Salon.com > Jim DeMint

Tim Scott named as Jim DeMint’s replacement

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:02:00 +0000

Nikki Haley has chosen Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to replace Sen. Jim DeMint when he steps down in January to head up the Heritage Foundation.

The New York Times' Caucus blog reports that three Republican officials say that Scott will take the spot, making him the first black senator from the South since the late 1800s -- and the only black senator in Congress.

From the Times:

Ms. Haley seriously considered a number of potential contenders, particularly Jenny Sanford, the ex-wife of former Gov. Mark Sanford, who supported Ms. Haley in her race two years ago. But in choosing Mr. Scott, she selected a lawmaker with a strong conservative voting record during his two years in Congress.

Nikki Haley dashes Colbert’s Senate dreams

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 18:47:00 +0000

Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C., shot down Stephen Colbert's dreams of replacing Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., joking that it was because "You didn't know our state drink. Big, big mistake."

In a Facebook post, Haley, addressed the calls for Colbert to replace Sen. Jim DeMint, who announced last week that he was leaving his seat in January to take a job as chair of the Heritage Foundation. Haley, who must appoint DeMint's successor until a special election can be held in 2014, wrote in the post:

Stephen, thank you for your interest in South Carolina's U.S. Senate seat and for the thousands of tweets you and your fans sent me.

But you forget one thing, my friend.

You didn't know our state drink. Big, big mistake.

Haley was referring to her April appearance on The Colbert Report, when Stephen didn't know that milk was the state's official drink. Haley, for her part, was stumped by Colbert's question about the state amphibian - the spotted salamander.

Jim DeMint: The right’s new kingmaker

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 12:59:00 +0000

In the Washington media, there is a well-established tradition of respecting what I've long called the No Money Rule. Simply put, in the day-to-day coverage of politics, D.C. reporters tend to avoid focusing on the power of money over both parties, knowing that openly mentioning that influence is seen as uncouth in Washington's elite circles. It is viewed this way because talking about corporate cash, campaign contributions and corruption exposes politics for what it really is: not some high-minded intellectual exchange, not an honorable debate between statesmen, not even a competitive sport between ideological players, but instead a hideous greed-driven melee between moneyed interests -- one enabled by both parties and, quite often, much of the media itself.

Because of this No Money Rule, then, nobody should be surprised that there was almost no mention in any of the media of the real news behind Jim DeMint's announcement that he is leaving the U.S. Senate to head the Heritage Foundation. And that real news is this: His announcement is perhaps 2012's most biting message yet about the supremacy of money in American politics. Yes, even in a year whose presidential race was utterly dominated by super PAC special interest cash, nothing tells the story of where the true authority in politics lies than a sitting senator leaving a top post in the national government to lead a corporate-funded think tank.

Nikki Haley: I won’t appoint Stephen Colbert to Senate

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:01:00 +0000

South Carolina's governor appears to have closed the door on appointing Stephen Colbert to the U.S. Senate, all because the comedian didn't know the state drink was milk.

During "The Colbert Report" on Thursday, Colbert urged his fans to send Gov. Nikki Haley messages on Twitter with the hashtag "SenatorColbert" telling her why he would make a great senator from his home state. Haley is appointing a senator after Jim DeMint announced he is resigning at the end of the year.

Colbert, who plays a mock conservative pundit on his Comedy Central show, also gave Haley four reasons he was the perfect choice.

"You want somebody young, somebody conservative, somebody from South Carolina, maybe somebody who had a super PAC," Colbert said, ticking off the choices by putting down a finger until the final one was left pointing at himself.

"Wait a second," Colbert said, as his crowd cheered.

Thousands of messages poured into the governor's official Twitter account. She responded on her favorite social media site, Facebook, writing on her page that she appreciated Colbert's interest and all the tweets.

Will the GOP ever get serious?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Here we go again.

We just managed to get through a campaign in which the Republican candidate’s idea of innovation was to hold a convention themed around an out-of-context quote from his opponent. But we knew Mitt Romney was at his heart a manager, not a policy innovator. So maybe it will be better next time, with new candidates such as Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan. Right?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Of course, there’s still plenty of time for innovative conservative ideas. Hey, don’t laugh. Ronald Reagan campaigned on a whole book full of policy options, and as recently as 2000, George W. Bush really did feature new ideas in his campaign.

But neither John McCain nor Mitt Romney had any interest in such things – and judging from the three proto-candidates who rolled out their “ideas” this week, it looks as if Republican politicians these days don’t even remember what actual policy ideas look like.

Jim DeMint, failure

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:26:00 +0000

In the Bizarro World of Beltway media, up can be down and down up, especially when it comes to what's good for Republicans and Democrats. Most political developments, even positive ones, are spun as particularly challenging for Democrats; disasters can wind up being depicted as opportunities or even glory when they befall Republicans.

Such is the coverage of Sen. Jim DeMint's departure from the U.S. Senate to take over the Heritage Foundation. So many words have been spent on this news. I hadn't planned on weighing in, but after watching all the ways it's being spun as some kind of victory for DeMint and the Tea Party, I had to say: Enough!

