Posted on 05/17/2010 12:09:23 PM PDT by FTJM
When voters go to the polls Tuesday for U.S. Senate primary elections in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, they'll write a new act in the ongoing shake-up of the Republican political establishment that's being led by conservative freshman Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
In Kentucky, GOP voters will choose between Trey Grayson - the handpicked choice of the state's most powerful Republican, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell - and DeMint-backed Rand Paul, son of Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats will select Rep. Joe Sestak or incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, who bolted the Republican Party last year after DeMint became the first Republican senator to endorse Specter's opponent, former Rep. Pat Toomey, in the GOP primary.
DeMint's impact - through endorsements and money from his Senate Conservatives Fund - has also been felt in recent weeks in Florida, Indiana and Utah, and it will reverberate throughout the summer in California, Colorado and beyond.
Around the country, DeMint is backing conservative underdog challengers who are running against more moderate Republican establishment candidates such as Carly Fiorina in California and Jane Norton in Colorado.
"This has not gone over real well with my colleagues," DeMint told conservative activists who were gathered last month at a retreat in Santa Barbara, Calif.
DeMint's intrusion into McConnell's home state with his endorsement of Paul on May 5, a day after McConnell backed Grayson, raised eyebrows in Republican congressional offices on Capitol Hill.
The move sparked published and online reports that DeMint wants McConnell's job as the top Senate Republican, compelling DeMint to reject the reports out of hand.
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
A lot of purists pile on DeMint for backing Mitt Romney in 2008. But at the time, there was no credible alternative to McCain, so I still think he did the right thing. Noteworthy is that he sure ain’t backing the least worst RINO for 2012 now!
The purists were purists before they weren’t.
Yep, this is what I was talking about. The battle of conservatives over RINOs.
Nothing conservative or patriotic about anti-military liebertarian Rand Paul, fellow traveler of traitor Adam Kokesh.
If he’s like his father, and all indications are that he is, he will the most fiscally conservative senator.
And his “entangling alliances with none” foreign policy is not anti-military. I disagree with it but right now we need to focus and reducing spending, government reach and taxes. Paul is orders of magnitude better than Democrat-lite Greyson.
I wish some so-called true conservatives would grow a brain and realize that the liebertarian “fiscal conservatism” applies mainly to cutting our defense budget, in line with their overall isolationism. If DeMint agrees with that, then he is one of them.
Don’t count on it. I’m a capital R Republican and small l libertarian, and if it were up to me I’d increase defense spending as much as absolutely possible. I’m a small l libertarian in that I don’t want government to micromanage the behavior of it’s citizens.
I've spoken to both Jane Norton and Ken Buck (the DeMint endorsee); and I'm not terribly impressed with either. I gave Buck an "F" on his answer to one of my 10th Amendment questions; and Norton got an "Incomplete", since she didn't seem to understand the question.
Based on what I've seen, I'm not sure Buck is conservative or an underdog—certainly not enough of either to be attracting national attention.
This is the danger we face when national heavyweights throw their weight around endorsing people they really know nothing about.
I like DeMint and I'm thrilled that he is backing Dr. Rand Paul. But this article gets it wrong. Rand has been on top for for well over a year now. I don't see how you could describe him as an "underdog".
(quote)
Paul says invading Iraq was the wrong thing to do, and while he supported the attack on Afghanistan, he expresses reservations about President Obama’s mission for U.S. forces there and speaks about the need to scale back overseas commitments.
Grayson, meanwhile, defends the Iraq invasion and argues for a long-term commitment to Afghanistan as part of “keeping America on the offensive” in the war on terrorism.
Grayson hammered Paul on the difference with some nasty ads, suggesting that Paul had blamed America for the Sept. 11 attacks because he had argued that previous American policies had helped galvanize Islamists.
(end quote)
DeMint needs to show some more backbone and support JD Hayworth over McCain. He has been neutral in the campaign...now he can take effective GOP leadership and support Hayworth.
Not only it will help Hayworth, it would make DeMint the most powerful GOP Senator
Jim DeMint 2012!~
Senator Jim DeMint: “Senator Bob Bennett is a colleague and we don’t agree on some issues particularly big issues to me like earmarks taking home the bacon and Mike Lee is a great candidate but I’ve decided just out of courtesy for my colleague that it would be inappropriate for me to jump in at least at this point. I think I am watching these races. If I feel like it’s unfair particularly to an underdog who’s a good candidate then I may change my mind and get in it."
I like this. Unlike the current (and last) Republican leadership that is tainted by TARP Jim DeMint understands what was important about 1994. It wasnt that the old Republican leadership won, it was that a new crop wave of conservatives were elected that were not yet corrupted.
Unfortunately, KY is stuck with choosing between two dismal candidates, where flipping the coin will be as accurate as looking into the positions of these candidates: neither one is a true, conservative choice.
