Focus on S.C.'s Graham

GOP senator lands on Time's effective leaders to watch

The Carolinas didn't place a lawmaker on Time magazine's top 10 most effective U.S. senators -- and, thankfully, not on its five worst either. But South Carolina's Lindsey Graham did make the list of five senators to watch -- with good reason. The Republican who replaced Strom Thurmond has put the "m" in maverick, acquiring a reputation for candor, thoughtfulness, independence and hard work.

Time calls him "boyish, fast talking and a maverick," noting he's also "effective, pushing through a bill last year to expand health care for the Guard and Reserve."

But his "strength," the editors say, "is stepping up to a big moral issue, like how far to go in the war on terrorism, and making his voice heard."

Sen. Graham, 50, has indeed made his voice heard, of late on immigration reform. He's supported the president's proposal and a Senate compromise, noting that undocumented immigrants who work, pay taxes, stay out of jail and learn English add value to the economy and should be allowed to become U.S. citizens. He also favors tighter borders.

But Sen. Graham is not afraid to buck party and the president when he feels he has to. He told Tim Funk, the Observer's Washington correspondent, last spring that he considers himself a patriot first and a conservative second: "I will fight for the conservative cause because I believe in it. I will break away when I think the country needs me to break away to find a middle ground."

That's what he did when he joined six other Republicans and seven Democrats to form the Gang of 14, brokering a bipartisan deal to avert a Senate shootout over conservative judicial candidates. He's also broken with ranks to criticize the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the Bush administration's strategy on Social Security changes. Lately, he's been outspoken about holding China's feet to the fire over trade issues.

Though at times he rattles conservative cages, he's still solidly Republican. The nonpartisan National Journal, which ranks lawmakers on how they vote, says he's more conservative than 64.3 percent of his Senate colleagues -- placing him near the middle of the pack. Polls show he's the most popular politician in South Carolina.

Time spoke to dozens of academics, political scientists and current and former senators to come up with its list. But it doesn't take much digging to find that Sen. Graham is a public servant with an ethical compass. That's admirable. He told the Observer last year that he "will not use this job to hate people. If your test of whether or not I'm a good person is whether I'll hate the people you hate, then you've got the wrong guy."

A senator to watch indeed.