South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint has recently stated that he will not be officially endorsing any of the Republican presidential candidates, but on Wednesday he offered his reasoning for why he does not want Texas congressman Ron Paul to exit the race any time soon.
Senator DeMint is a sought after endorsement by Republican candidates because of his popularity not only in South Carolina, but also among Tea Party Republicans.
While he has stopped short of endorsing any of the candidates, Mr. DeMint has been supportive and dismissive of several of the candidates in recent weeks. Last week after a pro Newt Gingrich Super PAC released a 28 minute video criticizing rival candidate Mitt Romney’s investment practices at Bain Capital, Mr. DeMint called the criticism an attack on free enterprise.
The South Carolina Republican was critical of both Mr. Gingrich and Texas Governor Rick Perry for criticizing Mr. Romney’s tenure at Bain.
In an appearance on Fox Business with Judge Andrew Napolitano Thursday, Mr. DeMint gave his latest assessment of the Republican primary race, this time choosing to focus on Mr. Paul.
In contrast to the popular notion that Mr. Paul is more of a libertarian than conservative candidate, Senator DeMint claims that the Texas congressman’s campaign platform that focuses on constitutional government and individual liberties is similar to the conservative ideals that he and other Republicans support.
“I hope Ron Paul doesn’t get out until whoever our front runner is recognizes that the libertarian principles are the conscience of the Republican party,” said Mr. DeMint Thursday adding, “I don’t agree with everything Ron Paul talks about.”
The South Carolina senator said that he does not agree with Mr. Paul’s views on reducing the U.S. military presence overseas. The Texas congressman has pointed to the contributions of active military personnel to his campaign as credibility for his foreign policy views, that include drastically reducing the U.S. military presence abroad.
Mr. Paul’s campaign staff immediately seized on the opportunity to promote Mr. DeMint’s comments Thursday, they posted his Fox Business interview to the “PauliticalTicker” section of their website Thursday under the following words in all capital letters, “Sen Jim DeMint: Libertarian principles are the conscience of the Republican party.”
Mr. Paul’s unique foreign policy views have constantly prompted questions from reporters in interviews with him regarding whether or not he would consider running in the fall as a third party candidate if he is unable to win the Republican nomination.
The Texas Republican has refused to commit to not running as a third party candidate because he does not like talking in “absolutes,” but in recent weeks he has told reporters that it is highly unlikely that he will run as an independent.
Mr. DeMint’s comments come on the same day that Mr. Perry suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Mr. Gingrich.
Thursday is also a busy day for Mr. Paul as he returns to South Carolina for another debate moderated by CNN. On Wednesday he briefly left the campaign trail to travel to Capitol Hill where he voted on a national debt limit increase request by President Barack Obama.
Recent polls show Mr. Paul battling former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum for third place in Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary election.
