Sen. Lindsey Graham Changes His Tune On Tea Party, Now Likes It A Lot

Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on Meet the Press and shared with host David Gregory his enthusiasm for welcoming new Tea Party influenced candidates to Washington. Graham also discussed his eagerness for tackling entitlement reform before dealing with the issue of raising the debt ceiling, a position Austan Goolsbee would probably consider “insanity.”

Graham elaborated on his satisfaction with the Tea Party:

I hope the Tea Party will come to Washington and change the whole dynamic that led to this fiscal mess we’re in starting with spending . . . but also reforming entitlements and I think a guy like [Senator-elect] Pat Toomey will be a breath of fresh air for the next Congress.

Graham’s comments are a bit peculiar given his contrary opinion just last summer in a New York Times Magazine interview:

The problem with the Tea Party, I think it’s just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out.

It seems the only thing to die out is Graham’s eagerness to stand up to the Tea Party. Although Graham would likely point to the November election results as a potential justification for his changed perception of the citizen movement.

Watch the clip from NBC below:

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