That's what longtime wingnut profiteer Richard Viguerie thinks, according to the top story at newsmax.com now.
Viguerie started his direct-mail business with a Goldwater list, and has made a bundle scaring money out of older white conservatives in his regular mailings.
He presumably did that for DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund, so the following quotes from Viguerie should be viewed in a commercial light:
Jim DeMint will have a bigger microphone than before. If he wants to, this opens up a lot more opportunities for him. I think there’s a decent chance that he’ll be a serious presidential candidate in four years.
More below.
DeMint was mentioned as a tea party favorite son for President this time, but did not begin to run.
Next time will be different, Viguerie claims:
(DeMint at Heritage) is going to be a boon to the cause, to Heritage. And it gives him a major opportunity to run for president in four years. And if so, he would be the instant front-runner among most conservatives.
"Instant front-runner among most conservatives" means the real front-runner, because GOP primary voters are the conservative/tea party base.
DeMint will get a lot more visibility as Heritage leader, Viguerie argues (though the guy he's replacing is unknown outside the wingnut/Village bubble):
As president of Heritage he will be spending maybe three, four, five days a week on the road, talking to major donors and to the conservative grass-roots. So he will add a whole new dimension to his base of support up there. He will be building relationships with hundreds of thousands of conservative activists and donors.
But here's the important part, for Viguerie:
Heritage mails millions of letters every month, and he will have his name on them now. So he’ll be in front of millions of conservative activists on a weekly basis.
Viguerie is probably right about DeMint, and will certainly be mailing to his lists about that soon.
The newsmax.com article also includes DeMint love from a more minor wingnut grifter -- Amy Kremer of the Tea Party Express:
He is our rock in the United States Senate. But at the same time, I know Jim DeMint, and he is not going anywhere. I have always thought he would make a great president, and I have always thought he should make a run.
I think this is probably a step in that direction, and I hope it is. Because he’s not just a senator, he’s a statesman.
2016 is thousands of news cycles away, and no one really has any idea who the GOP will nominate then.
But if the GOP's conservative base remains wacked-out (especially in Iowa), and if DeMint wants to go through the grind, he will have a much better chance of winning the nomination than the various tea party favorites of 2012.
Which will be great news for Democrats and the country -- eight more years guaranteed.