Sen. Lindsey Graham Testing ‘The Waters’ Of A Presidential Run

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced Thursday that he’s taking steps toward running for president in 2016.

Graham, speaking on Fox News on Wednesday, announced the formation of his Strength Through Strength committee, an organization meant to lay the groundwork toward running for president.

“Well, I’m going to take a look at the presidential primary on the Republican side,” Graham said. “We’ll have an organization up and running today called Security Through Strength. And this organization will allow people to donate money and their time and resources to see if there is a pathway forward for me. You know Ronald Reagan famously said his goal was to have peace through strength.”

The website for Graham’s Strength Through Strength committee bills itself as a “political committee helping United States Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) ‘test the waters’ for a potential 2016 run for president. The committee will fund the infrastructure and operations allowing Graham to travel the country, listen to Americans, and gauge support for a potential presidential candidacy.”

Graham then segued to talking about fighting radical Islam.

“They want to destroy us and our way of life. So peaceful coexistence is a nonstarter from their point of view, and quite frankly from my point of view but you can have security,” Graham said. “You can have a strong military, keeping the fight over there so it couldn’t come here. An economy that grows and affects everybody and energy independent America gives us security through strength. So I’m looking for security, not peace with radical Islam.”