This time the Politico is reporting on Senator Inhofe’s attacks. Inhofe, occasionally rated as the most conservative senator in Washington, uses that label with pride to give cover to his huge porkfest.
As we’ve seen repeatedly, earmarks always lead to bigger government. Inhofe, betraying his “most conservative” label, just the other day sided with the Democrats on their jobs bill solely because it funneled gobs of money into Inhofe’s pet program — the highway trust fund.
Republican senators running to the Politico to anonymously attack Jim DeMint is as regular an earthly occurrence as the sun rising in the east. It is also part of their stages of grief as they realize their political capital is dwindling while DeMint’s is rising.
First they denied DeMint was relevant.
“The only one who cares about Jim DeMint’s opinion is Jim DeMint. He’s not burdened with having to win races,” said a senior Senate aide.
His endorsements don’t matter.
A GOP strategist, however, said the latest endorsement by DeMint “means absolutely nothing” in Texas and only serves to further the Democratic narrative that Republicans are at war for the future of their party.
Then the new attack became only crazy RedState readers know anything about Jim DeMint and the rest of the world doesn’t care for him.
“Oftentimes some forget that while Jim DeMint may have a small universe of followers who read RedState, the reality is that the vast majority of Americans, including in Florida, don’t have the slightest idea who Jim DeMint is.”
Now Jim DeMint is a selfish press hound who people should ignore.
But even as most in the party concede they lost their way during the Bush years, the mere mention of DeMint’s name in the Capitol is enough to get GOP eyes rolling. The common view, which no official will voice publicly, for fear of giving the South Carolinian a higher profile, is that DeMint is a caucus of one who relies upon old tricks to draw notice.
All from mostly anonymous aides. A good number have come from the NRSC. Meanwhile, DeMint-style candidates are surging across the nation.
Folks, we need to get Jim DeMint some real allies and friends in the Senate. We need to get him some comrades in arms who will not run off to the Politico to attack him.
We can change our side and we must if we want to change Americans’ opinion that the GOP is tired, out of ideas, and corrupt. We know we are better than the other side, but when our side cannot clean up its own house, we cannot sell ourselves successfully to the American people. We must and can do better. We need more Jim DeMint-style conservatives.