Posted on 11/14/2010 8:25:58 AM PST by rabscuttle385
Well, it doesn't mean much, as long as the person in question is being somewhat ambivalent about the idea of running. It's a far different thing when that person already holds high elective office, and has sworn repeatedly that they intend to stay on post and not seek higher office in the upcoming election.
Jim DeMint has created a position of strong leadership in the Senate, and has galvanized and organized political activists around the country to elect conservatives to Congress.
What would it say about his integrity, if he were to suddenly abandon the position of power he's struggled to build, to run for the presidency?
He'd have to get cracking on a presidential campaign in the next couple of months - right as the freshman class of new Republicans is arriving to Congress.
It would be highly destructive of him to leave at that moment. I trust that he won't do this, and he has said that he won't. I'm taking him at his word about this.
“Sarah Palin has opposed GOP RINO insiders like the Murkowski’s in Alaska.”
But Sarah Palin ran with an GOP insider in McCain, supports him no matter what now and she then endorsed RINO Fiorina and Gov. Rick Perry. It’s a black mark. Her Fiorina lost anyways.
“Demint has invested a lot in outside of South Carolina campaigns but where was he two years ago (2008) when Lindsey Graham was opposed by a put up phony opponent (the South Carolina GOP chairman)?”
You could ask the same question about the Primary voters in SC that year...when they put him back on ballot, knowing just who he was. In other words, there was no Tea Party ready to knock out incumbents in the primaries (that was considered insane).
DeMint was probably scared to death that the Dems would run a strong candidate in 2010 (and with people, at the time, expecting the Reps to lose even more seats this year), and, being 2 or 3 years in the Senate didn’t feel like he could take on the whole establishment at that time. Something tells me that you would be perfectly happy with DeMint has prez.
As to Sarah - she’s a one-of-a-kind. She took on the biggest of the big in AK, with even less under her belt than DeMint. Even so, I think that she would be happy with DeMint as prez.
I simply think that DeMint has a better shot at winning in November...Sarah could win, but DeMint is MUCH HARDER to run against. If nothing else, I base that on my parents’ (classic white liberals) opinion of Sarah - they’ve already expended all of their hate on her - they won’t have nearly as much left for DeMint.
There’s a good chance of it. I’d like to see five or six good solid Conservatives give it a go, at least for a while up front. We can give them a look and choose the best one.
Well bud, it seems to me there’s a lot of “I’m not sure if I’m running or not” flying around these days.
People change their minds. Who knew?
I get your point, but sometimes someone identifies themselves as an actual enemy of your agenda that is so dedicated to stopping you that he will work with the other side and burn rooms down in his own house, if it hurts you, Karl Rove is one of those.
All three of those made sense for Sarah, but DeMint served as Mitt Romney's senior advisor to his exploratory committee, and as senior advisor to his 2008 campaign, Jim Demint also served as Co-Chair for Lindsey Graham's campaign.
"COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s re-election campaign today announced that fellow Senator Jim DeMint has endorsed Graham and agreed to serve as a Co-Chairman of his campaign."
I think that Palin's early efforts in 2009, and her ability to survive the media onslaught, and the cover that she gave to potential conservative leaders, helped embolden Jim DeMint, and Rick Perry, and move them to the right.
Okay so both Palin and DeMint have drawbacks. I am sure if you look at Michele Bachmann you’ll find something as well. Have to pick someone or else it will be Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee. So far nobody has announced so waiting to who runs between DeMint, Bachmann, Palin, and Thune
I’m 90% sure I’d vote for him...barring a few exceptions. Like a random oddity in his positions.
Depends, if the Republicans want him at the time to run for President and the country needs him bad enough. Sometimes the best leaders are those who seek power reluctantly.
I agree with you that as qualified as he is for Pres. he may be better in senate.
he has fired off at the hip a little in the past and recently.
He might be as “unelectable” as Palin. We have his seat in Congress. SP prob has just as good a shot at Pres as he has. No use to send him in
who has the fortitude and wherewithal to simply put Obummer, Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Schumer an so on and so forth where they belong - jail.
A person whom has the leadership abilities, a backbone and the balls to say enough and take on the establishment and flush it down the cesspool that has become DC.
Whom praytell has the balls, and backbone to do this?
paving the way for who?
We just need to make sure conservatives control the primary. No Huckabee, no Romney, no Gingrich, et al. If conservatives are going to stay a prominent movement, this is imperative! We finally have a chance to not hold our nose anymore. If we’re a serious movement, we MUST be involved, or we’ll get another ruling class nominee.
Right now, we’re in the breathing room mentality, and much deserved. I’m anxious to see what’s the next phase. Are we a movement, or was this election a one shot wonder? I’m leaning towards a serious movement. Everyone I talk to says, this is just the beginning. We need to continue to be involved, or it was all for naught.
As I said before, it would be destructive for Jim DeMint to suddenly drop his leadership role in the Senate to run for president, just as the freshman class of new Tea Party Republicans is arriving.
He'd also have to wade into a field that is already becoming crowded with contenders for the nomination. There's no guarantee that center-right voters would choose him anyway. He's only got strong name recognition among political junkies like us. He'd have a huge job ahead, just establishing "household name" status. The "usual suspects" are already way ahead of him in that department.
And here's something else to consider. Besides having excellent conservative credentials, do we know whether DeMint can bond with a crowd? Can he energize people, or does he put folks to sleep when he talks? How does he do in interviews? Is he telegenic, or does the camera hate him?
These are (unfortunately) important considerations for any presidential candidate.
Lastly, Jim DeMint is a legislator, not an executive. Frankly, I'm tired of watching the ruling class push legislators into the Executive Branch of government. The American people prefer their presidents to have a proven track of leadership, and most legislators simply don't have that kind of resume.
I concur with those points.
In addition to that, I'm not fired up about putting another Senator up for the job of President anytime soon, no matter how much I might agree with his politics.
ROMNEY NO and HELL NO! Same with Jindal, Huckabee, and Gingrich. I know Huckabee isn’t that bad but he will never beat the Marxist Kenyan. We need a 100% true conservative and one that has the guts to go after Odumbo! None of the above fit that bill. Sarah does. DeMint maybe. I wish Rubio would run but too early. I also like Thune.
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