Tea Party favorite Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) endorsed Mitt Romney four years ago, but this time around he's offering praise for all of the remaining GOP contenders.
"That was a completely different race. I still think he [Romney] was the best candidate four years ago. We've got different people in the race this time," said DeMint on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Thursday.
DeMint, who is speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, touted Santorum's character and ability to reach out to voters, just days after the former Pennsylvania senator's three-state win Tuesday night.
"Rick Santorum, I think is a great guy, strong character, tenacious fighter and that's really what people are looking for right now," DeMint said.
However, DeMint told Fox News that some of the candidates have flip-flopped on issues, including Santorum's position on earmarks, an important issue to the conservative senator.
"When he [Santorum] first started to campaign, he was defending them, but now he's saying he's like DeMint, that he's for an all-out ban. There's just not any place for parochialism when our country's about to go bankrupt," DeMint said Wednesday night on Fox News's "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren."
The senator was quick to point out he wasn't aiming to single out Santorum and added "there's not any finer person" than the former senator.
DeMint also had praise for Rep. Ron Paul's (Texas) limited-government agenda, saying that if his candidacy is ignored, voters will be missing an important part of "what the Republican message needs to be."
And not to leave anyone out, he added, "And of course, Newt is the one with the ideas.
"I think we've got a great package if we can pull them all four together, and I hope that our eventual nominee will ... recognize that there's a reason that all four of these candidates have a lot of supporters," DeMint said.
For more on what "floats DeMint's boat" check out The Hill's GOP12 blog here.
