Lindsey Graham on Principles & Values Republican Sr Senator; previously Representative (SC-3)

America is already great; make America strong again

Experienced leader for libertarians,vegetarians, you name it

GRAHAM: Well, what I hope Republican voters, libertarian, vegetarians, Democrats, you name it, will look for somebody to lead us in a new direction, domestically, but particularly on the foreign policy front. President Obama is making a mess of the world. What I'm trying to tell you here tonight, that Syria is hell on Earth. I've been there 35 times to Iraq and Afghanistan. I am ready to be commander-in-chief on day one. I've been in the military 33 years, 140 days on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am so ready to get on with winning a war that we can't afford to lose. I hope you believe that experience matters. When you vote for commander-in-chief, they are stuck with your choice. We've had one novice being commander-in- chief. Let's don't replace one novice with another.

Reagan drank with opponents; let's drink more like that

JINDAL: No. And they shouldn't win this election cycle. We have got the majority; what good has it done us? They are not willing to stand up to fight for the issues that count.

GRAHAM: Ronald Reagan did a couple of really big things that we should all remember. He sat down with Tip O'Neill, the most liberal guy in the entire House. They started drinking together. That's the first thing I'm going to do as president. We're going to drink more. And what did these two great Irishmen do? They found a way to save Social Security from bankruptcy by adjusting the age of retirement from 65 to 67. So, yes, I will say nice things at times about Democrats. Yes, I will work them.

I will put the country ahead of party. Absolutely I want to work with them.

My dad ran a pool room; I'm not elite

Supported removal of battle flag following shooting

A: If you'd asked me the day before the attack, I would've said, "The compromise worked," we took the flag off the top of the dome, moved it by the war memorial, built an African American monument, that worked for most South Carolinians. But after the shooting, it didn't work. My state will never be able to move forward after this shooting if we don't take the flag down. The people at the AME church, the families of the victims changed everything by their grace, by their love, by their forgiveness, making it impossible for a guy like me to say, "Keep the flag up."

Q: When you see the flag now, do you see a symbol of hate or heritage?

A: After this shooting, and after the call for it to be taken down by the families of the victims, I see it as a road block to the future of my state. I see it being in a museum, where people can look at it any way they want.

Voted with Republican Party 87.5% of 312 votes.

Voted YES on confirming of Sonia Sotomayor to Supreme Court.

"In the past month, many Senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. It is simple: fidelity to the law. The task of a judge is not to make the law--it is to apply the law. And it is clear, I believe, that my record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms; interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress's intent; and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and my Circuit Court. In each case I have heard, I have applied the law to the facts at hand."

Voted YES on confirming Samuel Alito as Supreme Court Justice.

Voted YES on confirming John Roberts for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Religious affiliation: Southern Baptist.

The Adherents.com website is an independent project and is not supported by or affiliated with any organization (academic, religious, or otherwise).

What’s an adherent?

Such factors as religious service attendance, belief, practice, familiarity with doctrine, belief in certain creeds, etc., may be important to sociologists, religious leaders, and others. But these are measures of religiosity and are usually not used academically to define a person’s membership in a particular religion. It is important to recognize there are various levels of adherence, or membership within religious traditions or religious bodies. There’s no single definition, and sources of adherent statistics do not always make it clear what definition they are using.

Contract with America: 10 bills in 1st 100 days of Congress.

As Republican Members of the House of Representatives and as citizens seeking to join that body, we propose not just to change its policies, but to restore the bounds of trust between the people and their elected representatives. That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.

Within the first hundred days of the 104th Congress, we shall bring to the House Floor the following bills, each to be given a full and open debate, each to be given a clear and fair vote, and each to be immediately available this day for public inspection and scrutiny:
1. The Fiscal Responsibility Act: Balanced budget amendment & line item veto
2. The Taking Back Our Streets Act: More prisons, more enforcement, more death penalty
3. The Personal Responsibility Act: Limit welfare to 2 years & cut welfare spending
4. The Families Reinforcement Act: Use tax code to foster families
5. The American Dream Restoration Act: Repeal marriage tax; cut middle class taxes
6. The National Security Restoration Act: No US troops under UN command; more defense spending
7. The Senior Citizens Fairness Act: Reduce taxes on Social Security earnings
8. The Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act: Incentives to small businesses
9. The Common Sense Legal Reforms Act: Limit punitive damages
10. The Citizen Legislature Act: Term limits on Congress