Sen. Graham has become disconnected from the South Carolinians he’s supposed to serve

Here in South Carolina we’ve had a front row seat to the show over the past few years as U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has gone from being a respected statesman to someone more worried about D.C. political games than solving real problems.

There’s a famous saying that “adversity doesn’t build character. It reveals it.”

What this pandemic revealed in sharp relief is a senator who — after 25 years in Washington — has become disconnected from the struggles facing this state.

Sen. Graham’s near-nightly TV appearances offer him a chance to fight for what our state needs: testing resources, protective equipment and funding to help families and small businesses. But instead Graham uses his airtime to advance partisan theories about the 2016 election.

Contrary to Graham’s view of reality, things are far from under control here.

South Carolina now has the seventh-highest per capita infection rate for coronavirus in the country — and in July the new case growth rate was the third-highest in the world.

The National Guard is building tent hospitals for coronavirus patients.

And South Carolinians have filed more than 700,000 unemployment claims.

The wrong path

But Graham has remained undaunted by these figures.

And at major decision points in Washington, Graham has chosen the wrong path.

Just days after the CARES Act was signed Graham launched his crusade to cut unemployment relief from the bill, saying that only “over our dead bodies” would he allow its extension.

Graham even suggested that nurses — the same people who are risking their lives to treat COVID-19 — would quit their jobs to collect unemployment relief assistance.

Well, Graham got his wish: the unemployment relief ended due to a congressional stalemate, putting 150,000 South Carolinians on the brink of financial ruin and draining more than $100 million a week from our state’s economy.

South Carolina workers rank 50th in receiving Paycheck Protection Program funds per employee — so small businesses ranging from barber shops to hardware stores have had to lay off more workers, leading in part to the highest unemployment rate in South Carolina’s history.

But Graham hasn’t lifted a finger to fix this program, which has now expired.

Wrong on masks

Graham has also been wrong on face masks.

While neighboring states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas have put mask rules in place — and while 82% of South Carolinians are in favor of a face mask mandate — Graham joined the D.C. political back-and-forth by opposing a mask rule.

Won’t criticize allies

In addition Graham has moved the goalposts not once but four times regarding what he considers to be a successful government response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In April Graham said that keeping fatalities under 50,000 would be a laudable effort, only to change the figure to under 100,000.

Then in May Graham changed that figure yet again from under 100,000 to under 120,000.

Since then, however, Graham has changed the figure once more: he now says that keeping fatalities under 180,000 lost Americans would constitute a laudable response.

These are the lengths Graham will go to just to avoid criticizing his political allies.

Address real concerns

We need our senator to reflect the real concerns that people face each day.

The Russia investigation doesn’t keep people up at night.

And they don’t wake up worried about the golfing prowess of President Donald Trump, with whom Graham has played golf four times since COVID-19 struck South Carolina.

South Carolinians are worried about making rent, putting food on the table and keeping their small businesses open. They’re worried about the safety of their children as they head back to school.

Folks here are fed up with this disconnect, and they deserve better.

That’s why I endorsed Jaime Harrison, someone who will never forget who he is fighting for — or where he comes from.

A Sen. Jaime Harrison will represent the needs of South Carolinians and speak truth to power, no matter who sits in the Oval Office.

That’s the kind of leadership that this moment requires.

A Democrat, state Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell represents House District 44 in Lancaster County.

This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Sen. Graham has become disconnected from the South Carolinians he’s supposed to serve."