Clements Thanks Voters: End of the campaign means beginning of new efforts

The 2010 elections are over, but the fight against corporate big-government politics goes on. Jim DeMint handily won his reelection with a little over 60% of the vote without bothering to campaign in South Carolina. Two bright spots are evident in the results from this election. Most of the candidates backed by DeMint failed in the general election, so the millions he raised to delude the public were dollars down the drain. And 121,000 South Carolinians made a conscious choice to vote for credible progressive candidate Tom Clements over DeMint and the irrelevant Democrat.

The Clements Campaign took out an ad in the November 24 Columbia Free Times to thank its supporters and, maybe more importantly, to announce that the struggle against DeMint’s politics will continue.

The Tom Clements For Senate Campaign thanks its supporters and announces that Jim DeMint is still on watch in the November 24 issue of the Columbia Free Times.

One thing that became apparent in the run up to the November 2 election: you can’t take down an entrenched incumbent like Jim DeMint without a full movement opposing his policies and proposing new ones. Consider the relative weakness of his opposition his opponents received relatively high returns:

Final returns from South Carolina's 2010 race for U.S. Senate. Source: http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/19077/40477/en/summary.html

About 38% of all South Carolina voters are definitely opposed to DeMint.  Given that the Clements campaign ran for about $50,000 and that Alvin Greene ran no campaign at all, there is a real depth of opposition to DeMint and his policies.

The Free Times ad points out only one of DeMint’s weaknesses: his nonstop talk about cutting the budget without offering any plans for government spending.   With the Great Recession stretching on, sitting politicians like DeMint will be required to put up or shut up about spending priorities: will DeMint work to guarantee Social Security or will he send tax dollars to fight the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?   Will he work to control health care costs or will he propose Medicare cuts while promising tax cuts to corporations?

DeMint’s track record speaks for itself.   We can predict that he’ll be proposing harmful cuts that will hurt the elderly and sick, while protecting the profits of corporations, and spending trillions abroad on wars without end.

We think the election results show that a large number of South Carolinians are opposed to DeMint’s kind politics and want to reorient our priorities to put human needs first.

DeMint Watch can play a role in getting South Carolina Politics and the national debate back on track.  Post a comment or drop us a line at DeMintWatch@gmail.com if you’re one of the people who opposed DeMint on November 2.  We’ve got a lot of work to do.

Is Jim DeMint Splitting the GOP?

DeMint, Murkowski spat shows larger GOP split

By JAMES ROSEN – McClatchy Newspapers

URL: http://www.thestate.com/2010/11/22/1572520/demint-murkowski-spat-shows-larger.html
WASHINGTON — For all his success in helping elect ultraconservatives to the Senate, Sen. Jim DeMint is still fighting to avoid what could be a huge failure.

Even as DeMint says he would welcome fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski back to the Senate, the South Carolinian is still urging conservative activists around the country to donate money to replace the incumbent with Tea Party favorite Joe Miller through a legal appeal.DeMint, who raised $5.6 million for ultraconservative GOP candidates this year, attached a personal appeal letter to a “CONTRIBUTE” banner and a photo of Miller at the top of http://www.senateconservatives.com, the Web site of his Senate Conservatives Fund.

“Joe Miller can win this race, but he’s up against a well-financed legal team that is working for Lisa Murkowski,” DeMint wrote. “They will be fighting to bend the law in Alaska, which requires write-in ballots to accurately state the candidate’s name.”Before a federal judge on Friday temporarily froze the final outcome, Murkowski appeared to have won a historic write-in campaign against Miller in the Nov. 2 general election in the home state of the face of the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, overcoming DeMint’s contribution of more than $627,000 to Miller.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline suspended Murkowski’s certification as winner provided that Miller demand a recount in state court by today, a step Miller was prepared to take despite the long odds of overtaking Murkowski’s 2,000-or-so vote lead.Miller won Alaska’s Aug. 25 Senate Republican primary, prompting Murkowski to launch her write-in effort — and setting off a bitter, drawn-out exchange of actions and words with DeMint that may not end any time soon.Murkowski has responded coolly to DeMint’s recent peace signals.

“He has suggested that he’s got some making up to do,” Murkowski told CNN on Nov. 12. “I’ll let him make the first move.”Beyond its political intrigue, the DeMint-Murkowski tussle reveals the deeper ideological struggle within the Republican Party between hard-liners unwilling to bend their principles and moderates who say governing requires compromise.

DeMint’s badly damaged relationship with Murkowski also shows the tightrope he’s treading as he tries to remake the Senate in his ultraconservative image from inside the august chamber while backing anti-establishment rabble-rousers on the outside.While Miller still pursued a recount, Washington insiders regarded Murkowski’s victory as a done deal.