Jim DeMint to leave US Senate, become Prez of Heritage Foundation

[CountDeMoney]

Adios, dickhead.  You'll fit right in at your new home.

Jim DeMint resigning from Senate to head conservative think tank

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a leading conservative voice in the Senate, will resign his seat in January to become the next president of the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, a sudden move with far-reaching implications.

"It's been an honor to serve the people of South Carolina in the United States Senate for the past eight years, but now it's time for me to pass the torch to someone else and take on a new role in the fight for America's future," DeMint said in a statement Thursday morning.

"I'm leaving the Senate now, but I'm not leaving the fight," he continued. "I've decided to join The Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come."

DeMint's departure comes during a critical moment for the conservative movement and leaves uncertainty among its ranks in the Senate. After the tea party movement left a deep impact on the 2010 midterm elections, its influence faded in 2012. Meanwhile, in Congress, the debate over the "fiscal cliff" is raging, with Democrats pressing Republicans to join them in supporting tax increases for the wealthy, a call which conservatives have decried.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news of DeMint's resignation. DeMint will succeed Ed Feulner, who has been president of the foundation since 1977. Feulner will depart in April.

"This is a crucial moment for America and for the conservative movement — and we are seizing it," said Thomas A. Saunders, chairman of the Heritage Foundation's board. "Ed Feulner has made Heritage not just a permanent institution on Capitol Hill, but the flagship organization of the entire conservative movement."

First elected in 2004 and easily reelected in 2010, DeMint has led the conservative charge in the upper chamber, a role he has embraced and one which has often put him at odds with Republican leadership in the upper chamber.

Seen heading to his office near the Senate chamber Thursday morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not respond to questions about DeMint, keeping to his tradition of ignoring reporter questions while walking the halls.

But McConnell later released a statement thanking DeMint, "for his uncompromising service to South Carolina and our country in the United States Senate. Jim helped provide a powerful voice for conservative ideals in a town where those principles are too often hidden beneath business as usual."

According to a Washington Post analysis of congressional wealth, DeMint is among the poorest members of Congress. His estimated wealth in 2010 was $40,501. He could stand to receive a significant bump in pay in his new position. Feulner's total 2010 compensation package from Heritage was more than $1 million, tax records show.

Finances also may have been a factor in Heritage's decision to bring on DeMint. The group's financial model is built upon a foundation of direct mail to conservative activists, over whom DeMint exercises great influence.

Before joining the Senate, DeMint represented South Carolina's 4th District in the House of Representatives. Before entering politics, DeMint worked in market research, and he told the Wall Street Journal that he is excited about Heritage Foundation research and working to "translate those policy papers into real-life demonstrations of things that work."

Leadership aides said DeMint called McConnell on Thursday morning with his news. DeMint will serve as the boss of McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, the former labor secretary, who is a Heritage distinguished fellow.

The responsibility to fill DeMint's vacancy in the Senate will fall to his state's Republican governor, Nikki Haley. Haley will appoint a replacement to serve until the next general election, in 2014. That means South Carolina will have two Senate elections in 2014, with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R) also up for reelection that year.

Some names that are likely to be tossed around as possible replacements include Rep. Tim Scott, who would become the only black senator and the first black Republican senator since the 1970s, and members of the state's House delegation, which includes Reps. Joe Wilson, Jeff Duncan and Mick Mulvaney.

DeMint privately has told state Republican officials that he wants Scott to succeed him, according to a South Carolina Republican operative with knowledge of the conversations.

"Jim DeMint has said he wants Tim Scott — period," the operative said. "The ball is in Governor Haley's court. Does she go with the status quo and appoint Scott? I think it would be hard not to."

But the operative, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about internal deliberations, said Haley also may appoint a placeholder to serve until the 2014 election; two names under discussion are former attorney general Henry McMaster and former ambassador David Wilkins. That would set off what the operative called "a massive brawl" of a GOP primary for the open seat.

In a statement, Scott said: "I first want to thank Senator DeMint for the tremendous work he has done on behalf of South Carolina and the nation. His commitment to conservative principles leaves a true legacy, and I have greatly enjoyed getting to know and work with him over the past two years. Looking forward, Governor Haley will now appoint a new Senator, and I know she will make the right choice both for South Carolina and the nation."

In the Senate and on the campaign trail, DeMint has charted his own path, which has often agitated fellow Republicans. Through the Senate Conservatives Fund political-action committee he started, DeMint provided financial support to conservative candidates in GOP primaries who ran against establishment-backed Republicans.

During the 2012 cycle, the group's record was mixed. In Texas, it scored a big victory when it backed Ted Cruz, the recently elected senator who won a substantial upset over Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R). In Wisconsin and Nebraska, though, DeMint had less success, backing candidates who wound up losing their primaries. The Senate Conservatives Fund now operates independent of DeMint.

DeMint won praise from conservative leaders Thursday for his work in the Senate. The head of the Club For Growth, an anti-tax organization that has often been at odds with Republican leadership, lauded DeMint's work and wished him well in his next endeavor.

"Senator DeMint has done more to advance the cause of freedom and liberty in Congress than anyone else since his election," said Club for Growth president Chris Chocola in a statement congratulating the senator. "We wish him nothing but the best in his new role at Heritage."

"Senator Jim DeMint will be sorely missed as a leading voice in the Senate for limited government and spending restraint," said Tim Phillips, president of the conservative group Americans For Prosperity. "While he will be missed in the Senate, the conservative movement and The Heritage Foundation have gained a strong new voice and brilliant leader."

