The Republican Party has talented candidates, Lindsey Graham said Thursday, but the debate process is not bringing out the best in the party and the Republican National Committee is overdoing matters and micromanaging the process.
"I don't think they could run a one-car funeral," the South Carolina Republican senator and GOP candidate told MSNBC's
"Morning Joe" show,on the morning after he was widely considered to have
won the undercard debate.
Graham said that instead of breaking up the debates based on poll numbers, there should be two groups of candidates on stage, matched up randomly.
"I don't think I'm an undercard candidate when it comes to national security," he told the show. "This micromanaging and trying to knock people out is hurting New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina. Give us all a chance and two debates, 90 minutes where you have less people on the stage and actually ask really good questions."
The moderators at the CNBC debate have come under fire for their line of questioning, and Graham said at the end of the day, it is okay to challenge the candidates when they say things like, "I'm going to get rid of the IRS, there will be no corporate taxes if I'm president. Challenge us on foreign policy."
Graham, however, refused comment on whether he thinks former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would make an effective president.
"I've got my own campaign to run," he said. "I think I have a better story to be commander in chief than all these guys. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan 35 times and been in the military for 30 years, 140 days on the ground as a reservist in Iraq and Afghanistan and I understand the war. What Jeb has to do is show some passion for this job. I would take the country in a new direction."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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