Lindsey Graham says New Hampshire "reset the race" will help Jeb Bush
KEENE, New Hampshire --- Lindsey Graham, one of of Jeb Bush's biggest allies in the GOP presidential race, took aim Tuesday at the top three finishers in the Iowa caucuses and said New Hampshire would provide a "reset in the race" that would help Bush.
"People here in new Hampshire will look for people with a sense of maturity, temperament, and experience," said Graham, the South Carolina senator who ended his own presidential bid. He spoke to reporters at a Bush event in Keene.
"Look at the three people running for the president of the United States -- the top three -- and what's their biggest success in government?," Graham said, echoing Bush's recent comparisons of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, both freshmen senators, to then-Sen. Barack Obama.
A day after the Iowa caucuses, Graham argued that Rubio, who placed third only "did well because he ran pretty hard to the right," therefore compromising his ability to win the general.
Graham cited his abandonment of "Gang of Eight immigration bill" and his opposition to an abortions even in the case of rape an incest -- a position that Graham considers " an outlier to the nation" -- as disqualifying.
Graham called Cruz an "ideologue to a fault" and said that given his inability to problem solve and his reputation in the Senate, it would be next to impossible for Cruz to be a good president. Graham also expressed amazement at voters belief that Cruz has not fundamentally changed his position on immigration.
"I don't hate Ted Cruz, I just don't respect Ted Cruz's approach to government," Graham told reporters. "When he says he's not for legal status, he's absolutely lying. I was sitting by him in the Judiciary Committee. His amendment would have given legal status not citizenship."
Graham predicted that both Cruz and Trump would get "creamed" in a general election, calling the candidate he has famously taken aim at since the start of the campaign a "nightmare" with no ability to solve problems.
"I can't think of a worse nominee than Donald Trump," Graham said.
"Whatever problems we had in 2012 with women and Hispanics - Trump's taken a gasoline and poured it on," Graham added.
Graham said that Bush needs to "do well in his lane" and can compete with Rubio because of his experience. He reasoned that the combination of voters' desire for experience and Bush's ground game will pay off as he tries to break out of the "establishment" pack in New Hampshire.
"You'll be talking about Jeb Bush's ground game next Wednesday," Graham promised. "I've seen it with McCain - it's better than McCain's. They've knocked on 60,000 doors. They have a ground game up here - phonebanking and door knocking - that just blows me away."