Obama's Big Plans for Lindsey Graham

Reed Galen, a California political strategist and Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain until July 2007, has catalogued Obama's deft and extraordinary courting of John McCain.

Why, he asks, "would the President-Elect go to all the trouble of giving so much consideration to an opponent whom he soundly defeated?" It's not surprising that the sellout from Seneca plays a role.

Galen explains:

Obama understands that having John McCain as an ally in the United States Senate is a major boon to his policy initiatives. As the recent standard-bearer for the GOP, McCain will be enormously helpful; any Republican imprimatur on Obama legislation could help clear stubborn obstacles. The prospect of having a troika of votes in the Senate (McCain, Lieberman and Lindsay Graham) may have also played into the strategy; pushing a bill from 58 or 59 to the magic level of 60 votes is invaluable as the Democrats stand on the cusp of their magic number.

I wonder if those Republicans in South Carolina who voted for Lindsey Graham last year recognized how crucial a role he would play in the socialist plans of the new administration. Congratulations to you all. While Obama appears not to have been able to find anyone from the South to staff the cabinet and sub-cabinet positions he has filled, there is at least one useful idiot on whom he is depending.