Satan
12-06-2012, 02:11 PM
Republican Jim DeMint quits Senate to head rightwing thinktank
Tea Party favourite joins Heritage Foundation in further sign that extreme wing of GOP is weakened after heavy election defeat
Richard Adams in Washington and Adam Gabbatt in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 December 2012 11.11 EST
South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint has announced that he is resigning from Congress, in the latest signal that the Tea Party influence over the Republican party is beginning to wane.
DeMint, an outspoken fiscal and social conservative, said he would step down to become the head of right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation. His exit is likely to be felt in the fiscal cliff negotiations and in the continued repositioning of the GOP.
"I've decided to join the Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas," he said in a statement. "My constituents know that being a senator was never going to be my career." He will receive a $1m salary.
DeMint, 61, made a name for himself as an unyielding voice in opposition to taxes and spending within the Republican party, frequently excoriating his own side for any signs of compromise. Just this week he made a savage attack on the Republican House offer to avert the fiscal cliff.
Born and raised in South Carolina, DeMint was re-elected to a second term as the state's junior senator in the 2010 midterms, an election period which is looking increasingly like a high-water mark for the Tea Party. A raft of staunch conservatives won election that year – many of them backed by DeMint himself.
But in November the extreme conservative wing of the Republican Party was weakened as a succession of right-wing candidates lost winnable seats.
"This is an urgent time," DeMint said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news on Thursday. "Because we saw in the last election we were not able to communicate conservative ideas that win elections."
Thomas A Saunders, chairman of the board of the Heritage Foundation, saiid DeMint had shown "that principled conservatism remains a winning political philosophy".
Saunders added: "His passion for rigorous research, his dedication to the principles of our nation's founding, and his ability to translate policy ideas into action make him an ideal choice to lead Heritage to even greater success."
During the 2012 election DeMint was one of the few Republicans to endorse Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin's after his comments on "legitimate rape" were widely condemned. Akin ultimately lost. DeMint had previously been criticised for saying gay people and unmarried mothers should be banned from teaching positions.
DeMint has become a kingmaker within Republican conservative circles in recent years but his decision to leave Congress is a further sign that the extreme conservative wing of the Republican party is weakened in the wake of the 2012 elections.
Earlier this week, House Republican leaders conducted a mini-purge of hardline conservatives, with speaker John Boehner warning that colleagues who challenged the party from the right could expect similar treatment.
Without DeMint to rally the flagging forces of reaction within Congress, the chances of Republicans and the White House coming to a sensible and timely agreement on tax and spending to avert the fiscal cliff is likely to be strengthened.
It may also be a sign that the Republican party nationally has accepted the need to moderate its image and its policies if it wants to regain the White House after two successive heavy defeats.
Tea Party favourite joins Heritage Foundation in further sign that extreme wing of GOP is weakened after heavy election defeat
Richard Adams in Washington and Adam Gabbatt in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 December 2012 11.11 EST
South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint has announced that he is resigning from Congress, in the latest signal that the Tea Party influence over the Republican party is beginning to wane.
DeMint, an outspoken fiscal and social conservative, said he would step down to become the head of right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation. His exit is likely to be felt in the fiscal cliff negotiations and in the continued repositioning of the GOP.
"I've decided to join the Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas," he said in a statement. "My constituents know that being a senator was never going to be my career." He will receive a $1m salary.
DeMint, 61, made a name for himself as an unyielding voice in opposition to taxes and spending within the Republican party, frequently excoriating his own side for any signs of compromise. Just this week he made a savage attack on the Republican House offer to avert the fiscal cliff.
Born and raised in South Carolina, DeMint was re-elected to a second term as the state's junior senator in the 2010 midterms, an election period which is looking increasingly like a high-water mark for the Tea Party. A raft of staunch conservatives won election that year – many of them backed by DeMint himself.
But in November the extreme conservative wing of the Republican Party was weakened as a succession of right-wing candidates lost winnable seats.
"This is an urgent time," DeMint said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news on Thursday. "Because we saw in the last election we were not able to communicate conservative ideas that win elections."
Thomas A Saunders, chairman of the board of the Heritage Foundation, saiid DeMint had shown "that principled conservatism remains a winning political philosophy".
Saunders added: "His passion for rigorous research, his dedication to the principles of our nation's founding, and his ability to translate policy ideas into action make him an ideal choice to lead Heritage to even greater success."
During the 2012 election DeMint was one of the few Republicans to endorse Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin's after his comments on "legitimate rape" were widely condemned. Akin ultimately lost. DeMint had previously been criticised for saying gay people and unmarried mothers should be banned from teaching positions.
DeMint has become a kingmaker within Republican conservative circles in recent years but his decision to leave Congress is a further sign that the extreme conservative wing of the Republican party is weakened in the wake of the 2012 elections.
Earlier this week, House Republican leaders conducted a mini-purge of hardline conservatives, with speaker John Boehner warning that colleagues who challenged the party from the right could expect similar treatment.
Without DeMint to rally the flagging forces of reaction within Congress, the chances of Republicans and the White House coming to a sensible and timely agreement on tax and spending to avert the fiscal cliff is likely to be strengthened.
It may also be a sign that the Republican party nationally has accepted the need to moderate its image and its policies if it wants to regain the White House after two successive heavy defeats.