Posted on 09/23/2010 5:46:27 PM PDT by jazusamo
South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is publicly criticizing his Senate GOP colleagues for allowing Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski to keep her ranking membership on a key committee less than a week after she announced a write-in campaign to try to retain her seat.
In a revealing e-mail to his supporters, DeMint gives his account of Wednesday’s private Senate GOP caucus meeting, when he believed his colleagues would vote to strip Murkowski of her post on the Energy and National Resources Committee — but the caucus instead allowed her to keep her remain in the coveted role.
“It was bad enough to watch my colleagues work to support her in the primary after she had built a record of betraying conservatives principles,” writes DeMint. “But watching them back her after she left the party and launched a campaign against the Republican nominee was more than I could bear.”
Murkowski, who unexpectedly lost the GOP primary last month to attorney Joe Miller, announced last week that she was staying in the race as a write-in candidate — a move that angered Senate Republicans, who support Miller as the new GOP nominee. Murkowski resigned her position as Senate Republican Conference vice-chair, but several of her colleagues, including DeMint, insisted she should also lose her ranking committee membership.
DeMint revealed some details from the closed-door Senate Republican caucus meeting Wednesday.
“One senator after another stood up to argue in favor of protecting her place on the committee — a position she will no doubt use in her campaign against Joe Miller, the conservative Republican nominee,” writes DeMint.
DeMint is an ardent Miller supporter and is raising money for his campaign. DeMint initially refused to comment about the meeting – only saying that the party was “united” behind Miller.
But DeMint was vocal about his frustration on Thursday, describing in the e-mail to the Senate Conservatives Fund membership how he “spoke out against the motion” during the private caucus meeting and voted against it. He wrote that “the motion was adopted by secret ballot and the final tally was not disclosed.”
The Senate GOP caucus’s decision was a major boost to Murkowski, whose seniority on the committee is a major selling point for her campaign. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee is a key committee assignment for someone representing Alaska, which compared with other states, relies heavily on federal funds to build infrastructure.
Murkowski’s post on the committee has also become a political football in the race against Miller and Democratic nominee Scott McAdams. Miller told a local newspaper last week that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised him that Murkowski would lose her ranking slot on the committee even if she won her write-in bid – essentially giving the Alaska senator the same level of seniority as a freshman.
Perhaps we could petition DeMint to explain why we should be a fan of Mitt Romney? Is that too much to ask?
who says so? the 2012 race hasnt even begun, and so far Palin is the one lined up to win, at this rate.
Jim DeMint needs our support and funds. Go to www.senateconservatives.com and check out the candidates and give each of them a few dollars, or whatever you can. Currently Jim DeMint mentions Joe Miller in Alaska, because this race is so vital and Murkowski is the slimy issue here.
My spouse and I aren't young or comfortable, but we will work our fingers to the bone to get these fine conservative men and women to the WIN finish line in November. Standing together, we can WIN!
Tea Party
carole
haircutter
DeMint knows the RINOS rule the party, and he intends to expose them, and make their lives unpleasant. He is a real trooper!!
Rush on this now. Doubtful he’ll mention the Romney angle.
Maybe - hopefully - the Mitt thing is a smokescreen.
I would expect DeMint to back Haley Barbour. I could totally get behind that.
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