Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on "Fox News Sunday" there is a 91 percent chance he will run for president in 2016, and he will make his decision in May based on whether he can raise the money needed.
The defense hawk has been floating the idea of a bid for the Republican nomination since January, when he announced he had set up an exploratory committee. This weekend, he joined the rest of the potentially crowded GOP field in Nashua, New Hampshire, to appeal to Republican voters there.
But there's considerable skepticism over whether Graham could actually win the nomination.
That was clear on Sunday, when "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace joked that some people may say Graham is losing "his mind for seriously considering running for president in 2016." Wallace was echoing the language of a Salon headline from last week that read, in part, "Graham loses his mind" after the senator said a gyrocopter pilot who landed near the U.S. Capitol should have been shot down.
Graham chuckled, and said, "Yeah, OK."
When the senator said there was a 91 percent chance he would run, Wallace asked, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, I think so," Graham replied. "I've got to put the means together. I think I've got a good message. I think I've been more right than wrong on foreign policy. I've criticized the president for leading from behind, for being weak and indecisive. I've been a problem solver in Washington, and I think I've got something to offer the party and the nation."
He defended stances that some Republicans consider too moderate, such as his support for comprehensive immigration reform and statements that climate change is real. Despite a recent poll that showed Graham trailing fellow Republicans even in his home state of South Carolina, he said he thinks he would win there.
"If I didn't think I could win South Carolina, I wouldn't be talking to you," Graham said.
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