DeMint launches conservatives-only PAC

posted at 11:05 am on June 11, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Hot Air commenters have made clear their intent to avoid contributing to Republican PACs in favor of individual contributions to conservative candidates. Senator Jim DeMint has another solution: The Senate Conservatives Fund. He will launch this new PAC today, which will focus on candidates that support conservative policies, especially on spending and federalism. DeMint wants to promote candidates that will represent all three legs of the conservative platform — strong defense, limited spending, and traditional values:

When he calls donors to raise money for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint hears the same basic message that has vexed party fundraisers since the start of this election cycle: The Republican Party isn’t much to write home about, particularly not with a check enclosed.

The NRSC, which gives money to help GOP candidates for the Senate, badly trails its counterpart, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The DSCC had raised $76.6 million and had $37.6 million on hand as of the last federal filing on April 30, while the NRSC had raised $47.9 million and had $19.4 million on hand.

But DeMint says that donors who might be reluctant to give their money to a party that has strayed from conservative principles may be willing to give to individual conservative candidates. He’s hoping those candidates can polish the tarnished brand and provide an alternative to the Democratic Party.

“It’s important that Republicans provide a clear, attractive contrast,” DeMint said in an interview at the NRSC headquarters on Capitol Hill.

So, DeMint is creating a new ‘leadership’ political action committee (PAC), the Senate Conservatives Fund, dedicated to nominating and electing conservative Republicans.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? We’ve seen grassroots calls for withholding funds to the GOP PACs in protest over their inability to elect people who will stick to conservative principles. While individual contributions can boost specific candidates, the power of organized effort gets lost, and the protests are more difficult to discern.

This new PAC allows conservatives to be heard in the aggregate. Rather than hope that silence speaks louder than words, a significant fundraising effort by the SCF would demonstrate the desire of conservatives to financially support candidates who do not stray from limited government and who do not want to spend tax money in a manner which embarrasses drunken sailors. The SCF, if successful, could help find a stalwart class of conservative Senators like DeMint and Tom Coburn.

This could have a negative effect, as CQ Politics points out. The SCF might wind up weakening some Republican incumbents, or forcing primary contests in seats that the GOP would be hard pressed to hold. That only seems like a risk in this cycle, when Republicans will be the most vulnerable in the next three cycles. DeMint also says that he wants to avoid intraparty conflict with SCF, preferring it to be a positive channel for conservatives without necessarily damaging the party — at least in the short run.

Senator DeMint will join us tomorrow to talk about the Senate Conservative Fund on The Ed Morrissey Show at 3 pm ET.

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