Lindsey Graham makes it official - will run for President, do battle with wacko birds

The last time we heard from Lindsey Graham he was saying he was about 91% sure he'd run for President. Now it looks like he's managed to track down the missing 9%, because the South Carolina Senator has made it official. Lindsey Graham is running for President.

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Here's the message, via his website at LindseyGraham.com:

I'm running for President I'm running for president to keep our country safe. Our great nation faces tremendous security challenges – both at home and abroad – and we need proven leadership to meet those challenges. I look forward to going one-on-one against Hillary Clinton next year and I promise a hard-hitting, honest and winning fight. I have the experience, the political courage, and the right plan to keep our nation secure.

He also uploaded a YouTube video, which outlines his life story: Graham is hammering away at the idea that he's a masterful foreign policy expert, and that "bad guys" all over the world will quake at the awesome might of his iron-fisted presidency. Virtually every one of his messages seeks to portray the candidate as the end-all-be-all of hawks - the hawk that scares the bejezzus out of all the other hawks. As he puts it on Twitter: Graham's shortcomings are well documented, so I won't bother listing them all here. If you're a conservative, you already know why he's a longshot. All I'll say is he that he shouldn't be totally underestimated. Mostly? Sure, but not totally. His list of election victories is long and impressive. As USA Today points out, the Senator is undefeated:

Graham has never lost a race. In consecutive elections since 1992, he has wooed South Carolina voters with a combination of bootstrapped beginnings, a quick wit, pragmatism and ferocious debating skills. He returned to his boyhood hometown in Pickens County to announce his most ambitious campaign to date — for the Republican presidential nomination. His perfect record at the ballot box — one election to the South Carolina House, five to the U.S. House and three to the U.S. Senate — has made him the most powerful Republican in South Carolina.

So he knows how to campaign - at least locally. That said, the national level will likely be a different story. As we saw in 2012 and 2008, if the base stays home, you're doomed. Graham is a pro-amnesty uber-hawk who's probably most famous for aligning with Democrats while railing against Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. At the moment, the GOP base seems to be searching for a young, small government, constitutionalist. It's hard to see how Graham could ever hope to fit that bill. For the record, this is the ninth GOP candidate to enter the fray. Below, you'll find a handy chart if you're having trouble keeping track of who's in and who's out.