Graham 's name had a long presence in Presidential and Vice Presidential politics , due to his popularity as Governor and Senator . In 1984 there was a movement to draft him for Vice President on a ticket headed by Walter Mondale , but this effort finally went for nothing . He was also seriously considered by three successive presidential nominees ( Michael Dukakis in 1988 , Bill Clinton in 1992 and Al Gore in 2000 ) as their running-mate , each time appearing on their finalist list . He also harbored Presidential ambitions for years . Graham 's relatively low-key national profile was significantly raised after the September 11 attacks . He served as a chairman of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and had a steady stream of TV appearances during the War on Terrorism , soon becoming one of the best known politicians . He also represented a key swing state , Florida , which decided the 2000 presidential election results . Winning Florida four years later might possibly give Democrats the White House . Graham had won re-election in 1998 in a landslide ( with 62.47 % of the vote ) , and had never lost any election before ( many of them by a similar high margin )
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Bob Graham 2004 presidential campaign