Jim DeMint Resigns
Well, this isn’t what I was expecting to hear on a Thursday morning.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has resigned from the Senate to take over the conservative Heritage Foundation.
DeMint’s decision to leave the Senate after only eight years shocked Washington. DeMint had been seen as a future Senate leader for his party and was already a leader to a growing number of conservatives in the House and Senate.
“It’s been an honor to serve the people of South Carolina in the United States Senate for the past eight years, but now it’s time for me to pass the torch to someone else and take on a new role in the fight for America’s future,” DeMint said in a statement explaining his resignation.
“I’m leaving the Senate now, but I’m not leaving the fight. I’ve decided to join the Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come.”
Given that he’s from South Carolina, I’d say there’s little chance of the Democrats taking this seat. Still, losing DeMint’s voice in the Senate is a blow to the GOP.
(originally posted on conservative-wanderer.com)
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Jun '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Sen. DeMint had term-limited himself so that he would be leaving after two terms in 2016. Since the Republicans will likely be in the minority the rest of his Senate career it makes sense for him to take the presidency of the Heritage Foundation now.
Gov. Haley has some great folks to choose from: Tim Scott, Mick Mulvaney & Trey Gowdy to name three.
Edited on December 6, 2012 at 5:22pmApr '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
This is tremendously sad news. He was my choice for VP after Portman and McDonnell, before Ryan, in part for the 2016 reason, but learning that we won't even have him until then is very unpleasant.
On the positive side, conservative think tanks are in great need of substantial improvement, and I can't think of anyone better placed to do that than DeMint. God willing, he will make an enormous difference in his new role. We should pray for him, and take action to support him when opportunity presents itself.
edit: Ramesh Ponnuru moving to AEI also seems like a positive move for our think tanks, although it's obviously much less of a big deal.
Edited on December 6, 2012 at 5:42pmRe: Jim DeMint Resigns
You're right to focus on his "voice." Just when we're all agreed that nothing positive can happen until/unless we rediscover our voice, one of those who speaks up and articulates ideas leaves the halls of congress.
Jan '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
It's Ryan M's fault.
Nov '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Well, it will be interesting to see what Nikki Haley does.
If she chooses someone worth promoting, it might be a net positive, seeing that DeMint had committed not to run again anyway. Maybe, much as we need senators like DeMint, Harry Reid's Senate isn't the place for him to do the work he wants to do.
Edited on December 6, 2012 at 6:01pmNov '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
What's his game here?
Does he need the cash? Rats fleeing a sinking ship? Is he getting out in front of a scandal? Does he just hate the job?
There's something more going on here.
Mar '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Following Boehner's night of the long knives it is difficult not to see unspoken reasons behind this decision. The impression of a GOP leadership looking to purge Tea Party sympathizers so that they may more efficiently kowtow to Reid and Obama is difficult to shake.
Mar '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
One gets the impression he's doing this in part because A)the "establishment" GOP in Congress is increasingly hostile to conservatism... see Boehner's purge, and B) perhaps he can be a bigger influence by helping to anchor institutions that teach and spread conservative ideas. If the GOP Congress does indeed slide towards 1970's Gerald Ford Me-Too'ism, I expect DeMint will be leading the fight from outside the walls.
Edited on December 6, 2012 at 6:43pmDec '10
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
He's taking Ed Fulner's position as President of the Heritage Foundation. From an email Heritage sent out today:
Jun '12
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Britanicus: He's taking Ed Fulner's position as President of the Heritage Foundation. From an email Heritage sent out today:
1 minute ago
I believe that was mentioned in the first paragraph of the quoted article above...
ConservativeWanderer:
· · 40 minutes ago
Jun '10
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
The rumor on Glenn Beck an hour ago was that Tim Scott leads the list.
Republicans accused of conservative messaging folly. Strong conservative messenger to lead strong conservative organization. Senate gets a conservative African American Republican. If true, to the Beck team, they call it a win-win.
Jul '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Fred Cole: What's his game here?
Does he need the cash? Rats fleeing a sinking ship? Is he getting out in front of a scandal? Does he just hate the job?
There's something more going on here. · 15 minutes ago
Maybe he is sick of politics and politicians.
Jun '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Eeyore: The rumor on Glenn Beck an hour ago was that Tim Scott leads the list.
Republicans accused of conservative messaging folly. Strong conservative messenger to lead strong conservative organization. Senate gets a conservative African American Republican. If true, to the Beck team, they call it a win-win. · 0 minutes ago
If Gov. Haley chooses among the three I mentioned earlier: Scott, Mulvaney, or Gowdy she will also choose their replacement in the House of Representatives. All are strong choices although I'm sure the one that will get the most attention from outside our state will be Tim Scott.
Jun '12
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
DocJay
Fred Cole: What's his game here?
Does he need the cash? Rats fleeing a sinking ship? Is he getting out in front of a scandal? Does he just hate the job?
There's something more going on here. · 15 minutes ago
Maybe he is sick of politics and politicians. · 3 minutes ago
Is that a medical condition, doctor? ;)
May '10
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
DeMint is one of my heroes, to the degree any politician can be. I'm glad to see him honoring his term limit pledge.
The last election made it even clearer that the battle will not be won primarily in the halls of Congress but in the larger cultural and philosophical milieu outside. I hope he will now be better able to bring the fight to where it really needs to be fought.
Jan '12
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Hmm. This is surprising - I always felt secure with DeMint as my state senator. I'm very curious behind this motivation; although, I like all of the replacement ideas.
It does seem sudden...since he's taking over in April? Or would this be a normal amount of time to announce his resignation?
Nov '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
DocJay
Fred Cole: What's his game here?
Does he need the cash? Rats fleeing a sinking ship? Is he getting out in front of a scandal? Does he just hate the job?
There's something more going on here. · 15 minutes ago
Maybe he is sick of politics and politicians. · 2 minutes ago
From what I've heard, indications are that's actually the case -- or, you could say, he really does "just hate the job." He'd already said he didn't want to run again.
Maybe he feels as though he hasn't been able to accomplish much in his goal of electing more conservatives to the Senate, and that it's time for someone else to try.
Possibly he thought that by leaving now he could influence the choice of successor, too, if it's true that he's pushing for Tim Scott -- maybe he thinks that establishing Scott in the Senate would be a good thing for South Carolina.
(The one person who is really happy right now is Nikki Haley.)
Edited on December 6, 2012 at 6:44pmJun '11
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
BTConservative: Hmm. This is surprising - I always felt secure with DeMint as my state senator. I'm very curious behind this motivation; although, I like all of the replacement ideas.
It does seem sudden...since he's taking over in April? Or would this be a normal amount of time to announce his resignation? · 2 minutes ago
He's leaving at the end of this month.
Edited on December 6, 2012 at 6:48pmMay '12
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
After the election, a looking at what is happening with the Fiscal Cliff, and DeMint's own desire to term limit himself ... and the fact that this election was lost due to too much politics and not enough G-D vision, maybe this is better for the Party and the Movement than him staying in the Senate.
Jan '12
Re: Jim DeMint Resigns
Terry
BTConservative: Hmm. This is surprising - I always felt secure with DeMint as my state senator. I'm very curious behind this motivation; although, I like all of the replacement ideas.
It does seem sudden...since he's taking over in April? Or would this be a normal amount of time to announce his resignation? · 2 minutes ago
He's leaving at the end of this month. · 0 minutes ago
That makes sense, then.
Agree with sentiments above. Friends who worked closely with him Greenville and the SC GOP remarked that he is passionate for conservatism, not the people in the political arena.