Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks in Des Moines, Iowa. Graham has announced Monday he is ending his bid for the GOP nomination. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Monday he was ending his 2016 presidential campaign.
The South Carolina senator posted a video saying he was proud of his campaign, which he said was focused on the nation’s security.
“You have honored me with your support. I believe we have run a campaign we can be proud of,” Graham said. “We put forth bold and practical solutions to big problems about retiring our debt and fixing our broken immigration system. This has been a problem solvers campaign. However the centerpiece of my campaign has been securing our nation.”
Graham, 60, plunged into the contest in June on a platform of hawkish foreign policy and a declaration that newcomers need not apply for a job that offers no chance for “on-the-job training.” At the time, anything was possible because none in the mob of GOP candidates was capturing a sizable base of support.
But over the summer, political neophytes Donald Trump and Ben Carson surged to the front of the pack and forced far better-known candidates, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, to fight for support.
Graham, urged to run by 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, won so little backing in national polls that he failed to qualify even for the undercard GOP debate in November.
An Air Force veteran and reservist, Graham is a foreign-policy hawk who has called President Barack Obama “a small-minded guy in big times.” After the attacks on Paris that killed 129 people, Graham pushed for an authorization of military force against the Islamic State that would allow the U.S. to attack the groups’ supporters anywhere, with no time limit.
But as he visited core GOP supporters in Iowa and New Hampshire, Graham did not back away from positions that separated him from the GOP’s conservative base. In New Hampshire, Graham said he won’t abandon his call for an immigration overhaul that includes both improvements in border security and a path to legal status for the millions of people living in the country illegally. “All I can say is that we need to fix immigration. It’s a national security issue, it’s a cultural issue and it’s an economic issue. I am not going to give an inch on the idea.”
Graham, a member of the conservative class that swept into control of the House in 1994 has, at times, joined Democrats on other high-profile votes. In October 2013, he voted for a deal that ended a partial government shutdown and raised the nation’s borrowing limit.
He has panned conservatives who have been willing to let the government shut down if their demands aren’t met, saying: “We’re a right-of-center nation. We’re not a right-ditch nation.” Graham also supported both of Obama’s nominees to the Supreme Court. “Elections have consequences,” he explained.
Who would you like to see become the next president of the United States?
The first presidential primary will take place in New Hampshire on Feb. 9. (Massachusetts voters get to weigh in on “Super Tuesday,” March 1.) For whom will you vote to be your party’s standard bearer?
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks in Des Moines, Iowa. Graham has announced Monday he is ending his bid for the GOP nomination. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File) 
