National Journal
Jim DeMint: This is my last term in the Senate
NJ What is your ambition?
DeMINT My hope is to elect five or 10 more solid conservatives and go home and rock on my front porch.
NJ This is your last term?
DeMINT Yeah. It was not a campaign promise; but that is my plan, that the election last year was my last one. It has always been my plan not to serve more than two terms.
Blowback
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Good. Practice what you preach.
rockmom on July 29, 2011 at 7:53 AM
Fort that I will give him a hat tip. We should have fewer life long members of congress
SC.Charlie on July 29, 2011 at 7:59 AM
Hot Air commenters will be barely able to contain their glee. Anyone for another liberal Republican from SC like Gramnesty? Or maybe we’d like a Donk instead of that “knuckle-dragging Bible-Thumper”?
hawkdriver on July 29, 2011 at 8:00 AM
I don’t understand the hostility toward DeMint. What exactly do you want?
DaydreamBeliever on July 29, 2011 at 8:07 AM
I really respect Jim Demint. The man cannot be bought, sold or traded. I admire him for term-limiting himself, and I will say that anyone who is happy for him to be leaving the senate is no conservative.
KickandSwimMom on July 29, 2011 at 8:07 AM
He’s a man of principle – unlike the f***ing rest of those RINO’s up there who only care about their golf outings and martini clubs.
A Pox on ALL of them!
Good Job DeMint.
Run for President – I’ll support you.
HondaV65 on July 29, 2011 at 8:23 AM
Don’t get excited – his replacement won’t be a RINO – he’ll be hand picked by DeMint and the Tea Party – soooo … you don’t have to worry about your establishment gaining any traction there.
HondaV65 on July 29, 2011 at 8:24 AM
I do to. My comment was meant to be sarcastic. People here do feel that way though. If it were possible to be too Conservative or too loyal to Republican principles, I guess he crosses that line for them. Or truth be known, they hate him because he will not support liberal social issues that other progressive Republicans want. They will love to see him replaced with, well, anyone but him.
hawkdriver on July 29, 2011 at 8:25 AM
Rockmom prefers Arlen Specter conservatives.
james23 on July 29, 2011 at 8:27 AM
Arlen Specter was a Democrat before he was a Republican before he was a Democrat.
He was never conservative.
Good Lt on July 29, 2011 at 8:30 AM
Being a member of congress was not meant to be a lifetime job. It would do a lot of members of congress, especially Democrats, to get out into the world beyond the Beltway. My favorite story is when George McGovern left congress and tried to run a private enterprise. It was an eye opener for him.
SC.Charlie on July 29, 2011 at 8:31 AM
Really sorry to hear this.
DeMint is one of the good guys.
Aye Chihuahua on July 29, 2011 at 8:31 AM
You know, this is the term limit I support.
Leave it up to the candidate and the voters to judge case by case, rather than arbitrary across the board limits.
I do respect him for not wanting to become a fixture in DC, but damn I wish he had planned on three terms instead of two.
It’s always the good ones that leave after a reasonable time, and the scoundrels who have to be carried out of the chamber in handcuffs or on a stretcher.
They key is an active and informed electorate, and others of similar good stock who are willing to step up and carry the flag forward.
Brian1972 on July 29, 2011 at 8:33 AM
Maybe if things go the way I want we can send him home as Senate Majority Leader DeMint in 2016.
Brian1972 on July 29, 2011 at 8:35 AM
I see a 2016 Presidential run.
Dominion on July 29, 2011 at 8:38 AM
He stopped Obamacare’s momentum by refusing unanimous consent to a conference committee between the House and Senate versions.
So the Dems had to go the budget resolution route, which may make it easier to repeal, as the BR rules apparently allow repealing a bill through the same mechanism that encated it. No cloture needed in the senate.
I think he worked with Sessions to derail the final attempt at Shamnesty, too, through a clever use of senate rules.
The man has served his country. I wish he’d stay, but he must be tired of DC.
Wethal on July 29, 2011 at 8:41 AM
That’s never happening. Leaders do not go to war against the people they hope to lead. That would be like making Olympia Snowe the majority leader.
KingGold on July 29, 2011 at 8:42 AM
I hate to see Demint retire..
Dire Straits on July 29, 2011 at 8:43 AM
Signed,
John Boehner attacked Jim Jordan
fossten on July 29, 2011 at 8:47 AM
I take it it’s fine with you that McConnell went to war against DeMint, whom he leads, and most of us out here.
Jim DeMint would make a terrific Majority Leader for a conservative Senate Caucus.
Olympia Snowe will never lead anything, she doesn’t have the courage to stand up for much beyond her own electoral security, which may be in jeopardy anyway.
Brian1972 on July 29, 2011 at 8:51 AM
Going to plant your flag on that one, then?
Shall we start with Jordan using RSC dues to gin up attacks on Republican freshmen and cut Boehner off at the knees? Oh, but it’s okay to do that, because you don’t like John Boehner.
KingGold on July 29, 2011 at 8:53 AM
Slightly OT, but related:
We should start a list of Democrats the Tea Party has gone after.
Good Lt on July 29, 2011 at 8:59 AM
DaCuda/DeMint 2012?
Terrie on July 29, 2011 at 9:06 AM
LoL..That would be stupid to go after Allen West..*facepalm*
Dire Straits on July 29, 2011 at 9:08 AM
Stupidity is becoming a hallmark among these top-down organizations that purport to represent the interests of the Tea Party.
