Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday there’s a 91 percent chance he’ll seek the Republican presidential nomination.
“I've got to put the means together. I think I've got a good message,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
Graham, who would enter the race as a distant longshot, said he’ll make his decision in May. “If I can raise the money,” he said, “I'll do it.”
Graham is in New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary state, this weekend. He spoke to activists at their “First in the Nation’’ summit Saturday and got a polite reception.
He’s deviated from Republican orthodoxy on several issues, and was asked about his views Sunday. For instance, he said, “I believe climate change is real, but I reject the cap and trade solution of...Al Gore. He's made a religion.”
Graham’s strategy hinges on doing well in New Hampshire and Iowa, then winning South Carolina, the first Southern primary.
A Winthrop poll taken Feb 21 to March 1 found that while Graham had a 60 percent approval rating among Republicans but only 34 percent thought he should run for president.
“Well, if I didn't think I could win South Carolina, I wouldn't be talking to you,” he told Fox.