Richard Viguerie: Senator DeMint Gives GOP Incumbents a Pass, But Other Conservatives Won't

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Dec 03, 2010, 03:00 ET

MANASSAS, Va., Dec. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, regarding the announcement by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) that his political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund, will not target any incumbent Republican senators in the 2012 elections:

"After winning a number of victories over big-government Republicans in 2010, we conservatives and tea partiers are already looking forward to sending more GOP incumbents home in 2012.

"Senator DeMint played a major role in helping conservative candidates win Republican nominations through his Senate Conservatives Fund, but he recently told National Review Online (NRO) that he will not intervene in primary challenges against GOP incumbents during the next election cycle.

"NRO called the move by Senator DeMint 'a sigh of relief for pork-loving Republicans,' but other conservatives cannot, and will not, give these out-of-touch Republicans a pass.

"Senator DeMint has repeatedly taken heat from establishment Republicans for his strong conservative stances and support for the tea party movement, and no doubt feels tremendous pressure from his colleagues to fall in line with the GOP leadership.

"All small-government, constitutional conservatives are deeply in Senator DeMint's debt for his sacrifices, work, and leadership in behalf of our cause.

"However, four or five of the ten Republican Senators up for re-election in 2012 need to be voted out, and if Sen. DeMint feels that he cannot involve himself in those primary races, then it is up to grassroots conservatives and tea partiers to provide the leadership to replace RINO Republicans or ineffective Republicans with effective and principled conservatives."

NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine) and one of the 'conservatives of the century"(Washington Times). He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.