海角大神

Lindsey Graham is mad as heck and he wants voters to know that he鈥檚 not going to take it any more, apparently.

Languishing at 1 percent (or below) in national polls of GOP presidential aspirants, Senator Graham teed off on the policies and demeanor of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and other party front-runners during an appearance before the Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday.

鈥淚 believe Donald Trump is destroying the Republican Party,鈥� said Graham at one point, with emotion.

The South Carolina lawmaker followed Ted Cruz to the stage to address a foreign policy-oriented audience of Jewish donors and activists. Foreign policy is Graham鈥檚 strength 鈥� yet he didn鈥檛 even mention the word 鈥淚srael鈥� for 15 minutes, as he himself noted.

Instead, perhaps peeved by the comments of Cruz and others, he talked first about what he feels is the need for the GOP to reach out to Hispanics.

鈥淗ow many of you believe we lose elections because we鈥檙e not hard [expletive] enough on immigration?鈥� he said.

Not many people responded.

鈥淚 believe we鈥檙e losing the Hispanic vote because they think we don鈥檛 like them,鈥� Graham said.

He went on to talk about Trump鈥檚 insistence on rounding up undocumented immigrants in the US and deporting them.

鈥淵ou think you鈥檙e going to win an election with that kind of garbage?鈥� he said.

Later he addressed Cruz鈥檚 and Marco Rubio鈥檚 opposition to abortion, which Graham noted includes opposition to exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e losing most Americans鈥� with that position, said Graham.

The senator went on to detail some of his national security positions, many of which the majority of the audience shared. But he went back to politics at the end.

鈥淎ll I can tell you folks is we better not lose this election.... Almost anybody can beat Hillary Clinton. As long as they鈥檙e right on two good聽issues: immigration and having a sensible position on social issues,鈥� Graham concluded.

On one level, Graham was undoubtedly talking for himself, expressing the frustration of an experienced Washington lawmaker who can鈥檛 believe he鈥檚 losing to people who鈥檝e never brokered a legislative amendment.

But on another level, Graham鈥檚 speech (鈥渘ot the one I expected to give," he said at one point) may be the scream of frustration of a GOP elite that sees itself losing control of the nomination race.

Some establishment Republicans worked long and hard following 2012 to try and pass an immigration bill that included a pathway to legality for current illegal immigrants. That鈥檚 now gone with the wind, blocked in Congress and made obsolete by Trump鈥檚 fierce anti-undocumented worker positions.

Cruz鈥檚 rise to first-tier status frustrates some elected GOP lawmakers as well. He鈥檚 unpopular in the extreme among his colleagues, given his propensity to call them out for what he says are betrayals of conservative principles.

For Graham, the outburst was a calculated risk. He knew he was unlikely to get booed: Jewish Republican voters tend to be more liberal on social policies. But the GOP primary electorate as a whole is going in a different direction, and Graham鈥檚 been left far behind the front-runners.

He will soon have to decide whether to drop out entirely, or leave his name on the ballot for the Feb. 20 primary in his home state of South Carolina, where he鈥檇 likely suffer a humiliating wipeout defeat.聽