Lindsey Graham Just Guaranteed Himself a Primary

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of Barack Obama's favorite Republicans, has virtually guaranteed himself a Republican challenger in his 2014 race by his sometimes uneven advocacy of Conservative principles.  But with the statement below, I think he has guaranteed a primary.  The clip is ostensibly about Senator Rand Paul's 13 hour filibuster yesterday, over the simple question of whether or not the President believed he had the authority to attack/kill an American citizen on American soil using a drone strike and whatever non-due process procedure the Administration uses to guide these decisions when made overseas.  Graham's statement comes near the end of the short clip:



Yes, Senator Graham, the idea that we’re going to use a drone to attack a citizen in a cafe in America is ridiculous.  And unconstitutional.  Which is why Rand Paul's asking of the question and the Administration's prevarications in answering it, are so important.  If the notion is so ridiculous, then the President could easily say, "I do not have that authority and such an act would be unconstitutional".  Game over.  But he (through his Attorney General) did NOT say that.  By my reading of General Holder's answer, he CAN foresee extreme situations in which the President COULD execute this authority.  I'm not sure I disagree with General Holder, either.  But clearly Senator Paul does, and the asking of the question gets at a fundamental issue of Constitutional due process. 

Senator Graham's full throated support for the drone program overseas makes sense--Senator Paul also supports it.  That Mr. Graham cannot be bothered to wonder about a domestic instantiation of the program is troubling, and I'm sure the voters of South Carolina will agree.