Thanks to his leadership on "earmark" reform and other issues, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is fast becoming a new hero to conservative Republicans, and this article from the McClatchy newspapers' DC bureau profiles why.
Charlie Black, a prominent Republican lobbyist and former GOP political consultant in Washington, said DeMint's star is clearly on the rise, especially among conservatives. "Jim is what I call a policy activist," Black said. "Policy activates him more than politics or news coverage. He's motivated by the philosophical principles he believes in, and he's not afraid to take on a fight that's unpopular."
Warren Tompkins, a Republican consultant and lobbyist in Columbia, S.C., who worked on DeMint's Senate campaign three years ago, says DeMint "just kind of quietly sneaks up on you, and he does it with the power of ideas," adding that, "there's a big demand for that in America right now. He's quietly working his way up. You'd be making a fatal mistake to underestimate Jim DeMint."
The newspaper article says DeMint's become a de facto GOP leader in the Senate:
DeMint's biggest coup might be his recent selection to head the Republican Steering Committee, a caucus of conservative senators who meet over lunch each week to plan, strategize and brainstorm ideas. The post effectively makes him a GOP Senate leader without a leadership title.
DeMint's rising star with conservatives may impact the 2008 presidential race...
He recently endorsed Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is trying to convince the Republican Party's social conservatives that he's one of them despite things he said and more liberal positions he took more than a decade ago on such issues as abortion and gay marriage.DeMint told the Boston Herald he wrote the letter endorsing Romney after talking or meeting with most of the likely 2008 GOP candidates, saying, "I have not seen people respond to a candidate with the enthusiasm - with the real energy - that I saw them respond to Romney. It was pretty much Reagan-like."
DeMint's endorsement may help Romney in South Carolina, a must-win early primary state where Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina's senior senator, has endorsed John McCain.
You can read DeMint's own thoughts on earmark reform here.
Comment Preview