Posted on 01/12/2012 5:01:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Dear Senator DeMint:
By the numbers, we are yet very early in the presidential primaries. 1144 delegates are needed to sew up the nomination, and depending how you count these things, Mitt Romney has maybe 13 delegates after finishing Iowa in a de facto tie with Rick Santorum and thumping Ron Paul in New Hampshire last night. But presidential primary races are often about perception: like wars, you more often win them by convincing the other side that further resistance is futile than by total, to-the-last-man annihilation. And so the coming South Carolina primary is widely recognized as the last realistic chance to stop Romney, or at least visibly slow his momentum and eliminate the divisions among conservative candidates that have thus far precluded a unified opposition. Romney has been lining up endorsements (including SC Governor Nikki Haley), money and favorable press from conservative journalists to create an air of inevitability that he hopes will end this race by Florida, if not South Carolina. I think it is fair to say that a great many grassroots conservative activists view the prospect of a Romney candidacy with varying shades of dismay.
We may yet, indeed, be stuck with Romney. And I know you were one of a good number of conservatives to endorse him in 2008 as a tactical move to stop John McCain, so the pull of some consistency (as well as longstanding disagreements with Rick Santorum) must be drawing you back to support him again. But even if we do end up with Romney – indeed, especially if we do – it will be terribly damaging for the conservative movement if you endorse or in any way assist him while there is still a race on. Let me explain why.
President George W. Bush was perhaps the third-most-conservative president of the past century, behind Reagan and Coolidge, and he commanded significant conservative loyalty for his wartime leadership, tax cuts and social conservatism. But we knew going into his nomination in 2000 that Bush was no friend of small government. In the shadow of war and later a financial crisis, Bush was able to pressure many otherwise conservative Republicans in Congress to back a lot of most un-conservative measures, most notably the expansion of Medicare to cover prescription drugs. In this, Bush has the help of GOP leadership, as men of conservative inclination and accomplishment like Santorum and Tom DeLay twisted arms to get conservatives to fall into line. Even if these moves were individually defensible under the circumstances, collectively they badly corroded the GOP’s small-government brand, contributing significantly to the loss of Congress and many Governorships in 2006 (including Santorum’s 18-point loss and Romney’s unwillingness to stand for re-election that year). What was needed, and what only began to emerge with your leadership late in Bush’s term, was some voice inside Congress standing up for small government within the GOP.
We have made great strides since then together; the Tea Party movement has sent many conservative reinforcements to Congress, some of them at the expense of long-tenured Republican officeholders. But the battle even within the GOP for smaller government and entitlement reform is far from over.
Mitt Romney, as well all know, is not and never has been a Tea Party or small government conservative; indeed, his signature achievement in his one term in public office was passing a Ted Kennedy-backed universal health care plan that moved the most Democratic state in the nation to the left on healthcare and laid the groundwork for Obamacare. For Romney to win election against Barack Obama, something else will need to be done to motivate the grassroots activists who make up the Tea Party and related movements inside and outside the GOP. And for anything positive to be accomplished in getting our financial house in order during a Romney presidency, there must be an independent body of conservatives not beholden to Romney to apply pressure on him to pull him to the right. If there is one thing we know about Romney is that he is responsive to external pressures in making political and policy decisions. But if Romney’s position in the party is secure and unchallenged, he will never have to give conservative concerns another moment’s thought, and will look – as he did in Massachusetts – leftward.
One by one, the organs of conservative journalism and activism and the leaders of Republican officialdom have begun placing themselves in Romney’s orbit. If they will not stand up to him now, how will they do so later? And how can we convince dispirited activists that their concerns will still be represented in Romney’s Washington?
The answer, if we end up resigned to Romney, is that they will look to you. For now, we can still sell a message to the grassroots: elect more conservatives to the House and Senate, and they will keep Romney honest – with conservatives like Jim DeMint as their leaders. The goal of doing so will help us all: it will keep not-Romney activists motivated to vote and organize and donate at the House and Senate level, most of whom will then hold their breath and vote Romney as well, knowing they have done their part to provide a meaningful counterweight.
But the more those activists see interviews in which you seem to be feeding the pro-Romney inevitability narrative – much less actually endorsing the man – the more they will conclude that you are ready to play Tom DeLay to Romney’s Bush, and that the lessons of 2006-10 will be completely forgotten in the new Washington. That would be a terrible shame, and poisonous to our ability to keep alive an independent movement that stands for something besides Mitt Romney’s political advancement. Don’t surrender your independent credibility when it will be needed most. We are ready to continue the good fight, but we can’t do it without leaders.
DeMint (like Ms. Haley) will soon discover that it takes YEARS to achieve
the connoation of “conservative” and yet only
one second of endorsing “RINO ROMNEY”
to lose it … forever.
Too late. Endorsing Romney today. Bolton did it last night.
I don’t see that happening.
Those late Romney endorsements in 2008 were mainly about beating McCain after Thompson fizzed out, Levin even endorsed Romney at that time 2008 on his NR blog as did many others. But McCain is not in this race.
