No, it’s apples and oranges. Not the same thing at all. DeMint has taken an active - and official - roll in promoting conservative candidates in primaries. So his purposefuly absence in this race is more meaningful than if Palin or Romney stayed neutral IMO (although I wish they both had). Your opinion may differ.
The issue with DeMint is that he hasn’t been shy about endorsing people he really wanted, so while his refusal to endorse McCain clearly indicates DeMint doesn’t find McCain a conservative, his refusal to endorse Hayworth would imply DeMint doesn’t think that highly of Hayworth either.
But I am willing to believe DeMint simply doesn’t want to waste an endorsement on an outsider against an incumbent that he can live with in the Senate — no point in burning every bridge.
Of course, I can’t explain why DeMint endorsed Romney for President when others such as McCain were still in the race.
Still, the endorsement I understood the least in 2008 was Tom Coburn endorsing McCain.