The conservative senator makes a final decision:
The presidential primary in South Carolina has intensified and my name is being tossed around a lot.
I have complimented several of our candidates when they spoke out on conservative issues, but the media has suggested that I favor one over the others.
I’m writing today to make sure you know exactly where I stand.
I do not have a favorite in this race and I will not endorse a candidate.
I’ve gotten to know each of the candidates over the past year and they are all far superior to Obama. My view reflects what I’ve heard from Republican voters across South Carolina who remain divided in this race.
For those of you in South Carolina, I encourage you to watch the Fox News debate tonight and vote this Saturday for the candidate you believe will fight the hardest to stop the massive spending, bailouts, and debt that are bankrupting our country. We need a president with the courage to tell Americans that our government must do less, not more.
The 2012 elections could be our last chance to restore America’s greatness so we must defeat President Obama and elect more conservative leaders to the House and Senate.
Please continue to pray for our country and the year ahead. Our future depends on it.
For Freedom,
Jim DeMint
United States Senator
Yeah, this South Carolinian is in the same boat.
My choices seem to be down to a protest write in (Jindal, or perhaps "None of the above") or just not bothering because it falls on a Saturday when we should be celebrating our anniversary.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOops, forgot that you have to be out of the country, not just the state, to vote absentee (you can't vote write-in otherwise in a primary, unless they've changed that).
Hrm. Commit vote fraud or just ignore the various degrees of unacceptable? Since I'm not a Dem, sounds like an easy choice.
(Captcha: "Easy as cake")
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn other words, "vote Romney". Or, the conservative alternatives to Romney all stink, but I can't endorse Romney because he's too moderate, but he's the only guy that can beat Obama.
That's what it says to me anyway.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTells me that Santorum's endorsement of Specter and abandoning of conservative principles in the name of party unity will almost certainly cost him SC.
You're forgetting that DeMint and Pat Toomey have been close allies (even if Toomey hasn't been as conservative as billed).
Romney's swerved back to the left this election after the rightward feint in 2008, which has cost him DeMint's endorsement. Sadly, a quarter or more of GOPers seem eager to reward that.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFrom my viewpoint, Romney is situated in exactly the same position as he was in 2008. The party has moved right. The Dem party has moved left. The middle is a lot wider and we need them to win.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWill Demint vote on Saturday or is he going to skip?
Captcha: 'sorry sight'
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNot a profile-in-courage moment for Senator DeMint.
One can endorse X without dumping on Y; one can say that we have more than one great candidate. Still, life requires choices. Leadership, especially, requires choices.
Refusing to choose seems to me a statement that one is more interested in protecting one's own influence than in using it as a leader.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOr that one finds all candidates equally incompatible with one's core principles.
Really, accusing DeMint (of all people) of wanting to "protect his own influence" tells more about the one raising that charge than DeMint. He may be the only conservative in government who puts principle above party on a consistent basis.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd yet DeMint endorsed Mitt Romney for President in 2008. What has changed?
It's funny that Romney was the "movement conservative" of 2008, with people like Rush Limbaugh endorsing him, but now he's some sort of evil closet socialist if you hear him now,
It says more about how silly many in the conservative movement are than it says about Mitt Romney, and that much of this is just chest beating to stay relevant.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy is it a "lack of courage" to refuse to endorse anyone because no one in the field meets your standards? That's principle, not cowardice. But I can see why you in Romneybot land would mistake the two.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDeMint is playing it smart from his point of view by assuring his place in the "told you so" line after Romney loses in November.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDeMint is lying he has supported Romney from the beginning. He's now afraid to hurt his own career
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhew! Finally! I've been all sixes-and-sevens waiting to know Jim DeMint's preferred candidate. Now I can feel free to support whomever I want!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd yet DeMint was able to find enough good reasons to endorse Christine O'Donnell for the Senate, but not a GOP Presidential candidate in a crucial election in his own backyard?
I like DeMint, and I think it's obvious he'd like to endorse Romney this time around (especially since he already did so in 2008) but he's afraid his base will call him a sell out.
I wouldn't call his decision a profile in courage, it's a little spineless. I'd like to think though if it looked like a neck and neck race with Romney and Gingrich, he'd stick his neck out, but since Romney looks to win SC with ease, he's staying out of it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"I think it's obvious he'd like to endorse Romney this time around"
I think it's obvious that he wouldn't.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn an a fit of hope, I'm going to do something wild: I'm going to take Jim De Mint at his word. My feelings this cycle are not unlike his, but without the obviou baggage and pressure. I supported Romney last time around, only to be disappointed in numerous ways. I support exactly no one this time out and am prepared for our almost inevitable loss.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseVery pleased that DeMint did not cave in to the backroom desperate pressure from establishment Republicans to endorse Romney. He held firm.
All of us recognize why DeMint and Rush endorsed Romney three years ago -- a desperate attempt to stave off the dreadful McCain in an appalling field. Fortunately we have others to choose from now as opposed to choosing the best amongst the various non-conservatives.
Thank you DeMint!
I intend to vote for whichever of Gingrich or Santorum is next in polling to Romney and most of my friends will do the same.
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