Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime friend and ally of Sen. John McCain, is now going a step further, Democrats say, and actually becoming the new McCain.Senior members of the majority party say the South Carolina Republican has displaced his Arizona mentor as the dealmaker on two big agenda items of the Obama administration: climate change and immigration.
As McCain, on the heels of his presidential election defeat, has distanced himself from Democrats, Graham has moved in to fill the vacuum. And Graham's decision to pick up the mantle of the maverick has been noticed and not always appreciated by conservative Republicans. Hecklers at a town hall meeting in Greenville, S.C., on Monday night accused their senator of abandoning conservative principles, to which he replied that he loved the GOP too much to let it become "the party of angry white guys."
Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), one of the chief Democratic sponsors of climate change legislation, has invited Graham to be his principal Republican partner on the issue.
Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), vice chairman of the Senate Democratic Conference, is in talks with Graham about teaming up to pass major immigration reform.
"I'm trying to use my time up here to solve problems," Graham told The Hill. "The Republican Party needs to be seen as a center-right party that will solve hard problems.
"We have an energy independence problem and I think the planet's got a [climate] problem. So I'd like to be a Republican who can bring good business practices to solving this problem.
"If the administration wants to embrace immigration reform, I will try to be helpful."
Graham stunned Republicans in Washington and South Carolina by agreeing to team up with Kerry to pass climate change legislation this Congress.
In a New York Times op-ed titled "Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)," Kerry and Graham wrote: "Our partnership represents a fresh attempt to find consensus that adheres to our core principles and leads to both a climate change solution and energy independence."
McCain has sounded more pessimistic about Kerry's bill, unveiled two weeks ago with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). He had "huge problems" with it, he told The Hill, and has decided to work instead with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
Schumer said he is even discussing immigration with Graham, even though McCain led efforts to pass immigration legislation with the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).
"Sen. Graham is the guy," Schumer said bluntly.
Democrats thought McCain would serve as the chief Republican dealmaker on climate and immigration. President Barack Obama reached out to him soon after defeating him in the 2008 election, inviting him in November to his Chicago transition office. But McCain soon positioned himself as an outspoken critic of Obama's policies. He led Senate GOP opposition to Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package, which attracted only three Republican votes.