Tea Party chief (Jim DeMint) defends Perry 's record

Financial Times ^ | Sept. 4, 2011 | Stephanie Kirchgaessner

[Clairity]

Texas governor Rick Perry's previous support of Democrats was dismissed as irrelevant by aTea Party leader, in a sign that the rapidly rising Republican frontrunner for president is gaining allies despite questions about his record.

"We know people change. Reagan was a Democrat," said Mr DeMint on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour". "I want to give ... [all of the candidates] a little room to change. I know I've changed some positions I had 10 years ago, because the country's in a very different situation. So I'm going to listen and look and do my homework. And I'm not counting any of them out at this point."

[McGavin999]

I am waiting for people to call DeMint a RINO or Sellout - 3,2,..

LOL, you took the words right out of my mouth.

I haven't decided yet but I rarely comment or ask questions anymore because I get attacked as a "RINO" every time I do. I'm about sick to death of it and am rapidly turning away from any candidate they support.

[reasonisfaith]

Yes, the permanent political class is the establishment.

No, the establishment is not “anyone not for your particular person or position.” This false definition is false because it has incorporated the context of relativism, which is in the end meaningless.

The permanent political class is exactly what common sense tells us it is.

[Mariner]

"The liberals HATE Gov Rick Perry because everything they are for Rick Perry is against."

Not true!

Perry signed an EO forcing all girls in Texas to get Guardasil.

He is also an open-borders Amnesty advocate who has the Texas taxpayer subsidizing college education for illegals.

"Everything" was a couple of bridges too far.

[org.whodat]

Ill go with “C”, another ignorant reporter.

[reasonisfaith]

A much different and far better rule is to say that a poster who thinks any politician is above questioning doesn’t belong on this site.

[cc2k]

Rudder wrote:

Is DeMint the elected president of the Tea Party, a self-appointed cell leader or king of the revolutionaries...or is this the moniker given by another ignorant reporter?

He is given the title by the Party Propaganda Ministry in general, and by this reporter in this story. Actually, Christiane Amanpour called him that this morning on “This Week” and the reporter is just parroting her.

The Party Propaganda Ministry can't understand a grass roots movement like the TEA party. They don't understand people who think independently and act on their own. To a Party Propaganda Ministry reporter, TEA Partiers have to be taking their orders from a "TEA Party Boss" and they try to hang that title on whoever they think is convenient (and extreme looking). Demint is the "TEA Party leader" du jour for these people. Sometimes it's Palin, sometimes it's Bachman, but the Propaganda Ministry is incapable of understanding that might be able to think for ourselves and don't always follow some "leader."

Having said that, I saw DeMint on “This Week.” Christiane Amanpour was trying to get him to bash Perry. DeMint didn't take the bait. He also didn't endorse Perry, just said there are many candidates, and a lot of choices, and anyone would be better than Obama. He didn't speak badly about any candidate, nor did he endorse Perry over anyone else.

[tsowellfan]

He is also an open-borders Amnesty advocate

Aug 2010: Gov. Perry's Letter to Obama Asks 1000 Troops to Secure Border

Sarah Palin On Immigration:

Supports a path to citizenship, but no amnesty for illegals

Q: Should undocumented immigrants all should be deported?

Sarah Palin: There is no way that in the US we would roundup every illegal immigrant - there are about 12 million of the illegal immigrants - not only economically is that just an impossibility but that's not a humane way anyway to deal with the issue.

Q: Do you support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants?

Sarah Palin: I do because I understand why people would want to be in America. To seek the safety and prosperity, the opportunities, the health that is here. It is so important that yes, people follow the rules so that people can be treated equally and fairly in this country.

Source: Univision Interview with Sarah Palin, by Jorge Ramos Oct 26, 2008

[EternalVigilance]

As a Romney supporter, and someone who supported raising the debt ceiling $2.4 TRILLION dollars, DeMint sure ain’t my “chief.”

[hosepipe]

[ Jim DeMint says Rick Perry is the REAL deal! ]

Well he is.. its just he has a silver tongue.. full of blarney..
But he not as full of “it” as Romney..
I don’t trust him..

[jla]

You're a riot! Your gal stays on the sidelines lest she's asked a *really tough* question such as "what do you read?"

By the way, do you always stand 10 paces behind your wife like Todd Palin does? What's he do while his wife is out earning the family's income?

[CajunConservative]

It’s so ironic that you are buying the populist swill. Sarah Palin is a career politician and is part of the permanent political class. Had she not been defeated by the DNC machine halfway in her term she would still be in office. If she runs like you and her fans want then she’s simply getting back into the same permanent political establishment she’s preaching against.

Populism

1.
politics unfavorable to elite: politics or political ideology based on the perceived interests of ordinary people, as opposed to those of a privileged elite

2.
focus on ordinary people: focus or emphasis on the lives of ordinary people, e.g. in the arts and in politics

[EDINVA]

“What assurance do I have that DeMint is not entrenched in the permanent political class?”

If you really need assurance one clue might be that DeMint was the ONLY U.S. Senator, and one of few elected pols who believed so strongly in its philosophy and principles that he attended and spoke at the 9-12-09 tea party event at the Capitol. That was well before it was known what a political force the ‘tea party’ would prove to be.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

It means-——NOTHING!! It just allows the person speaking or writing it to feel superior.

[reasonisfaith]

Either Palin is running to change the establishment, or she’s only pretending to do so and will simply join them eventually. Or maybe she really believes it, but won’t have the strength of character to follow through.

Whether or not she is sincere is largely our own judgment call. Maybe Palin is lying. But we can use our brains to weigh the possibilities.

We can look at her record for evidence that she has done what’s right even when it was a personal risk to do it. We can look for evidence of moral character.

And we can look to see if she has a pattern of saying one thing but doing another.

[painter]

DeMint is the man. He was my no. 1 choice for POTUS but I’ll settle for his great service in the senate.

Me TOO,as Senate Majority leader!

[reasonisfaith]

I think DeMint is a true believer. But I won’t substitute my judgment with his when it comes to Governor Perry.

[Always A Marine]

"We know people change. Reagan was a Democrat," said Mr DeMint

Ronaldus Magnus was more than just a former Democrat; he was "Red Ronnie" -- a socialist union activist. Reagan was a true-believing (or feeling) liberal who was mugged by reality, proving that there is no greater zealot than a true convert.

Rick Perry is like many conservative Southerners who was in politics before the 1994 Republican Revolution. In the one-party South, only Democrats got elected to statewide offices except on rare occasions. Only after the Gingrich revolution was that old relic of post-Civil War Reconstruction finally destroyed. Rick Perry's 10-year record as Governor of Texas shows that the GOP is his true home.

[reasonisfaith]

Let’s construct the logic of this.

Is there, in our country, a political establishment that feeds its own power at the expense of everyone else, and at the expense of what’s right?

Can you say no to this question? No, you must answer yes.

So then, once we establish that there is a corrupt establishment, the morally rational conclusion is to say it needs to end.

From there, we can say that politicians who run on changing the establishment belong to one of two groups: either they’re sincere or they’re playing us.

The remaining question is to ask which group Palin belongs to.

Which one do you think?

[Magic Fingers]

Crickets...

[EDINVA]

Absolutely. I will judge who to vote for based on MY standards, not DeMint’s, fellow FReepers, or my sainted spouse. But their reasoning and opinions (in the main) are worth listening to in that calculus.