Lindsey Graham: Stop Islamic terrorists or face ‘second 9/11’

Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham played up his hardscrabble upbringing and hawkish foreign policy in a speech from The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox on Monday at the Iowa State Fair.

Graham, a U.S. senator from South Carolina, warned that radical Islamic terrorists must be stopped abroad to avoid a “second 9/11” in the United States, explicitly calling for American ground troops in partnership with regional allies to stop the Islamic State.

“If I’m president of the United States, we’re going back to Iraq and we’re going to pound these guys into the ground,” Graham said. “And we’re not going to leave until the job’s done.”

Graham called for increasing American troop levels from 3,500 to 10,000 and said it ultimately would be necessary to invade Syria as well as Iraq.

“We’re going to go into Syria and kill every one of these guys we can find, and we’re going to hold the territory,” he said.

On domestic policy, Graham called for a bipartisan agreement on reforms that will extend the solvency of Social Security, invoking Republican hero Ronald Reagan, who negotiated changes to Social Security with Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill.

“Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill had a drink every night,” he said. “If I’m president, we’re going to drink more.”

Graham was introduced by his younger sister Darline Graham Nordine, who accompanied him throughout his daylong visit to the fair and described their early life growing up in a one-room apartment behind the pool hall, bar and liquor store their parents owned.

When Graham took the stage, he talked of looking after his sister following the deaths of their parents when he was in his early 20s and relying in part on Social Security survivor benefits.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done without my family, my friends and my faith,” he said. “I’m so proud of my sister, she’s turned out great.”

Even in his invocation of his early life, though, Graham found a way to turn the conversation back to foreign policy.

“I ran the poolroom as a kid, so I know the Iranians are liars,” Graham said, alluding to the nuclear deal stuck by the Obama administration in which Iran has pledged to give up its nuclear weapons programs. “I met a bunch of liars running the pool room.”

• Quote: “The biggest mistake we can make is let these guys get stronger over there, because they’re coming here.”

• Crowd: The crowd filled the soapbox space and spilled perhaps three deep into the Grand Concourse, but offered a tepid response to Graham’s speech. A smattering of people cheered at his calls for deeper military engagement in the Middle East and he received polite laughs for a couple of jokes.

• Other stops at the fair: Graham began the day at the fair at 9:30 a.m., meeting with military veterans in the staging area for the fair’s veterans parade and then walked in the parade. After that, he spent several hours visiting booths and meeting Iowans throughout the fair and ended the day flipping porkchops at the Pork Tent.

• Up next: Graham will remain in Iowa for two more days, attending a Linn County Republicans’ Central Committee meeeting on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids and three campaign events in Burlington, Mt. Pleasant and Ottumwa on Wednesday.

Graham: We all need to sacrifice for the benefit of the nation

One word figured heavily into U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s political soapbox pitch to Iowa voters: sacrifice.

Americans must be willing to sacrifice to sustain entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare and defeat radical Islam, he said.

When asked in a follow-up interview whether asking voters to give things up and do hard work was a smart political strategy in a crowded Republican field, Graham averred that it was.

“People are dying to be led,” Graham said. “Did you see people’s reaction? These are average everyday folks. They get that somebody has got to break through in Washington. ... I think it is the perfect way to shine in a 17-person field, but it’s going to take awhile to break through the clutter.”

The key to winning support in Iowa, Graham said, will be attracting veterans and military-minded Republicans — including members of organizations like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, of which there are thousands in the state.

“We’re trying to reach out to these folks and say make sure you pick a commander in chief who’s ready for the job,” he said. “I’m ready on Day One.”