EDITORIAL: S.C. Republicans never sure what to make of Sen. Lindsey Graham

South Carolina Republicans are not sure what to make of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham half of the time.

Graham, whose comments about President Obama and Democratic politics can be as sharp as anyone’s when he brings out his knife for carving, has been criticized recently for being too cooperative with the liberal side of the aisle.

Some have deemed it behavior unbecoming of a GOP politician.

The senior senator from the Palmetto State was censured by the Charleston County Republican Party last week for failing to uphold the party’s platform.

Graham had the audacity to work with the Democrats on climate control and Obama’s bailout plan. The Charleston Republicans did not like him holding hands with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on a cap-and-trade bill to push forward greenhouse legislation.

“U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham — in the name of bipartisanship — continues to weaken the Republican brand and tarnish the ideals of freedom, rule of law, and fiscal conservatism,” the resolution reportedly reads, according to The Post and Courier in Charleston.

Lin Bennett, the Charleston County GOP chairwoman, told The State newspaper in Columbia: “We have a state platform that if you want to run as a Republican in our state part of that platform includes ideals and goals we would like to see and one of them is smaller, and less government intrusion into people’s lives.”

Frankly, we’re not sure which Graham the Republicans from Charleston have been watching. Graham has a staunchly conservative voting record. But as an even more valuable player for the state, Graham is willing to rise above partisanship if it means finding solutions, such as the never-ending logjam on climate control.

Graham’s likely not losing sleep over the issue of being too chummy with the Democrats, but his spokesman felt compelled to address the issue with Roll Call, the U.S. Capitol newspaper.

“Sen. Graham has a lifetime conservative voting record of 90 percent and last year was rated the 15th-most conservative Senator by National Journal,” Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said. “Like former President Reagan, he strongly believes elected officials need to find common ground and work together to solve difficult problems like making our nation energy independent and protecting our environment.

“Working to solve problems and being conservative are not mutually exclusive. Sen. Graham will continue to pursue the same common-sense conservative agenda in his second term in the U.S. Senate as he did in his first,” he said.

In an advertising campaign launched late last month, the American Energy Alliance is spending $75,000 in South Carolina, criticizing Graham with a 30-second radio and television spot.

“Energy is the lifeblood of our economy, from home to work to play,” a narrator says in the ad. “So why would Sen. Lindsey Graham support a new national energy tax called cap and trade, which could increase electricity bills, gas prices, and cost American jobs? Call Sen. Lindsey Graham. Tell him you’re turned off by his support for cap and trade.”

It’s tough to say whether Graham’s support has waned with grassroots conservatives. After all, he was re-elected easily in 2008. And while state Republicans have been critical of Graham, he’s not up for re-election again until 2014. Cap and trade will be long forgotten by then.

“What has the base so upset was that any time you partner up with a Hillary Clinton and John Kerry or, God bless him, Ted Kennedy, you have a problem on your hands,” former state GOP chair Katon Dawson told the Huffington Post. “But I know Lindsey. He is cagey and crafty. People forget that he grew up in the back of a pool hall and that his daddy sold liquor.”

Graham does have a common touch. In town hall meetings, including one at Francis Marion University in Florence, Graham has been straightforward and unapologetic in his opposition to federal health care reform. He does not think more government is the answer.

Anyone who criticizes Graham for speaking his mind, or doing what he thinks is right, misses the point of sending a senator to Washington in the first place.

— Editorial Board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), James Bennett (regional editor), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (news editor), David Johnson (regional circulation director), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).