City.
• CROWDS: Two people attended the event in Le Mars, so Graham spoke with several families who already were there. About 30 people were in Sioux City.
• REACTIONS: Attendees at both events said they generally liked what Graham had to say, but they weren't ready to back him as a candidate.
• WHAT'S NEXT: These were the last two stops in a two-day swing through Iowa for Graham. For details, go to DesMoinesRegister.com/candidatetracker.