This news caught me by surprise. Senator Jim DeMint will retire from the Senate in January to head the Heritage Foundation.
Mr. Feulner, who is 71 and planned to step down, is to be named chancellor of Heritage, a new position, and will continue in a part-time capacity as chairman of the foundation’s Asian Studies Center.
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.” Mr. DeMint, who was a market researcher before he entered politics, said he plans to take the Heritage Foundation’s traditional research plus that of think tanks at the state level and “translate those policy papers into real-life demonstrations of things that work.” He said, “We want to figure out what works at the local and state level” and give those models national attention.
Mr. DeMint, an active conservative partisan often at odds with his party’s leadership, says he will “protect the integrity of Heritage’s research and not politicize the policy component. Heritage is not just another grassroots political group.” (Read More)
According to The Daily Caller, The Club for Growth issued the following statement:
“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.“Senator DeMint is a champion of economic freedom, a defender of free markets, and one of the strongest allies the Club for Growth has had in the United States Senate. We wish him nothing but the best in his new role at Heritage.”
I guess DeMint figures that Washington, DC has become such a cesspool that it doesn’t make sense to even stay and try to make a difference.
Update: Linked by The Camp of the Saints – thanks!
Update: DeMint took a parting shot at John Boehner:
“I’m not with Boehner,” DeMint said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.” “This government doesn’t need any more money, this country needs less government.”
Exactly!
As much as this disappoints me I can understand it. I’m sure Senator DeMint is tired of people in the opposition like Mitch McConnell. Maybe at Heritage he can help move conservatives forward for the next generation like Senator Rubio or maybe future Senators, the likes of Paul Ryan or Jason Chaffetz. Who knows?
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LC, I just found your site and have enjoyed reading. Just after the election I began a little blog with only a couple of entries per week myself. http://infomcnow.wordpress.com/. If you get a chance check me out. Sorry to post this here, but your contact info is still out… amazing what some people will do. Keep up the good work, MC.
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Great site, good luck with it!
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McConnell is an establishment republican that didn’t support fiscal conservatives and constitutional principles. That combined with Harry Reid’s THREAT and AGENDA to eliminate Minority Party input with a parliamentary maneuver will effectively marginalize republican voices. Harry Reid has blocked anything productive to Americans the past two years. McConnell hasn’t fought for us.
I liked Jim DeMint. He had an awakening a while back. His presidential primary debate format was the most informational and constructive of them all.
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[...] -The Lonely Conservative: I guess DeMint figures that Washington, DC has become such a cesspool that it doesn’t make sense to even stay and try to make a difference. [...]
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Going Galt
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I love Jim DeMint and I love Tim Scott, who I hope is named to replace him in the Senate. This is a great move. I had no idea what DeMint’s background was, but with Conservatives having to contend with the entire lamestream media (including half of Fox) propagandizing against them, one of the critical needs right now is figuring out how to effectively market Conservative common sense ideas to people who apparently can’t figure out on their own that voting for people like Obama, Reid and Pelosi is neither in their own best interest or in the best interest of our country. (After DeMint solves that one, maybe he can work on the other seemingly insurmountable problem — voter fraud.)
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DC is both a cesspool (Democrats) and a POW camp (Republican) for conservative politicians!
This is indeed a sad day for the citizens of the US who desire smaller government and lower taxes.
Obama’s apostate entitlement programs including ObamaCare will shipwreck us too soon!
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[...] At Noon – Update – It’s Tim ScottDecember 17, 2012By Lonely ConservativeEarlier this month Senator Jim DeMint announced he will resign from the Senate to work at the Heritage Foundation. [...]
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