What Jim DeMint figured out

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:00:00 +0000

It says something about the state of the conservative movement and the Republican Party that Jim DeMint’s power won’t wane at all – and, in fact, might even grow – as he leaves the U.S. Senate to run the Heritage Foundation.

To be sure, there was a time a few years back when DeMint’s stature and visibility was dependent on his Senate service. His initial victory in 2004 lifted him from the obscurity of the House to a perch from which he could attract attention from the conservative movement and the national press corps. And he exploited that opportunity for all it was worth, positioning himself as an ideological purist and playing the role of conscientious objector when his fellow Republicans sold out conservative principles (as he understands them). Active involvement in Republican primary races around the country grew out of this, with DeMint launching the Senate Conservatives Fund to provide political and financial support to fellow true believers, even – or especially – if they were up against candidates with substantial establishment support.

Dumb tweet of the day: “Ram an American flag”

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 22:03:00 +0000

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Colbert taunts the Internet, says he’s open to replacing DeMint

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:55:00 +0000

In news that is probably too much to hope for, Stephen Colbert says he is not ruling out replacing Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., should Nikki Haley come calling.

"Stephen is honored by the groundswell of support from the Palmetto State and looks forward to Governor Haley's call," Carrie Byalick, Colbert's personal publicist, wrote in an email to Mother Jones.

DeMint announced today that he will step down from his seat in January to run the conservative Heritage Foundation, meaning that Gov. Nikki Haley will have to appoint someone to replace him until a special election can be held in 2014.

In response, a Twitter feed, @ColbertforSC, popped up to encourage Colbert to run. The account, and accompanying website, is not affiliated with Colbert.

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In the past, Colbert, a native of South Carolina, has twice tried to run for president, first in 2007 and then again 2012.

Tea Partyer cuts and runs

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Prominent conservative Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is stepping down from his seat to head up the conservative Heritage Foundation, the Wall Street Journal reports.

DeMint will leave in early January, meaning that it will be up to South Carolina's Republican Gov. Nikki Haley to appoint a successor, who will have to run in a special election in 2014. DeMint was reelected in 2010, but already announced he wouldn't seek another term.

From the Journal:

In an interview preceding the succession announcement, Sen. DeMint said he is taking the Heritage job because he sees it as a vehicle to popularize conservative ideas in a way that connects with a broader public. "This is an urgent time," the senator said, "because we saw in the last election we were not able to communicate conservative ideas that win elections."

"This really gets my blood going again thinking about the possibilities. This is the time to elevate the conservative cause," he told the Post.

Quote of the day: “Thugs”

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:21:00 +0000

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint joked around at the Values Voter Summit about how easily he gets confused by protesters:

“You know, we had a lot of bad news this week,” DeMint said. “On my way over, I was reading another story about a distant place where thugs had put 400,000 children out in the streets. And then I realized that was a story of the Chicago teachers strike. But we’ve got to think of good things.”

Via ThinkProgress.

Tea Party shields tax dodgers

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 16:30:00 +0000

The U.S. Treasury believes that it can generate $8.7 billion in revenue over the next 10 years by cracking down on Americans who dodge taxes by parking cash overseas. Some Republican senators, including a couple of Tea Party renowned -- Rand Paul and Jim DeMint -- are criticizing the plan, complaining that the new rules will raise operating costs for banks.

In Paul and DeMint's perfect world, there would be no taxes at all. And we know that the standard conservative argument to deflect regulation is to argue that "burdensome" rules raise costs. So it's not hugely surprising to see the two conservative icons rally against the Treasury on an issue that combines both taxation and regulation.

But let's break this down a little bit more. Bank misbehavior and irresponsibility wiped out trillions of dollars of American wealth, forcing millions of Americans out of their homes and jobs. Fixing the damage is costing the U.S. government a lot of money. If one way to find the cash necessary to do things like pay for unemployment benefits requires banks to do a little extra paperwork, is that really so bad? As far as I can tell, populist Tea Partyers hate Wall Street just as much as any Occupy activist. It just doesn't ring true: Give me liberty, or give me death, and, oh, by the way, keep the regulatory burden on multinational banks low so that they can help the richest Americans avoid paying taxes.

Tea Party torpedoes Law of Sea Treaty

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:22:00 +0000

What if there were a piece of legislation in Congress today that had broad bipartisan support along with the strong backing of the military and the most powerful business interests in the country? That seems almost unheard of in today’s polarized world, so it should sail through Congress, right? Well, 34 senators, led by Tea Party hero Jim DeMint of South Carolina, effectively killed it last night. The Law of the Sea Treaty (which goes by the unfortunate acronym LOST) would codify a host of international navigational, territorial and mineral exploration rules that the country has abided by since the Reagan administration. But a faction of Tea Party senators have secured enough opposition to stop the treaty before it even makes it to the Senate floor.

Treaties need a two-thirds vote of the Senate to be ratified, and after Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte -- both potential vice-presidential picks for Mitt Romney -- signed on to the opposition yesterday, DeMint gleefully declared, “34 Senators now oppose LOST, sinking the misguided treaty."