Rand Paul is NOT a conservative, not by any stretch of the imagination. Like father, like son, they are anti-military isolationist kooks who peel votes away from Republicans and aid the Left agenda.
agree. Romney, McCain or the slime huckster didnt really inspire much.
Agree with you 100%...but its nice to see McConnels face slapped.
So I hear, except it looks like he will be running as a Republican himself. I am pretty sure he won't be supporting all of the 'left's agenda, like TARP like bailouts and government takeovers, etc, maybe some of the left's agenda. I would like to know where he is on amnesty.
What is Jim DeMint up to supporting him?
AFAIK, liebertarians do not believe in border security or enforcing immigration laws, e.g., pro-amnesty.
As for what DeMint is up to, I don’t know. I think he’s mainly a self-promoter, perhaps planning to run for POTUS.
I love how the DeMint haters bring up an endorsement from 2 1/2 years ago but have no problem with Palin’s CURRENT endorsement of McCain.
I did a google and he is definitely not calling for that. He is calling for more border security and enforcement.
Unfortunately all Republicans are calling for border security and enforcement now, even McCain. Clearly many of these phonies really believe we need amnesty but they never get asked that direct question, not even by FNC. Anyone running for office needs to be asked “Would you EVER support legalization and path to citizenship for illegal aliens?”. Right sjb ???
Talk about not being willing to defend this country....
““Would you EVER support legalization and path to citizenship for illegal aliens?”. Right sjb ???”
Question: “ After the border is sealed, what would you do about the illegal immigrants already here? “
Perfect! I knew I called the Right freeper. That is the question none of them want to answer.
'Put Americans first',
not 'Make illegals Americans and put them first and us last'
Boy you you have that bass-ackwards.
Palin supporters have watched the “anybody but Palin” crowd at FR coalesce behind the faint hopes that Jim DeMint will run, so that they can argue that their one-percenter is the “one true Conservative” as opposed to Sarah Palin, while pretending everybody else doesn't see it for the strictly anti-Palin move is actually is (”DID WE MENTION SHE ENDORSED JOHN MCCAIN AND CARLY FIORINA?!?!? DID WE MENTION SHE ENDORSED JOHN MCCAIN AND CARLY FIORINA?!?!? DID WE MENTION SHE ENDORSED JOHN MCCAIN AND CARLY FIORINA?!?!? DID WE MENTION SHE ENDORSED JOHN MCCAIN AND CARLY FIORINA?!?!?”)
We who support Palin like DeMint, and support him as he promotes Conservative causes and candidates. “DeMint supporters” do not reciprocate that same respect to Sarah Palin no matter how much good she does - and they have no intention of ever doing so. If she does 1,000,000,000 positive things and 3 bad things, they will harp constantly and ONLY on the three bad things, as if that's the only 3 things she's ever done, ever.
When we point out that DeMint supported Romney when there were better candidates around, true Conservatives at that, we are pointing out that nobody is perfect - though Sarah haters (many of them DeMint supporters) will settle for absolutely NOTHING less than TOTAL perfection from Sarah Palin, and even that wouldn't be good enough.
We are also quick to remind you that DeMint played a large part in getting Lindsey Graham the GOP nod again in SC, against a truly Conservative candidate in the Primary in a safely Republican seat - where we could have moved RIGHT - even to the point of co-chairing Graham's campaign and lauding such praises on him as “He's a GREAT leader,” and “America NEEDS Lindsey Graham in the Senate.”
We who support Palin just get a kick out of the fact that those who dislike Sarah Palin and invent litmust tests to try and eliminate her cannot apply those same litmus tests to their own candidates of choice and have them pass EITHER. But it only EVER counts against Sarah Palin, ever.
Jim DeMint endorses Romney, Graham, co-chairs Lindsey's campaign, touts Jeb Bush as the best possible 2012 candidate and Romney again as a great candidate for 2012 -— instantly forgiven!
Sarah Palin endorses Fiorina and McCain -— We can't trust her anymore, she's a RINO - a traitor! She's 100% ruled-out, toast! UNFORGIVABLE, forever!!!
We who support Palin will continue to point out the double-standards, even when it comes to Jim DeMint’s supporters.
At least one Republican will vote against the next Republican president calling for a bailout,
That you can be sure of.
LOL....yes!
Well, Palin is doing everything she can to re elect the most EVIL Republican of modern times. John McCain.
At best, it's a wash - a very bad wash. I forgive both DeMint and Palin, though, because both are stellar Conservatives other than a couple of bad “friend” endorsements.
I'm not disowning EITHER of them.
It doesnt look like this ‘leftist’ Kaine is going to support Paul.
Pity. We could do a whole lot worse than DeMint as Senate leader. We can't do worse than McConnell in that job.
Good post.
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