South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham became the latest Republican Presidential candidate to suspend his candidacy. While Graham consistently received positive feedback from his debate performances, he has failed to convert them to higher poll numbers and fundraising. The veteran Senator had a very strong foreign policy credential, but will be most remembered for his quarrels with frontrunner Donald Trump. Graham's exit leaves 13 candidates in the contest, although the number of candidates with even decent chances is about half of that number.





Graham's campaign was always considered to be a long-shot one, but with the endorsement of 2008 nominee, John McCain early on, he was taken more seriously. However even with McCain's endorsement, Graham failed to lift off. Early on he received heavy criticism for being too boring and lacking public speaking skills, but he actually performed really well during the undercard debates. But the emphasis is on the undercard, as he never made the main stage. Graham blamed the system heavily, and did not like how the filed was divided, and how the undercard debate was almost immediately followed, and thus overshadowed by the main event.





Graham's campaign was mostly in the news when he had his public showdowns with Donald Trump. Graham kept criticizing the businessman for his outrageous views, but was always swiftly ignored to his 0% stand in the polls. The problem was that no one took him seriously, not even in his home state of South Carolina, despite being a respected Senator. During the summer, Trump famously gave out Graham's phone number during a rally, creating a very hostile vibe between the candidates. It will be interesting to see how Trump will respond to this news, but despite suspending his campaign, Graham has vowed to not give up on fighting for the causes he believes in and against the candidates he despises.





His exit leaves 13 candidates in the Republican race. No one will probably benefit a lot from his exit, as he never really had much support, not even in his home state. He has also not endorsed anyone yet, continuing the trend started by Rick Perry, Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal. Candidates are trying to wait until more definitive signs of popularity appear, but two candidates that he will definitely not endorse are Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. The campaign will probably be a bit quieter over the Christmas season, but during January more drop outs can be expected, especially after the January 14 debate. The most likely candidate to exit next is either Governor Pataki, Huckabee or Senator Santorum.





This is an original material of Finchley 1959.