Lindsey Graham declares ‘I miss George W. Bush’

There are signs that former President George W. Bush has gone from being a political pariah in Republican ranks to once again being part of the in-crowd.

Mr. Bush’s name was rarely mentioned by the candidates in the 2012 GOP presidential race, but on Tuesday Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina thundered away about how he longed for the nation’s 43rd president of the United States.

“I blame Obama for [the Islamic State], not Bush,” Mr. Graham said in the Republican undercard debate Tuesday in Las Vegas. “I am tired of beating on Bush, I miss George W. Bush. I wish he were president right now. We wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Mr. Graham has been campaigning on the message that he is best prepared to protect the nation from international terrorism.

He appeared alongside former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and former New York Gov. George Pataki in the opening GOP debate Tuesday.

Mr. Graham repeatedly said in the debate that the next president must be ready to send combat troops into Iraq and Syira to defeat the Islamic State, and said that he is sick of world leaders getting the better of President Obama — taking particular aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I am not afraid of a guy riding around on a horse without a shirt,” Mr. Graham said, alluding to an infamous Putin photo. “The guy has a pair of twos, and acting like he has a full house and walking all over Obama.”