
 
 Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee speaks in Ames, Iowa, last August. (Charlie Neibergall/AP file photo) 
 
 There was surely no shortage of news this week when it came to Republicans declaring their 2016 presidential intentions, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee couldn't resist adding their names to the pile before Sunday ended. 
 
 On NBC's "Meet the Press," Graham announced that he has set up a committee to see "whether a guy like Lindsey Graham has a viable path." 
 
 "We're not polling, but we set up a testing-the-waters committee under the IRS code," he said earlier. 
 
 The Weekly Standard reported in October that "Lindsey Graham said if he is reelected to the Senate in November, he will begin exploring a bid for the presidency." 
 
 Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been mentioning Graham as his presidential candidate of choice for ages. 
 
 "My illegitimate son Lindsey Graham is exploring that option," McCain said last week. "I am strongly encouraging Senator Lindsey Graham, particularly with the world the way it is today.” 
 
 When asked about this on NBC on Sunday, Graham joked, "The good news is I guess I'm in John's will, and I can get part of the estate." 
 
 On ABC's "This Week," Huckabee said there was "a very strong likelihood that some time later in the spring, which has always been my timetable, I'll -- I'll make some kind of a declaration and clearly state my intentions, I'll put it that way." 
 
 He said he would need to establish that his campaign could raise money better than he did in 2008 before he'd consider a run, but that he thinks the Republican field — which is almost large enough to form a football team — is "wide open." 
 
 "Anybody could be a contender, Huckabee said. "One of the things about politics, when you're actually there, you realize you're on a high wire and there is no net under you. On any given day, your campaign can implode for something that happens inadvertently or even intentionally. I mean it just happens." 
 
 On CBS's "Face the Nation," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was also asked about 2016. "I haven't made that decision yet," he said. ||||| AP Photo Graham 'definitely' eyeing 2016 presidential bid 
 
 Sen. Lindsey Graham acknowledged on Sunday he’s seriously exploring a bid for the Republican presidential nomination. 
 
 Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he had started polling voters about his chances in 2016, Graham said he is not polling, “but we set up a testing-the-waters committee under the IRS code that will allow me to look beyond South Carolina as to whether or not a guy like Lindsey Graham has a viable path.” 
 
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 “I don’t know where this will go, but I’m definitely going to look at it,” said Graham, the senior senator from South Carolina. 
 
 Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said last week he was strongly encouraging Graham to run for president.
– The latest Republican testing the 2016 waters is longtime Senate stalwart Lindsey Graham, who tells Meet the Press today that he's already formed a committee and that he's "definitely going to look at it." Graham, who's spent a dozen years representing South Carolina, half of those as a frequent critic of President Obama's foreign policy, says he wants to see "whether or not a guy like Lindsey Graham has a viable path" to a GOP nomination, reports Politico. "I think the world is falling apart, and I’ve been more right than wrong when it comes to foreign policy," he continues, as per the Hill. "But we’ll see." Graham has the approval of Senate BFF John McCain, notes the Washington Post; the two-time GOP nominee joked last week about his "illegitimate son," before adding "I am strongly encouraging Senator Lindsey Graham, particularly with the world the way it is today" to look into a run. Graham also has a potential rival in Mike Huckabee, who told ABC today that there's "a very strong likelihood that some time later in the spring, which has always been my timetable, I'll make some kind of a declaration and clearly state my intentions, I'll put it that way."