If this race came down to Romney versus Paul you would see those type of endorsements again, I dont see that at this point but its not impossible. So far Paul has been helpful to Romney.
how sure are you of this? I haven’t read it anywhere... did you read it somewhere or is it just a good guess... I am not confronting you, I just want some comfort that it really isn’t so... oh my.
Hectoring people on line may bring a few votes but there are millions out there who will find soemething else to do on that Tuesday in November.
so, basically, the status quo is to pull 'for' a candidate, because the other guy sucks worse, rather than just keepin the piehole shut ???
this is the integrity of our great and wise leaders...
that nobody stands on principle, and challenges this insanity and they simply fall in line to blow each other, is a testimony to the uselessness of trying to 'fix' the corruption...
“Houston, we have a problem!”
When the indeterminate results of the Iowa Caucus, the NH primary, and the SC primary have already determined the outcome of the Republican Party candidate selection something is seriously wrong.
Well you are forgetting that back in 2008 Obama was going to kill us all with death panels and stimulus's and then close Guantanamo and send the terrorists to our public schools to kill our kids if he was elected. At least McCain wasn't going to do that, well at least his stimuluses and death panels wouldnt be as bad as Obama's.
Look, if we need to recruit and support Hillary NOW to beat Obama so be it. We must save America (for a few more days anyway.)
:) You can tell I read lots of these Republican-firster type comments.
I’ve become convinced these people have no principles and have simply been waiting to see who comes out on top so they can back a winner. I feel like I am living in an alternate universe....everything is upside down.
Bad news:
“DeMint advisers to endorse Romney
Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - A group of loyalists to South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint - including a top fundraiser for Rick Perry - will publicly endorse Mitt Romney’s presidential bid on Thursday, a source confirmed to CNN.
Former South Carolina GOP Chairman Barry Wynn, Columbia businessman and fundraiser Peter Brown, and Columbia attorney Kevin Hall will announce their support for Romney Thursday...”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/11/demint-advisers-to-endorse-romney/
“...nobody stands on principle, and challenges this insanity... is a testimony to the uselessness of trying to ‘fix’ the corruption...”
The only way to fix the corruption is for non-corrupt people to get involved in the party structure at the grass roots.
That’s what Algore said of GHWB: everything that is supposed to be up is down, and everything that is supposed to be down is up. The people believed Algore that time.
I hope you aren’t trying to say that DeMint eventually settled on Romney late in the game, that would be totally false. DeMint sought out Romney in 2006, not 2008.
DeMint got behind Romney when Romney was still Governor in 2006 and served on his exploratory committee, DeMint helped encourage and create Mitt’s entrance into the Presidential campaign.
DeMint then was the national co-chairman of Romney’s Presidential race.
DeMint has been Mitt’s right hand man, DeMint was there before the campaign even started.
I was saying that but I didn’t know the information you just told me. Thanks!
It’s not obvious why a SC Senator would team up with a MA liberal.
Here is DeMint as Lindsey Graham’s election co-chair.
“DeMint Endorses Graham
October 18th, 2007 | WILL SERVE AS CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIR
Big news from the re-election campaign of Sen. Lindsey Graham:
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s re-election campaign today announced that fellow Senator Jim DeMint has endorsed Graham and agreed to serve as a Co-Chairman of his campaign.
“Lindsey Graham is a true leader who has fought to strengthen our military, protect the sanctity of life, and keep taxes low,” said DeMint. “His devotion to and for our men and women in uniform is evident each and every day he serves in the U.S. Senate. He knows that the battles we face against radical Islamic terrorists threaten our very freedoms and prosperity.”
JANUARY 2007, Not January 2008-— Senator DeMint wrote, “We must elect a President in 2008 who is up to the task, and I need you to encourage Mitt to run. ...
Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boston, MA – Governor Mitt Romney announced today that Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) will serve as a senior adviser to the Romney for President Exploratory Committee.
OCTOBER, 2007
Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney named Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO), Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) as National Co-Chairs of the Romney for President campaign. As National Co-Chairs, they will serve as key advisers to Governor Romney and his national campaign.
Senator Jim DeMint said, “Governor Mitt Romney is the standard-bearer the Republican Party needs in 2008. His message of conservative change will bring our Party and Washington back to our most basic conservative values of fiscal discipline, smaller government and lower taxes. Governor Romney has the record and experience to bring true change to Washington.”
Romney and he are still close,”WashingtonPost.com Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will appear as the special guest at a fundraiser next week to benefit South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint’s 2010 re-election”
I saw Jim Demint say something on a Sunday network show last year that disturbed me.
He was asked about reforming SS to help control the growing deficit and he responded with the Democrat talking points exactly:”We don’t need to do ANYTHING to SS because it is fully funded for the next 50 years by the SS trust fund. It adds nothing to the deficit”
This is such a joke I just assume they keep up this lie until I am over 65 and then afterward they can figure out that hundreds of billions of debt is being run up to pay SS benefits and screw those younger than me who don’t even care enough to find out what that FICA tax is that they are paying for.
I don’t know what to make of the guy, he seems to be a pretty good and helpful conservative Senator, but there also seems to be much going on in there that doesn’t fit with the surface image.
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