Dick Armey Suggest Jim Demint for 2012 (Disses Sarah Palin)

The Daily Caller ^ | 09/10/2010 | Alex Pappas

[Brices Crossroads]

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is on former House majority leader Dick Armey’s list of Republicans he could support for president in 2012.

Asked during a panel discussion Friday night on the Tea Party movement to name several leaders he would like to see challenge President Obama, he also listed Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

“There’s no shortage of good people,” said Armey, the chairman of FreedomWorks, a free-market group helping to organize this weekend’s Tea Party 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington.

Armey also suggested that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is not his ideal candidate in 2012. “There’s nobody from Alaska on my list,” he said.

He did, however, go on to say that he’d prefer Palin as president to the White House’s current occupant.

His comments came during a discussion titled “Examining the Tea Party” at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. with The Daily Caller’s Tucker Carlson, the New York Times’ Kate Zernike and Harvard professor Jill Lepore.

[Brices Crossroads]

Would someone please tell me how Dick Armey has managed to insinuate himself into the Tea party movement? He was never much of a conservative and used to say stupid things on a regular basis. I was sorry that conservative Steve Largent wasn't quite able to kick him out as Majority Leader in 1998; Armey, you see, was more to the liking of the moderates in the GOP caucus: becasue he was a moderate GOPer:

"After heavy Republican losses in the 1998 elections, Armey had to fend off a bruising challenge for his majority leader post from Steve Largent of Oklahoma, a member of the Republican class of 1994. Although Armey was not popular in the Republican caucus, Largent was thought to be far too conservative for the liking of some moderate Republicans, and Armey won on the third ballot."

He showed himself to be quite the hypocrite during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and his dispespect for Sarah Palin is hardly a surprise, given his history of fairly severe sexual harassment of his female economics students:

"In 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a reporter asked him what he would do if he were in President Bill Clinton's position. He replied "If I were in the President's place I would not have gotten a chance to resign. I would be lying in a pool of my own blood, hearing Mrs. Armey standing over me saying, 'How do I reload this damn thing?'" Several of his former female economics students went public with stories of his sexually harassing them — harassment allegedly so severe that at least one student transferred to another school. He would later divorce his wife and marry one of his students."

Further, Armey is hostile to religoius conservatives and once accuses Focus on the Family and James Dobson of perpetuating a lie aginst him:

"According to Armey, he also sparred with Focus on the Family leader James Dobson while in office. Armey wrote, "As Majority Leader, I remember vividly a meeting with the House leadership where Dobson scolded us for having failed to 'deliver' for Christian conservatives, that we owed our majority to him, and that he had the power to take our jobs back. This offended me, and I told him so." Armey states that Focus on the Family targeted him politically after the incident, writing, "Focus on the Family deliberately perpetuates the lie that I am a consultant to the ACLU."

Finally, he is an open borders guy:

"As a free-market economist influenced by the ideas of Milton Friedman, Armey favored relatively open immigration and the elimination of barriers to the movement of goods and people across national boundaries."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Armey

So, Dick Armey doesn't support Sarah Palin? Good. Who would want this old fossil's support? She needs this old loser like a hole in the head.

[Brices Crossroads]

Ping!

[iowamark]

Supporting Jim DeMint is hardly a sign of liberalism.

[FlingWingFlyer]

...Armey favored relatively open immigration and the elimination of barriers to the movement of goods and people across national boundaries."

My state, Arizona, is currently being threatened by the DOJ Gestapo because our schools won't cater to non-English speaking students and won't hire dumbass Spanish speaking "teachers". America has become some kind of goofy "Olympic Village" where everyone is clueless about what everyone else is talking about. Mexico doesn't put up with this crap, I don't know why the hell America should.

[RobbyS]

It is perhaps instructive that when he gave up his seat, he tried to get his less than outstanding son as his replacement. The district elected Dr. Michael Burgess instead. Burgess is pretty solidly conservative.

[exnavy]

Armey is just another has been, the leftist media uses these idiots as tools to batter the true conservatives of our side.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Hey Dick, did you ever think of the possibility that maybe Jim Demint doesn't want to run for POTUS in 2012 and that he feels he can best serve the American people in the Senate?  2012 is a ways off yet, Dick.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

DeMint should definitely be high on the list for 2012. Nothin’ wrong with that!

[RobbyS]

Bilingual programs, of course, tend to favor the hiring of Hispanics, paradoxically because English is the dominant language in our country. Anglo teachers don't have to speak Spanish, and so the percentage who do, is quite low.

[onyx]

Armey is sooooo jealous of Sarah’s powerful role and involvement in Tea Party Express that he resorted to this petty statement. Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty, and even Chris Christie who just endorsed Mike Castle with lavish praise? Good grief. Armey is “out to lunch.”

Furthermore, I don’t think DeMint is going to run. I think he’ll endorse Romney, (again). I also think he probably wants and I think (needs) to be Senate majority leader or minority leader if November falls short. We really have to keep the strong senators in the senate, otherwise the senate will remain in the hands of a weak leader with the squishes voting with democrats on important issues.

[onyx]

I was surprised when Armey surfaced in the Tea Party movement!

[BigSkyFreeper]

He’s dissed the TEA Party before too, last fall. When other people get more media exposure than his PAC does, he gets jealous.

[olezip]

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is on former House majority leader Dick Armey’s list of Republicans he could support for president in 2012.

I heard of Sarah Palin, but Dick Army is a distant memory. What did he do as House majority leader that was memorable?

[personalaccts]

He&& yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dick Armey is a smart man.

[jospehm20]

Isn’t he the guy who called Barny Frank Barney Fag?

[onyx]

You mean his Freedom Work? Is that what’s he’s operating in the name of a Tea Party?

[BigSkyFreeper]

Yes, Freedom Works. He's trying to cash in on the success of the real TEA Party. Just like all these ruling class types, they're trying to hijack or co-opt the movement because they can't destroy it.

[nhwingut]

Two things...

I’d support Jim DeMint.

Dick Armey is a bumbling boob.

[onyx]

Yes.

Armey's homophobic remarks included two shots at gay representative Barney Frank: * In 1995, he referred to Frank as "Barney Fag" in a press interview. Armey claimed it was "a slip of the tongue". Frank famously responded, "My mother says that in 59 years since being married to my father, no one had ever called her Elsie Fag." * On August 2, 2000, columnist Dave Barry asked, "Are you really Dick Armey?" Armey replied: "Yes, I am Dick Armey. And if there is a dick army, Barney Frank would want to join up."

[onyx]

Yes, Freedom Works. He's trying to cash in on the success of the real TEA Party. Just like all these ruling class types, they're trying to hijack or co-opt the movement because they can't destroy it.

Right, thanks. I'll tell you this much. I resent seeing him on TV acting like he's a Tea Party spokesman. He wasn't a likeable man when he was in congress.