If they look into the mirror, they’re going to see Grover Norquist looking back at them.
KingGold on July 29, 2011 at 9:10 AM
Not according to rockmom, back in the day…or you, I would suspect.
james23 on July 29, 2011 at 9:10 AM
Yesterday Eric Cusack of The Hill reported the House “leadership” is angry at DeMint and Graham for encouraging the South Carolina congressmen to oppose the bill in its current form. Enemies list!
Terrie on July 29, 2011 at 9:13 AM
Uh, your analogy doesn’t work, champ.
Your statement was about LEADERS.
fossten on July 29, 2011 at 9:14 AM
This conflict is far older than that.
I just watched Braveheart the other day, for the first time in several years.
I could not help but see an analogy with William Wallace leading the people’s army against the English, and the Scottish Nobles always making deals with King Edward the Longshanks behind their backs, selling them out for some more titles and land for themselves.
If you recall, Wallace dealt with a few of those men quite harshly.
The scene just before the first big battle, when the nobles are trying to keep the common men in the ranks from deserting them before they have had a chance to negotiate with their oppressors was quite relevant.
One common soldier says, “That’s it boys! I didn’t come here to die for these bastards!” and they turn to leave.
At just that moment, Wallace rides onto the field and is ordered to swear allegiance and join the army under their command. He tells them, “If this is your army, why does it go?”
Then came that great speech to the troops that inspired them to charge the English and fight for their God given freedom. I forgot how good that was.
I kept thinking of the Tea Party and the GOP.
The common man did not charge the field of battle in the 2010 elections to cut a deal with King Obama so some privileged few in DC could keep their positions another cycle.
They manned the front lines to stop the insane destruction of all they have cherished their whole lives about America, to stop the Fundamental Transformation in it’s tracks, and change course back to the Founding Principles.
I think we are approaching that moment, when the Noble’s troops will turn and leave field if not inspired to keep fighting for what they truly believe in.
Wallace told Robert the Bruce this:
“Your title means you are next to rule our country. But men do not follow titles. Men follow courage. There is strength in you, I can see it. If only you would lead them to their freedom, the people would follow you. And so would I.”
So it is now. The people are mistrustful of deals made in Washington, they want a real change in direction.
They need someone to lead them there, for they are ready to follow.
Brian1972 on July 29, 2011 at 9:14 AM
I love the spirit of the original Tea Party movement; however, all of these organizations that have sprung up trying to co-opt the partiers into one faction or another are ruining it.
The organizations, for all intents and purposes, are no different that lobbyists. Strike that – they are because they force people to tow their line (whatever the particular TP org believes) just like the left has done over the years to their side.
Go back to a disorganized or only people – no established organizations – grass root movement or it is going to all be lost.
Greyledge Gal on July 29, 2011 at 9:16 AM
This is too bad. DeMint was one of the few voices of sanity in D.C.
AZCoyote on July 29, 2011 at 9:18 AM
Jim Jordan is the LEADER of the Republican Study committee. He used his members’ own dues to gin up attacks against them. Jim Jordan is not a leader.
I don’t think Boehner is at all involved with the supposed plot to get Jordan out, but frankly Jordan has it coming after the stunt he pulled.
KingGold on July 29, 2011 at 9:19 AM
Question: What is the historical, if any, significance of South Carolina being the hold-outs?
Are they trying to recreate the sway that SC held in the negotiations over whether or not the colonies would declare independence from “Fat King George”?
Rutledge won in 1776 but what a price our nation paid and still pays for that win.
Not picking on the current South Carolinians, it just struck me as an interesting parallel that it is SC again.
Greyledge Gal on July 29, 2011 at 9:21 AM
VP?
faraway on July 29, 2011 at 9:21 AM
You have a good point about some of the Tea Party so-called “leadership” organizations.
Many of them are true to the cause and their membership, but there are others who come at it top down, as you said, and are trying to steer the movement for their own purposes.
Dick Army comes to mind.
I have begun to see the House Tea Party Caucus much more cynically than I did when it was a new idea. I was hopeful that if handled the right way, it could be a genuine outlet for the concerns of the movement to be heard inside Capitol Hill with hearings on spending the debt and other issues that could be suggested by the Tea Party public.
Unfortunately, it does now appear that it was a vanity exercise for one person who wanted to build grassroots credibility for a Presidential run.
It has done absolutely nothing. All I have heard about is a couple of lectures on the Constitution by Justice Scalia and Mark Levin, and that wasn’t even publicly available, members only.
Sadly wasted opportunity there.
Brian1972 on July 29, 2011 at 9:27 AM
Noooooo!!!!
KeepOhioRed on July 29, 2011 at 9:28 AM
Ditto Nooooo!!!
perries on July 29, 2011 at 9:32 AM
At least he’ll be in there until 2016, and he will play a big role in who gets nominated to replace him then.
Brian1972 on July 29, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Hmm, is there such a candidate with courage for us to follow with the current crop? Lemme think…..
Nope, if such a leader exists, it is not with these handful that barely add up to 50% in polls.
I wonder who could it be that the other 40 – 50% are waiting for? Must be the one who’s last name begins with “P” and ran the largest State in certain metrics. Game on.
AH_C on July 29, 2011 at 10:27 AM