Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is highly critical of John McCain, not for what you think--that he ran a bad campaign, that he picked Sarah Palin, that he allowed hate speech at his and especially, Palin's rallies--oh, no. He is upset that John McCain has betrayed conservative principles. Does he really think a Republican would have won the election if only he had been more conservative? It's like reality is a far off dimension for the likes of DeMint. George Bush has probably soiled the conservative brand for a generation or more by allowing himself to be used by the neo-cons who in turn prodded him into a disasterous war that has caused the greatest spending spree in our history using funds the country does not have, thus turning conservatism on its "fiscal responsibility" head. Additionally, DeMint appears to want little or no governmental regulation. We, as taxpayers, have already been held up by the modern-day robber barrons who have run amok and have transferred so much wealth that, if we didn't have leadership and policy changes such as those Obama can provide to try to "redistribute the wealth" (no, that is not a dirty term,) we would be on the verge of having a tiny percentage of the population extraordinarily rich and the rest fairly to very poor. A healthy middle class is what makes a robust economy and thriving country.
According to CNN, what follows are some of the complaints from DeMint about McCain. I guess these McCain stances do not conform enough to DeMint's isolationist, backward-looking, exceptionalist ideas of what he envisions the United States to be and how it should function:
"McCain, who is proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver's seat," DeMint said. "His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn't fit the label, but he was our package."