Graham/DeMint feud appears to be growing

The elections to the U.S. Senate of Lindsey Graham in 2002 and Jim DeMint in 2004 sent men with decidedly different styles and base constituencies to Washington. Graham, his power play as a House manager in President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial notwithstanding, has an m.o. for working across party lines and drawing support from moderates. DeMint has a reputation as a standard-bearer for activist conservatives.

The foundation has been laid for tension, and Graham’s consultants’ blog, The Palmetto Scoop, went after DeMint in comments on a post about Graham’s support, or lack thereof, of cap-and-trade legislation.

Ouch. Does Graham approve of this? And if so, what does it say about the current state of relations between South Carolina’s senators? Also, there could be spillover into next year’s state elections. You would think that Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster‘s people wouldn’t be looking to rip into and freeze out the guy who will be at the top of the GOP ticket, and someone who’s pretty popular with the type of Republican voters who show up for the primaries.