And beyond:

GOP incumbents, DeMint warns, should pay close attention to what is happening around the country. Even if there is a Republican sweep, he says, “many Americans fear that senior members of our party will go back to focusing on getting earmarks for their states, that we will betray them again. But with ten to 15 new allies in the Senate, which I think we’ll have, that will not be tolerated any more.”
Even if conservatives make major gains, DeMint says, he will not challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in a Senate leadership contest. Still, he pledges that he will do his best to change the direction of the party with the help of however many new colleagues he may have. But don’t expect him to try to corral freshman Republicans into a DeMint bloc — “I’d like to throw that idea into the trash can,” he says. “It’s simply not true. These candidates are leaders in their own right. I’m supporting them, because they’re not running on some consultant’s talking points. They’re running on principle.” Jockeying for a leadership position, he says, is not his focus. “What I’m interested in is turning this country away from its fiscal cliff — and for the first time since Reagan, I think that we have a chance for real action, not just political posturing.”

More from his NRO interview here.