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Sen. DeMint tells conservatives tough primary will help GOP
A competitive GOP primary will help Republicans, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) told grassroots conservatives on Thursday.
DeMint, a Tea Party favorite, said the competitive primary would help Republicans nominate a stronger nominee to take on President Obama.
Mitt Romney is the front-runner for the nomination, but he was beaten in three different contests Tuesday night by Rick Santorum, who has promised to take the fight to Romney in Michigan.
The defeats for Romney highlighted continued unease among conservatives with his candidacy.
DeMint, who endorsed Romney in 2008, praised all of the candidates, and said that no matter which one won, "that nominee is going to be conservative and talk about our ideas."
DeMint offered plenty of red meat to a delighted CPAC crowd.
"Our country has never been in as much trouble as we're in today, and i'm not exaggerating," he said, warning of burgeoning debt and a top-down government. He framed the difference between Republicans and Democrats as "the difference in philosophy between a free people and people who believe in more centralized power."
He also slammed any compromise with Democrats, comparing that to the New York Giants and the New England Patriots trying to compromise during the Super Bowl. DeMint's calls for a refusal to compromise with Democrats drew strong applause from the crowd.
"Compromise works well when you have shared goals," he said. "We don't have shared goals with the Democrats, folks ... every time we compromise with Democrats, we spend more."
He also said Obama could get no credit for recent indicators that the economy is improving. "There is nothing this president has done that makes this economy better," he said. "This president is grasping at straws, trying to take credit for what the American people are doing."
The line drew strong applause.
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