That Senator Graham Quote

Lindsey Graham has died. Whatever else you might say about him, he's the author of this quote: “When I was first elected to the House,” he recalled, “I looked for the they. They who run things. They who know how things really work. They who know what they are doing. But I couldn’t find the they.” After that, he went on, “I went to the Senate. But there was still no they. And then I started to get invited to the White House, and to closed-door briefings, and to meetings with top officials. No they.” “What I finally realized,” he concluded, “is that there is no they. There is only we, and we usually don’t know what the fuck we’re doing.”1 This, I think, is a wonderful and succinct encapsulation of the most important lessons about politics, for observers, would-be practitioners, and practitioners: There are no political wizards. Everyone in DC is just like everyone at the PTA meeting. Same people. Same struggles. Same skills. Same frustrations. Same guesswork. Same doubts. There are no…