Some people seem to think it's a smart move for the enfant terrible of the Tea Party, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, to quit the Senate and take the helm at the Heritage Foundation. The thinking seems to be it will give him a platform to be an even bigger enforcer of conservative purity than he can be in the Senate, where he rubs many of his colleagues the wrong way. Look at what Grover Norquist has been able to do outside public office.
Perhaps, but my take is different. I see little else but a cut and run. DeMint doesn't like the prospect of being in the minority without any of the privileges and power of a committee chairmanship. He does like the prospect of making a million dollars-plus. It's hard to see this as anything other than a sell-out. Ultimately, a senator has power that is very real. There are only a hundred of them and they make the laws, they shape the laws and they exert their influence in a myriad of ways because they can do that. It's not something to give up lightly.
To me it's a signal that DeMint realizes the game is lost. He is just the first rat off the sinking ship. It is the country's gain.
No comments:
Post a Comment