For a week now, prognosticators and politicians from Columbia, South Carolina, to the District of Columbia have been trying to explain a just-completed and much-discussed poll showing Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in good shape for reelection.
According to the new New York Times/Siena College poll, Graham leads former South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison by a healthy six points, 46% to 40%, among likely voters.
The poll comes after much-publicized reports that Harrison had raised $57 million during the last reporting period and had raised an overall amount of $86 million — by far a record for any U.S. Senate candidate in Palmetto State history.
Several observers were quick to say Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Graham was helped by his calm and even-handed demeanor during the nationally-televised confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
But others pointed out that the Times poll was out before the hearings began and other factors must be assisting Graham — inarguably a big Democrat target.
"After three terms in Senate, Lindsey has established a strong political infrastructure across the state and is calling in his favors," retired U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge and former Rep. John Napier, R-S.C., told Newsmax. "And he is as savvy and politically talented as anyone I have observed. Before the Barrett hearings, he seized the moment in the [Brett] Kavanaugh hearings and simply blew away a possibly strong primary challenger."
As for Harrison's fundraising edge, Napier told us: "All indications — polling and anecdotally — indicate a close race. Lindsey raised $28 million this reporting period; Harrison, the $57 million. Harrison got momentum with early advertising and made an effort to define Lindsey as having lost touch. They both have money to flood the state with additional advertisements. I expect Lindsey to emphasize all the out of state money that Jaime has raised and out of state influence to buy a Senate seat that belongs to South Carolinians."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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