(Via Hot Air Headlines) At least, that’s what he’s telling the National Journal:
NJ What is your ambition?
DeMINT My hope is to elect five or 10 more solid conservatives and go home and rock on my front porch.
NJ This is your last term?
DeMINT Yeah. It was not a campaign promise; but that is my plan, that the election last year was my last one. It has always been my plan not to serve more than two terms.
This will disappoint a bunch of people – and probably please a bunch of other people; and in both cases I’d say ‘unreasonably.’ The Republic is larger than any man, including Senator DeMint (which I believe is a statement that he’d be the first to agree with): we’re not going to be doomed because the Senator takes the completely rational view that twelve years in Dizzy City is enough, or more than enough*. The real response here is to make sure ahead of time that, when Sen. DeMint (or any other conservative politician) resigns, there’s a suitable replacement that’s up and ready to go. Or, better yet, a whole slew of replacements.
Put another way: to quote Joe Hill (with malice aforethought), “Don’t mourn me, boys: organize.”
Moe Lane (crosspost)
PS: Senator DeMint has a book out, if you’re into that sort of thing: The Great American Awakening: Two Years that Changed America, Washington, and Me.
*And if we were going to be so doomed, then we’d be doomed anyway – so we might as well get it over with early.
If this is what is presented, then I’d say Jim DeMint has a much greater understanding of what it means to leave a political legacy than nearly all the rest of the VRWC does. Yes, it is true: The Republic is much bigger than one person. However, too many in the VRWC use that truism as a means to justify a “toss-em-in-trash, then get another one to toss in the trash” attitude. “Plug-and-play” cannot work if you avoid the hard, dirty work of coaching and developing the political talent necessary for “plug-and-play” to work correctly.
Jim DeMint, to his credit, understands this. Let’s hope he fully carries out this understanding.
2016, eh? Plenty of time for Nikki Haley to have a successful term, get reelected, and then run for DeMint’s seat.
President?