Posted on 03/22/2012 2:07:47 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said today that Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney doesn’t have to prove his conservative bona fides to him and hinted that it might be time for former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) to consider exiting the race.
DeMint, who endorsed Romney in 2008, stopped short of backing the former Massachusetts governor in this year’s GOP primary. But in an interview following a morning closed-door meeting with Romney in Washington, D.C., DeMint said the former governor impressed him with his commitments to fiscal reform and to repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law — as well as the “urgency” the Senator said Romney expressed in his discussions about the challenges facing the country.
“I’ve always been very impressed with Mitt. I don’t question his conservative credentials. He’s, I think, been a great leader in a lot of ways. So I feel very good about him,” DeMint told reporters. “He knows we’re on the precipice; he knows some very hard decisions need to be made; he knows we need to balance our budget, and I think he knows the next four or five years could be the most difficult our country faces.”
In an earlier interview with reporters just off the Senate floor, DeMint suggested that he expects Romney to be the nominee and indicated that he hopes Gingrich and Santorum will support the governor once that becomes apparent.
“For me, I think I’d like to move on to the real problem, which is Obama, as soon we can. But these candidates have put their heart and soul, they’ve invested so much of their lives in this thing, it’s going to be their decision when they can do more good by getting out than getting in. And I don’t know when that is. They have to decide. And no one should be able to tell them they have to get out,” DeMint said. “But I just hope that at some point they’ll realize whether they can win or not and if they can’t, the best thing they can do probably is help the one that’s going to win.
“I hope we don’t drag it out to the convention,” DeMint added in the later interview. “Each of the candidates is just going to have to decide when they’ve given it a good run.” Gingrich and Santorum are vowing to take the race to the late August Republican nominating convention in Tampa, Fla., insisting they can prevent Romney from garnering the 1,144 delegates he needs to secure the nomination.
Following their one-on-one meeting, DeMint and Romney were joined by tea-party-inspired stalwarts, according to sources, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), who previously endorsed the governor; Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Barrasso (Wyo.); Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.); Sen. Mike Lee (Utah); and GOP Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Steve King (Iowa) and Joe Pitts (Pa.); and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
DeMint declined to discuss the specifics of the meeting, saying it was considered private. But when asked if could share in broad terms the message Romney communicated to the Members he met with today, DeMint described it this way:
“When someone asked him in simple terms: Why are you running? He said it’s to save the country. ... That’s what I needed to hear and I think everyone in the room needed to hear — [that] really our country’s at stake, and we want a president that understands that this is not a business as usual. ... I think what we got from him is a sense of urgency.”
DeMint’s remarks couldn’t have come at a better time for Romney.
His campaign was still dealing with a media firestorm emanating from comments a top aide made Wednesday that compared the campaign process to playing with an Etch-A-Sketch toy. Romney’s critics — as well as Gingrich and Santorum — used the comments to charge that the governor will abandon the conservative positions he’s staked out in the primary once he sews up the GOP nomination.
“It’s almost like an Etch-A-Sketch,” Eric Fehrnstrom said during an interview on CNN. “You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.”
The Romney campaign said Fehrnstrom was referring to the strategic dynamics of transitioning from running in a primary to a general election campaign, but Democrats and the governor’s conservative critics pounced. DeMint said the issue did not come up in his meeting with Romney.
Disappointing, but I think also probably a move to try to mend fences between the conservative base and the establishment types ahead of the convention/general campaign. A Romney nomination isn’t written in stone at this point, but unless Newt (the guy I’ve been backing) pulls out and throws his support to Santorum, it seems increasingly likely. A brokered convention is still a possibility, of course, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on that.
The bigger question is, will it mend anything? I have my doubts. Romney has been saying the right things the last couple of weeks, but saying and doing are two different things, and Mitt’s actual record is one of liberal governance. Hard to get the base to turn out when many of them see Romney as just a watered-down version of Obama.
Me, I think I’ll just go back to working on that time machine I tried to build in the third grade. With a little luck, I’ll get back to 1984 just in time to see Mondale’s concession speech (heh).
Not a surprise. DeMint endorsed Willard in 2008.
13 posted on Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:23:57 PM by GeronL
(The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
In 2008 (actually in 2006) when they shoved McCain on us and the rest of them, Romney included, dropped out like flies.
bump
They must have promised him a powerful committee chair in the event they take over the Senate.
I doubt they’ll take the Senate with Romney at the top of the ticket supressing the (R) side of the vote and now letting Conservatives know they are not welcome any longer in the Republican party.
So now DeMint helps to shake Romney’s Etch-A-Sketch.
DeMint disgusts me.
Speak for yourself, DeMint! I am NOT comfortable AT ALL with Mittens. If he is elected, he will need to have his flip-flops removed and REALLY put his feet to the fire on conservative issues.
>> DeMint endorsed Willard in 2008. <<
So did Santorum.
>> DeMint endorsed Willard in 2008. <<
So did Santorum.
I am so sick of these jerks. I got an RNC solicitation for money in the mail. I happened to have a joke million dollar bill with Obama’s face on it, so I stuck that in the envelope, wrote a note telling them that was the last they would ever get from me, and sent it off.
Dear God, look at that collection of crooks. It’s written all over Romney’s face-—you can SEE it in the man. And yet so many are completely blind. I don’t understand what’s happened.
It's funny that DeMint says this considering the very problem I have with Romney, aside from the fact he is obviously not a real conservative, is an utter and absolute lack of urgency and understanding that big things need to be done to turn this country around.
Meh, I guess the writing is on the wall and Romney is 99% likely to be the nominee now. I hope at least Newt stays in till the end and keeps forcing Mitt to the right. I'd expect folks like DeMint and Ryan to formally endorse the chameleon soon after the Louisiana primary.
...but you're more than disingenuous, Cincinatus' Wife....you can't have it both ways!!!!!!!!!!
Your 'Poor us, they're all throwing in with Romney'....
..just won't cut it dearie....with all the bad mouthing you and your crew have done to one of our two standard bearers with the possibility of usurping Romney!
You're quite ingenious at playing both sides against the middle....
...Now that you and yours have insulted, ridiculed, mocked Santorum to the nth degree, piling on day in day out!!!!...
...now that the media is calling for him to leave the race...
...your have this 'oh my, it's Romney'....Oh No!!
I AM FED UP!
Both Gingrich and Romney have tried to make a difference....have tried to cut in to Romney's chances...
...and I am fed up with all those who should have been encouraging Santorum....praising Santorum for his wins...
...and now are aghast that Romney will be the nominee.
Well, congratulations...You helped get him there!
when I obviously meant...GINGRICH AND SANTORUM!
...guess you'll have a nice laugh over that, too!
“So now DeMint helps to shake Romney’s Etch-A-Sketch.
DeMint disgusts me.”
All of them backing Romney disgust me. Wait until my Etch-A-Sketch gets here - I’ll show ‘em. I know plenty of bad words to write on there. That’s the rule - only bad words can be written on there in order to relieve my frustration!
I think that after this election there needs to be a 3rd party formed. It can get strong and ready to go for the next 4 years and then a true conservative can run.
I thinks some are underestimating the desire of voters to get BO out of there. Many have said they would vote for dog catcher over BO. If Romney is the nominee, this is not the election to get in a snit and not vote against the Obama communist regime. It would be a grave mistake. The motivation to get rid of the Obamas, Jarrett and Holder is very strong. We have to have Romney or whoever the nominee is in order to accomplish this and that’s all that really matters this time around.
LOL...
Hope you’re healing up okay.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.