DeMint Doesn't Sound Like a Candidate for President in 2012
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is in the discussion as a potential GOP presidential candidate in three years, especially since he gained national publicity for saying that healthcare reform could be President Obama's "Waterloo" and could "break" him. And he's making the rounds promoting his new book Saving Freedom which talks about what he sees as creeping socialism threatening to destroy our country. But when my colleague Andrew Burt asked him about a 2012 run, he didn't sound like he's preparing a run:
When you put all your ideas down in a book, you're less likely to be able to endure a campaign--they'll take a lot of things out of context on you. For me, the big battle between socialism and freedom comes down to this healthcare issue.
Of course as DeMint well knows writing a book is a fairly common precursor to a presidential run. Perhaps he's less worried that his ideas will be taken out of context than that they'll be taken seriously? You can read the entire interview in the current issue of our weekly digital edition.
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Tags: Jim DeMint
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Reader Comments
This needs to stop
Why does everyone take Republicans running for President so seriously? John Ensign has an affair, so he is " no longer a viable candidate", when was he ever? Jim Demint is not a person people want to see as president. His views are anti working class and his demeanor puts him into a class all of his own. Stop the speculating, wait until after 2010.
DeMint is right
You cannot stake your purpose in life on opposing health care reform and expect to be elected president. All those voters?
Uh, most of them know they're in deep trouble with the present "system"--especially any of them swimming in the private sector. The business owners know it. The employees know it. They're not gonna vote for DeMint on that score. Book or no book.
If Sarah Palin jumps out in the next few days and likewise makes a campaign against health reform, she will suffer the same problem. We'll see.
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