Wednesday night, in front of a crowd of 500 at the Reagan Library, Graham was engaged, lively and funny. How many candidates promise to “drink more” in the White House? It was a breakout performance, if it is actually possible to break out from a position near zero in the polls.

Graham has done a lot of things in his 20 years in the House and Senate, but he is now essentially a single-issue candidate. “I’m running for president to destroy radical Islam, to win the war on terror, to protect you and your family,” he said at the beginning of the debate.

Given that, Graham has a way of turning nearly every topic into a discussion of the Islamic State, which he refers to by the acronym ISIL. He wants to send about 6,500 U.S. troops to Iraq — in addition to the 3,500 already there — to “turn the tide of battle.” As the debate began Wednesday, Graham challenged the moderators to ask all the candidates this question: “Are you willing to commit before the American people that you will destroy ISIL and you understand we need a ground force to do it?”

The moderators didn’t take Graham up on his challenge.