Lindsey Graham's Senate seat is open, and the scramble to fill it is exposing the same swamp instincts that made the late senator a symbol of a party that prioritizes everything except the voters who send it to Washington.
Graham died suddenly on July 11 at age 71, and within weeks the machinery of South Carolina Republican politics was already moving to install his sister, Darline Graham, as his replacement — first through Gov. Henry McMaster's appointment to finish the term, and now with President Trump's endorsement for a full six-year stint. The Aug. 11 special primary is barely days away, and a dozen candidates have piled in. The question for ordinary Americans is whether this seat becomes a family heirloom or whether voters get to choose someone who answers to them instead of the Graham name.
Trump said he asked Darline Graham to run
