Quote of the day

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., thinks the Republican Party's appeal is growing.

Published April 28, 2009 10:15PM (EDT)

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative. As such, he's one of those people who's just fine with the shift to the right that his party has taken, even though it did mean the defection of Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter. And in an interview with CNN's Rick Sanchez today, DeMint did his best to put a happy face on Specter's move, which led to this exchange:

SANCHEZ: You know, [Specter] seems to be saying that Republicans are making it very difficult for other Republicans to win because -- and he said this on several times. You tell me what you think of it. You're shrinking the electorate to an extreme to a point where a regular Republican can't win. What do you make of that argument?

DEMINT: Oh, that's quite the opposite. We're seeing across the country right now that the biggest tent of all is the tent of freedom. And what we need to do as Republicans is convince Americans that freedom can work in all areas of their life for every American, whether it's education or health care or creating jobs.

SANCHEZ: What the hell does that mean? I mean, the biggest tent is freedom? Freedom? I mean, you gotta do better than that.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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Jim Demint R-s.c.