Graham, Jindal feud over Planned Parenthood

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal challenged Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and conservatives in Congress to fight to defund Planned Parenthood, saying he wanted Republican representatives with “half as much fight in them as Senate Democrats did.”

{mosads}“If we can’t defund Planned Parenthood now, if we can’t stand for innocent human life after these barbaric videos, it is time to be done with the Republican Party,” Jindal said at the second GOP primary debate on CNN Wednesday.

Graham defended himself, saying he’s “sick of hearing” congressional Republicans make promises they know they can’t keep.

He said a government shutdown, which some Republicans have threatened in order to defund Planned Parenthood, would only hurt Republicans’ ability to take back the White House in 2016. Planned Parenthood has been under fire since the release of a series of videos detailing the group’s fetal tissue program.

“I’m as offended by these videos as you are, but one thing I’m not going to do going into 2016 is shut the government down and taint our ability to win,” Graham said at the second GOP primary debate on CNN Wednesday. “What you’re saying and what Sen. [Ted] Cruz [R-Texas] is saying, I am really sick of hearing.”

The senior senator from South Carolina said efforts to pass conservative legislation in Congress are futile as long as President Obama holds the veto power.

“If you want to repeal ObamaCare, get a new president,” Graham said. “If you want to defund Planned Parenthood, elect a pro-life president, ’cause that’s the only way.”

Jindal pressed Graham and congressional Republicans to invoke the “nuclear option” in order to get rid of the filibuster, which would allow them to issue a resolution of disapproval over the Iran nuclear agreement.

Graham rejected the notion, noting that President Obama would just veto the resolution.

“I don’t want to take off the table the ability to slow down Obama in his last 13 or 14 months, because I want 60 votes to stop what I think he’s going to do between now and January 2017,” Graham said.

Commentators after the debate noted that the feud between Graham and Jindal is emblematic of the greater divide within the Republican Party, between establishment Republicans who favor a methodical, political solution to problems and anti-establishment types who are impatient for results.