Jim DeMint, conservative kingmaker or Beltway interloper?

If you read national conservative blogs, as I often do, you will likely get the impression that the backlash against the party committees was based solely on ideology. To be sure, conservatives greatly resented the GOP apparatus’ support of moderate candidates like Crist and Scozzafava (whom they misguidedly viewed as more “electable”), but when you talk to grassroots conservatives in those states, it becomes clear they also resented the notion of having D.C. “experts” tell them what to do.

In this regard, as Antle implied, DeMint’s operation seems just as guilty of inserting itself in races as the NRSC and the NRCC — and of making many of the same mistakes…

On one hand, DeMint is taking on the establishment, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in particular, over ideology — and that is viewed by most conservatives as a very a good thing. The question, though, involves his motives.

For example, DeMint’s opposition to Sen. Bob Bennett in Utah — and his opposition to McConnell’s handpicked candidate in Kentucky — has played out as a sort of proxy war. The real battle is being fought between DeMint and McConnell, but in order to keep it from going “nuclear”, conventional warfare is being waged in primaries around the nation. Whereas the Club for Growth (which has years of experience with primary campaigns) wisely focused solely on ousting Bennett, DeMint chose to back attorney Mike Lee, thus, setting himself up as a kingmaker. The Club for Growth took a scalp and declared victory. DeMint wanted more but wound up with less: Lee got just 43 percent of the vote at the Utah convention, trailing conservative businessman Tim Bridgewater, who won 57 percent. They will face off in a June 22 primary…

Others are concerned that DeMint is co-opting bloggers to support his candidates and attack opponents. Citing the correlation between its endorsements and DeMint’s, some have accused the conservative website RedState of being the de facto communications arm for DeMint (one writer even incorrectly called RedState’s Erick Erickson DeMint’s “partner”).

But DeMint has thus far chosen not to endorse some RedState-endorsed candidates, such as Nikki Haley (running for governor in DeMint’s home state of South Carolina) and Nevada Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian. Still, the overlap is hard to miss.