2010 elections

Jim DeMint: Picking Horses Is About More Than Primaries

Christina Bellantoni | September 17, 2010, 11:50AM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Sen. Jim DeMint says he'd rather be in the minority with a bunch of rock-ribbed conservatives than be part of a ruling group of RINOs. He might just get his chance.

Some Senate Republicans have been privately trashing DeMint, whose track record with his Senate Conservatives Fund endorsing long-shot conservatives in this year's tough GOP primaries has been better than leadership's. The argument among some -- in very quiet whispers -- is that DeMint is not their kind of Republican and his candidates might have blown the GOP's chances at retaking the Senate this fall.

It only bubbled to the surface in news reports after this week's stunning Delaware race in which Christine O'Donnell shellacked Rep. Mike Castle, prompting analysts to shift the state back into the Democratic column from the likely Republican pickup it would have been with the far more moderate Castle as the nominee.

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