The Iowa Republican reports that Jim DeMint is making a trip to Iowa.
DeMint will be in Iowa to keynote an event for Congressman Steve King. The event, which is being billed as a "conference," will not be held in the 5th Congressional District, which King represents, but rather it will be held in Des Moines. King will release more details about the event later today.
No, DeMint and King in the same room is not the sign of the apocalypse mentioned in the title. That sign is found in a CNN report.
But the ground may be shifting in DeMint-world, and several of his closest advisers and political confidantes are now telling CNN that he is at least open to a presidential bid if a suitably conservative candidate fails to emerge from the early and wide-open GOP field.
My response to a DeMint candidacy: bring it on.
My response to a DeMint presidency? Deep black despair.
From CNN again:
Aside from Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, who is currently deciding between a presidential run and a gubernatorial bid in his home state, DeMint's advisers are having a difficult time envisioning a candidate that he could get behind.
So let's list the candidates he can't get behind because they are not sufficiently conservative.
- Sarah Palin
- Mike Huckabee
- Newt Gingrich
- Rick Santorum
- John Thune
- Mitt Romney (OK, who knows if Mitt is conservative? Not Mitt)
- Haley Barbour
- Chris Christie
- Tim Pawlenty
- Rick Perry
- Mitch Daniels
And here's the Progressive Punch rating line for DeMint:
PP rating
2.45%, or 87th of 88 Senators. The only worse score in the Senate belongs to Jim Barrasso.
This would be Bush without the charming smile, fewer IQ points, and less respect for the opinions of others. Imagine a man for whom no one on that list is sufficiently conservative. Imagine him as President.