GOP Senator Demint: McCain Betrayed Republican Principles

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint on Friday became one of the first high-profile Republicans to publicly criticize John McCain following his electoral defeat, blaming the Arizona senator for betraying conservative principles in his quest for the White House.

The conservative senator, speaking to a group of GOP officials gathered in Myrtle Beach at a conference on the future of the Republican Party, described how the party had strayed from its own "brand," which, according to DeMint, should represent freedom, religious-based values and limited government.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[breakfast]

McCain can skate on this one.....there are no Republican principles.

[1differentdrummer]

He also betrayed any ethics to be expected from a senator.

[BrickSykes]

Jimbo, you're a little thick, aren't you, Boy?

You know, the dumbest bonehead in the Universe knows what the (former) Republican Party did with their 'Principles!' You guys traded them in on a guaranteed way to get ELECTED!! Or didn't somebody tell you? Speaking of that, why don't you tell us how YOU got elected? You don't actually believe that you're one of the Smartest lawyers in the Palmetto State, do you? Wasn't it really because you were willing to help pervert the Constitution? You know, work very hard to keep 'some' people from voting, for instance! Or seeing if you can get America's finest young people to go 'over there' and get all shot up and then refuse to pay to fix 'em? Or help kids have a chance at a healthy childhood?

See? You just don't get it, Jethro! Aww, you ain't worth it....!

Brick

[osage]

The immoral hypocritical values that drive the unequal/prejudiced/preferrential policies of the Republican Party betray the democratic and moral principles of the majority of America's citizens who still believe that America is about the freedom and equality of all people. Republicans are the anti-party who offer only more of the same unevolved dogmas, fears, prejudices and social intolerances of a complex pluralistic society trying to stem the tide of intellectual, emotional, moral and governmental evolution. Republicans are ant-government, anti-birth control, anti-choice, anti-immigration, anti-gay rights equality, anti-unions, anti-conservation, anti-environment, anti-diplomacy, anti-free speech, anti-protest, anti-checks and balances, anti-oversight, anti-accountability and anti-government transparency. Most can Americans can tell you what Republicans are against, but few can tell you what they are for? What has the last eight years of Republican leadership done but destroyed nearly everything it touched? Are Republicans pro-economic collapse, pro-corporatism, pro-carpetbagging, pro-failed and costly phony war, pro-infrastucture rot and decay, pro-pollution, pro-energy dependence, pro-incompetent governance, pro-international alienation, pro-religious extremism, pro-social, economic, racial, sexual and moral integration? What exactly can Republicans point to over the last eight years that constructively exemplifies Republican principles in action? How could McCain have betrayed Republican principles, when today's Republicans can't legitimately offer examples of Republican principles that have been beneficially realized?

[Tom Joad]

Oxymoron alert: Republiban Principles.

(Republiban = Repub + Ta-liban)

[marymansour]

Republican principles have gone down the toidy under Bush and his rogue government. It is unrecognizable as the party of such former GOP members as William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater. I am no fan of McCain and didn't vote for him but the worst he did was to bring Palin aboard and use dirty tactics against Obama. The GOP needs a restructuring in the worst way. They should let the wing nuts follow Palin and form their own party. They should then revamp themselves with people like Mitt Romney and his ilk.

[NWBrunette]

Republican principles? Like hanging out in airport restrooms? Like controlling women's bodies? Like writing discrimination in to State Constitutions? Like deregulating every industry in a heartbeat? Like lying our way in to a war? Like hating gay people? Like throwing up obstacles to voting for minorities? Oh, those principles.

[dutchman]

Excellent post. The only Republican "principle" that I can see is to hang on to power by any means necessary. For today's right wingers, the ends (no matter what they are) justify the means (no matter what they are).

[Whinger]

Had John McCain won the election people like DeMint would be singing his praises!

Kick a man when he's down, the Republicans fall guy!

[mamacat]

Isn't that one of the biggest problems of the GOP these days, that they no longer have any principles?
Any party that includes both Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh is not in the American mainstream, but I don't expect them to understand that.

[SueW0]

Earlier this year, I kept getting recorded messages from the Republican party trying to get me to come back to their side. As long as they insist on listing "religion-based values" as one of their core principles, they can go jump in a lake as far as I'm concerned. They've made it clear that they don't want my kind (and a hell of a lot of other kinds as well). And they've made it embarassingly clear that they would vote for a complete fruit basket just because she was against abortion. As long as they cling to the notion that they only have to answer to fellow members of the Jesus Country Club they don't deserve my support, and all their talk of being bipartisan or "uniting the nation" is just hot air.

But now, for what will probably be a brief shining moment, it seems like it's actually cool to be smart. The GOP will either have to adapt, or be content to live in the moral and intellectual ghetto they've made for themselves.

[Aesthete]

McCain is basically a decent guy who just happened to belong to a party of dinosaurs who insist on pushing an agenda that is obsolete and unwanted. Their insistence on making McCain the scapegoat for their frustration is hateful and wrong. The majority of the voters have moved into the 21st century. The Nazification of the GOP is a threat to American freedoms. The truly slanderous and disastrous campaign of Elizabeth Dole is a sign of the times indicating that voters are no longer going to accept this type of campaigning. The idea of "winning" by any means necessary is just plain wrong and a horrible example for the young. At least we used to teach our children sportsmanship. If the GOP is so interested in using "religion" in political campaigns, they'd better stop violating the 9th Commandment, which states "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." They are making a mockery out of religion. God is real and HE is watching!

[darthdarcy]

Republicans have no Principles, and never have...

[watchingthings]

There are so many who praise a winner: a loser has only losers who identify with him.

[Cinnamonape]

I hope that DiMent-al Asylum pushes this idea...requiring that everyone be compelled to attend the church or temple of their faith on every religious day mandated by the faith. As he said, the problem is that the Republican Party doesn't stand for traditional religious values any more. And going to Church, Temple, Mosque, etc. is something that should be mandated. At the very least no one should be allowed in the PARTY unless they attend Church (or Temple, etc.) faithfully.

After all, how can they have a party filled with hypocrites...people who are only part-time Christians. Who don't REALLY practice the rules of their faith! It'd be like a guy asserting he's faithful while cheating on his wife!

[Sadie1976]

Obviously, if you are an American citizen who happens to be Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, etc. who pays taxes, serves in the military, perhaps even dies in a war (or have sons or daughters who have served and/or died in wars), the GOP still doesn't think you are "real American" enough to deserve representation in the White House.

[clarenoi]

religious-based???? This country was founded by people escaping religious pursecution. Religion - man-made, organized for the gain of the few at the expense of the masses - is the root of all evil. This country's governance has nothing to do with religiion, thank you very much.

[midknightryder13]

Thank you!
I have pointed this out countless times when this idiotic claim is made -- along with the "America was founded as a Christian nation" treacle. Usually, I'll begin with the reaction "religious-based? You DO understand WHY the founders left Europe in the FIRST place don't you?"

Oh, and I've found that the conversation grinds to a screeching halt when I point out that only THREE of the Ten Commandments are reflected in our laws. (Or two and a half, depending how you do the math. At the most, it was five -- and I doubt you'd find a mass movement to restore "Thou shalt not commit adultery" to the legal rolls.)