Graham to focus on Iraq

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said if someone would have suggested a year ago that Republicans would be talking about Iraq during their national convention, he would have been laughed at.

But South Carolina's senior senator said that's exactly what he plans to do tonight when he addresses the delegates before Sen. John McCain's acceptance speech. "After you hear my speech tomorrow night, you'll see that we don't consider Iraq to be a failure, but we consider it a success," Graham said Wednesday. "The fact that there's a speech shows we consider it a success."

Graham said the issue of whether to approve a surge in troop levels in Iraq proved to be a crucial test between McCain, who supported it, and Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, who opposed it. "Senator McCain passed, aced the test, and Senator Obama failed miserably. ... He doesn't understand to this day that losing in Iraq would jeopardize our national security for years to come."

"The progress is stunning, and the surge has worked," Graham added. "To deny the success of the surge is really not fair to the men and women in uniform."

On the eve of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's convention speech, Graham said her own story might relate to the average voter more than McCain's, Obama's or Democratic vice presidential contender Sen. Joe Biden's. "Of the four candidates for president and vice president, I think the average person can relate more to Gov. Palin than the others," he said.

He also said the media frenzy over her — and the pregnancy of Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter — would backfire. "What if we had said, 'Well, you're a very good governor, but because of your daughter's problems, we can't put you on the ticket.' John would have never entertained that thought."