You Won’t Believe Why Lindsey Graham Skipped Last Night’s Vote to Defund Planned Parenthood

Has Lindsey Graham ever heard the phrase, “Actions speak louder than words?” While his colleagues were voting on a bill to redirect the half-a-billion dollars American taxpayers give to Planned Parenthood every year, Senator Lindsey Graham was on the campaign trail. The South Carolina senator and 2016 Republican presidential hopeful skipped the vote to attend a campaign event – the Voters First Forum – in Manchester, New Hampshire. And it wasn’t even an event he had to attend in person. Three other U.S. senators who are also running for president saw no conflict between the vote and their presidential aspirations. Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio (listed in alphabetical order) stayed in the Capitol for the vote but took part in the forum via satellite link from Washington, D.C. In all, 14 of the 17 Republican presidential hopefuls took part. The bill failed despite their efforts, thanks to rules reinstituted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Rather than leave the measure as an amendment that needs only majority support, he made the measure a stand-alone bill that required 60 votes. It garnered only 53 – Senator Graham’s not among them. The sanctity of life and other social issues did not come up at the Voter’s Forum, which ended with Graham botching his 30-second pitch to the voters. “The next president needs to be sure of who or he-she, who or he-she,” he said haltingly, pausing before he stopped. “I’m sorry – I can’t, can’t talk.” “The next president needs to have their act together,” he said. Should the American people elect a president who decided talking about issues is more important than acting on them?