All you got to do Lindsay is bash the party and the press will LOVE YOU man!

“Dispirited Republicans looking for national leaders amid a wash of scandals that have dominated national news over the last fortnight got a bit of good news on Sunday with an inspired performance on “Meet the Press” by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R).

Graham, who spent the 2008 election cycle as Sen. John McCain’s loyal sidekick, appeared alongside former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the GOP frontrunner in advance of 2012, and managed to stand out.

Why? Because unlike other Republicans who seem to be so fixated on scoring political points on President Obama, Graham was willing to point out where his own party had strayed while also making a reasonable argument for GOP ideals.

Asked about Gov. Mark Sanford’s extramarital affair, Graham, who is close to the governor, said that he was “disappointed” in his friend’s behavior and praised Obama as “one of the better role models in the entire country for the idea of being a good parent, a good father.”

Of the two major legislative victories for Democrats so far this Congress — the economic stimulus bill and the climate change measure — Graham offered a criticism that acknowledged the mistakes his own party had made while subtly hanging the politics as usual label on Obama and Democrats.

“The stimulus package was Karl Rove politics; pick a few Republicans off, call it bipartisan,” said Graham. “The climate change bill was Tom DeLay banging heads and twisting arms to get one vote more than you needed. So there’s really been no change in Washington.”

Even on the most divisive of issues — the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton — Graham managed to deflect the partisan bows and arrows slung at him, pointing out that he was the only Republican to vote against the article involving Clinton lying about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and adding “part of life, is failing.”

Isn’t that sweet! So if you abandon your party principals it makes you SeXah in the mind of Chris Cillizza and the Washington press. It’s a tried and true principal, just ask McCain. That is until you run for president or something then ole Chris and his buds will write stories about how you and Michael Jackson used to blow bubbles at Neverland Ranch!

By the way, we’ll find a “leader” when we find someone who pisses the pants off Cillizza and his ilk. It’s still a lesson they never learn.

Technorati Tags: , ,