After Ted Cruz won the Republican Senate nomination, Jim Antle profiled a growing group of Tea Party-aligned conservatives in the Senate. Now one of the leaders of that small group, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, is resigning from the Senate to become the head of the Heritage Foundation. What Antle described as the “growing Paul-DeMint caucus” has lost one of is top members, and unfortunately for small-government conservatives the Senate has lost one of the main Republican counterweights to the current Senate GOP leadership. DeMint was reportedly already intending to leave the Senate at the end of his current term, so this would have happened in a few years anyway, but it still a bit of a blow to his allies in the Senate. I don’t expect that DeMint’s new role will have much of an effect on Heritage for good or ill, but it’s possible I might be pleasantly surprised for a change. On the other hand, anything that removes potential political obstacles to McConnell and others like him is unlikely to be any good for the causes of fiscal responsibility or limited government.
So Much for the Paul-DeMint Caucus
15 Responses to So Much for the Paul-DeMint Caucus
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Magister Aurelius says:
Or more likely DeMint knows that the fit is about to hit the shan and is not going to hang around and be blamed for when the country goes Greece.
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Barry says:
“Or more likely DeMint knows that the fit is about to hit the shan and is not going to hang around and be blamed for when the country goes Greece.”
Well, in that case he’d be better off in the Senate, because they’ll get paid no matter what.
It’s more likely that he had a chance at a million/year, and took it.
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It must have been Demint’s defense of the Heritage Foundation’s health insurance reform plan that brought them together.
From the pre-Pres. Obama days of the ’08 campaign, Demint’s explanation of why he endorsed Gov. Romney:
Fox & Friends’ Steve Doocy: “[Romney] was able to, without raising taxes, make sure that everybody in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts wound up with health insurance. Real briefly, can you explain how he did that, and whether or not that might be something he’d take coast to coast?”
Sen. Jim DeMint: “Well, that’s something that I think we should do for the whole country. The governor just looked at the numbers like a good businessman and realized that we could give people private insurance policies cheaper than we could provide free health care.”
Should be fun to see what creative policy ideas they can come up with together!
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CD File says:
It’s not like this is a surprise…..he mentioned retiring a year so after Ron Paul. They and several others know it’s over so why share the blame for what they tried to prevent.
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SteveM says:
Heritage is a marketing vehicle for the Crony Capitalists that fund it. And those especially include the Defense Contractors who use “Think Tank” stooges to front the fear-monger schtick for their Weapons Systems in the media.
Like departing Heritage President Fast Eddie Feulner, DeMint will be paid a Million Bucks a year. And also like Feulner, DeMint knows what Neocon side the Heritage bread is buttered on.
Expect nothing original from DeMint in the future because the policy positions will be scripted by his newly found Beltway Bandit pals who write him checks.
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William Dalton says:
This can be a net plus for South Carolina and the nation if Gov. Haley appoints State Sen. Tom Davis to replace DeMint. An early supporter of Ron Paul is this past year’s Presidential primaries, Davis will fill in what DeMint’s budget cutting temperament lacked – a willingness to bring our troops home and cut federal spending accordingly.
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Noah172 says:
This can be a net plus for South Carolina and the nation if Gov. Haley appoints State Sen. Tom Davis to replace DeMint
Why would Haley do this? She was for Romney. She isn’t that much of a feather-ruffler.
DeMint’s departure is a net loss for the dissident right. Plus side: against No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, and TARP; A+ from NumbersUSA; voted for Rand Paul’s resolution to revoke AUMF for Iraq. Minus: voted for Iraq War and supported it throughout Bush years; consistent vote for free trade; supported irresponsible Bush tax cuts.
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James Wilson says:
@william that would be great, but i was hoping he would run against Grahamnisty.
For those that are a cynical do not be suprised if Heritage changes with DeMint in charge. He is not a status quo guy.
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Clamdigger says:
well, the intellectual heft of the Senate rises upon his departure; the opposite for Heritage.
No loss. He was a nasty Sen. NO on pretty much every issue, no compromise, willing to shut the senate down unless a piece of legislation was ‘personally’ approved by him or one of his staffers, and so-con positions that had a sell-by date of 1580.
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William Leach says:
The fact that a politician would leave the Senate for a foundation tells you all you need to know about American politics.
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Half Empty says:
I pray that Haley doesn’t appoint some interventionist Lindsay Graham clone to replace DeMint. Please, PLEASE appoint a real conservative, please, Nikki.
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Justus P says:
I am a liberal who has little fondness for the Republicans. Even so, I gotta say I honestly feel bad for the folks in South Carolina. I understand retiring at the end of your term, but quitting early seems really questionable – all those volunteers and supporters don’t get a cut out of new salary…..just doesn’t seem right. I mean every got their price, hell me too, but quitting an elected position in the federal government two years in….
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Clint says:
“As founder of the Senate Tea Party Caucus, DeMint’s appointment also bodes well for more conservative members of the Republican party who champion Heritage’s recent moves further to the right, including the creation of Heritage Action for America, in 2010, that made an aggressive push for the repeal of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law.’
The Tea Party Rebellion is both inside and outside The GOP.
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SC Birdflyte says:
Those of us who’ve followed our soon-to-depart junior Senator’s career since he made the leap into national politics aren’t surprised that he’s always had an eye for the main chance, whether financial, or in terms of electoral influence.
Conley?