I know Emily has already written about Lindsey Graham’s entry into the GOP race, but l’ll leave the Lindsay Lohan observations to her. (To be fair, Emily does note Graham has been far more specific on foreign policy than anyone else in the GOP field).

Given his long standing association with John McCain, Graham doesn’t have much of a constituency among conservatives. Exhibit A would be Quin Hillyer’s piece on Graham from seven years ago:

What, for example, could possibly have possessed Graham, in April of 2006, to write an essay for Time magazine about the virtues of Hillary Clinton? He called her “a smart, prepared, serious senator.” She is “sought out by her colleagues to form legislative partnerships.” She has managed to “build unusual political alliances with…conservatives.”

Yet Graham’s strong national security credentials cannot be easily dismissed, and I loved how he took apart Eric Holder a few years back. Graham is the kind of sleeper candidate who could do well in the GOP debates and the South Carolina Senator has to be considered a good shot to win his state’s primary. Of course, Newt Gingrich won South Carolina in 2012 and then dropped off the map.

Of course, it has been suggested that Graham’s raison d’être isn’t to win the GOP nomination, but rather to prevent Rand Paul from attaining it. If there’s anyone who can get under Paul’s thin skin it is Graham. That alone justifies his candidacy.