[derspiess]

Dang.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, I know that just breaks your heart.
Don't worry, it's South Carolina.  Plenty more where he came from.

[Valmy]

“Senator DeMint has done more to advance the cause of freedom and liberty in Congress than anyone else since his election,” said Club for Growth president Chris Chocola in a statement congratulating the senator. “We wish him nothing but the best in his new role at Heritage.”

Is this the day freedom died?

[CountDeMoney]

What Jim DeMint's resignation says about him, the Senate and the conservative movement
By Chris Cillizza , Updated: December 6, 2012
washingtonpost.com

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's resignation to take over as the president of the Heritage Foundation stunned the political world on Thursday and, in the process, raised a series of fascinating questions about his future, the Senate and the future of the conservative movement.

"It's a creative, innovative move, and demonstrative of the newer way of thinking about how to use new tools today to move an agenda, where service in government is just one way, but not the only way, to drive the conversation," said Eric Ueland, a former Senate chief of staff and now a lobbyist with the Duberstein Group.

That way of thinking marks a sea change from even a decade ago when the idea of DeMint abandoning his relatively prime perch in the Senate — he had built a sort of conservative hub within the GOP conference — to head a think tank (even one that pays as well as Heritage) would have seemed unthinkable.

But, the past decade has shown the influence that figures outside of elected office — Rush Limbaugh, Grover Norquist to name two — can have on the shape and direction of the conservative movement.  Serving in the House or Senate is no longer — in a world of social media, 24 hour cable news heavily focused on politics and online grassroots organizing — the sine qua non for a conservative wanting to push his (or her) ideas on a national level. 

"He sees his role now as working with the grassroots on the outside to bring out real change in Washington," said Matt Hoskins, a longtime political adviser to DeMint who now runs the Senate Conservatives Fund, a super PAC once affiliated with the South Carolina senator. "It also means that Republicans have a strong leader on the outside to support them when they do what's right and hold them accountable when they don't."

Those who know DeMint say the move from the inside to the outside is broadly consistent with his career — both before he won elected office in 1998 and during his time in the House and Senate. DeMint was a small businessman prior to winning the Upstate 4th district in 1998 and, particularly during his time in the Senate — where he was elected in 2004 — he focused less on legislating than cultivating the conservative movement from the ground up.

"It's no secret that he spent much more time on grassroots advocacy and campaigns than he did on legislating," said one senior Republican Senate aide granted anonymity to speak candidly. "He clearly was not drawn towards the nuts and bolts of lawmaking."

What, ultimately, will DeMint's Senate legacy look like? That depends on what you think of DeMint.

His allies insist that he did nothing short of transform the Republican Senate conference from a center-right body into a conservative one — thanks to the election of the likes of Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Lee (Utah), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) to name a few. DeMint was a strong supporter of all four candidates and funneled super PAC money to their campaigns.

DeMint hinted at just that in his statement announcing his plans to step aside. "Now it's time for me to pass the torch to someone else and take on a new role in the fight for America's future," DeMint said.

Added conservative blogger Erick Erickson in an email message to supporters: "Without Jim DeMint we would most likely not presently have in the United States Senate Pat Toomey, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, Jeff Flake, Ron Johnson, and Ted Cruz. We would not have a Republican establishment that now worries conservatives might actually primary them."

For those less favorably inclined to DeMint, his Senate legacy will be defined by defeats in places like Nevada, Indiana and Delaware where the South Carolina senator played an integral role in supporting the more conservative candidate who won the GOP nomination but lost the seat to a Democrat in the general election campaign.

Regardless of where you come down on what DeMint meant to the Senate, it's quite clear that what the departure means for his own political future will be debated and discussed for weeks and months to come.

While DeMint's decision to step aside from the Senate immediately stoked talk of whether he was burnishing his outsider credentials for a possible presidential bid down the line, Hoskins poured cold water on that notion. "I don't think he has any plans to run for public office in the future," Hoskins said.

Time will tell.  But, it's hard to imagine DeMint fading into obscurity any time soon.

[garbon]

So he sounds like and embodiment of what is wrong with the Republican party (apart from his ability to make things happen).

[Valmy]

But, the past decade has shown the influence that figures outside of elected office — Rush Limbaugh, Grover Norquist to name two — can have on the shape and direction of the conservative movement.

Rush?  He has been around for about 30 years and his best days were not this  past decade.  Ah well.

[merithyn]

"Senator DeMint has done more to advance the cause of freedom and liberty in Congress than anyone else since his election," said Club for Growth president Chris Chocola in a statement congratulating the senator. "We wish him nothing but the best in his new role at Heritage."

Is this the day freedom died?

Just the freedoms that Senator DeMint thinks he can trust you with. Not all of them, because, well, the Republican Party isn't sure it can trust you with some things like who you should marry, when you should have children, etc.

[jimmy olsen]

So, Tim Scott is the odds on favorite?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/12/06/tim_scott_jim_demint_south_carolina_house_member_seen_as_likely_successor.html

[Sheilbh]

So he sounds like and embodiment of what is wrong with the Republican party (apart from his ability to make things happen).

I think so.  What's more without DeMint and DeMint approved candidates winning primaries, the Republicans would probably be running the Senate now.

[DGuller]

But, it's hard to imagine DeMint fading into obscurity any time soon.

[11B4V]

Maybe He, Rove and Norris can all stroke themselves in their little world.

[Caliga]

Now it's Alvin Greene's time to shine!

[Razgovory]

Dang.

Yeah, if he stayed in office the Dems could win even more elections.

[derspiess]

Dang.

Yeah, if he stayed in office the Dems could win even more elections.

Like in 2010?