While John McCain will probably run for another term as Arizona Senator, he’s urging his friend and colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), to run for president in 2016. ABC News mentioned Graham’s interview with the Weekly Standard last month where he said he might consider a 2016 run if no other candidate has a robust and aggressive foreign policy platform (via ABC News/Yahoo!):
“I think he is looking at it, and I am strongly encouraging him to take a look at it,” McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC News. “I know of no one who is better versed and more important on national security policy and defense than Lindsey Graham, and I don’t think these challenges to our security are going away.”“He is eminently qualified,” McCain added
Yet, he also knows that this will be an exercise in the insane given the media scrutiny, traveling, and fundraising he would have to do if he tossed his hat into the ring:
On CNN's State of the Union Sunday, Graham said running for president is "the hardest thing one could ever do. You go through personal hell. You have got to raise a ton of money. I'm nowhere near there."McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, said he expects a “very crowded field” in 2016 that will be compromised of both senators and governors.
“I think there's an old saying that if you are a United States senator that unless you are under indictment, or detoxification that you can automatically consider yourself a candidate,” McCain joked. “I think we should let a thousand flowers bloom. I think that the process is wide open right now, and I think not only will members of the Senate be considered, but I think some of our successful Republican governors will also be interested.”
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