DeMint spokesman denies report of looming Romney endorsement

Still searching for teabag love
 

Over the weekend, a handful of Republican insider operatives leaked word to Roll Call that Jim DeMint was close to reprising his 2008 endorsement of Mitt Romney. A DeMint endorsement would be a pretty big get for Romney, at least as far as generating some enthusiasm for Mittens from the GOP's teahadist base. Alas, it's not true:

"That story is a fabrication made up of anonymous sources that obviously have no clue what Senator DeMint is thinking," spokesman Wesley Denton said. "He has said over and over again that he is not leaning toward any candidate yet and may end up not endorsing in the presidential race."

Matt Hoskins, who runs DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund, said DeMint is "looking to see who wins over the grassroots, and so far Governor Romney has not done that."

That last line there—that Mitt Romney hasn't won over the GOP's conservative grassroots—is true, and it's his campaign's central problem. Many pundits have interpreted the rise of Herman Cain as a sign of Rick Perry's weakness, but the real story is that despite Perry's troubles, Mitt Romney has been unable to capitalize because the Republican base just doesn't want him. It's not that they won't support him if he wins the nomination—they will—it's that they want to like candidates like Herman Cain and Rick Perry. Mitt Romney, they can tolerate—but they'll never love him. Thanks to his tremendous resources, he might be able to win a war of attrition if the GOP field remains crowded, but if it ends up being a heads up contest, the only way he can win is by destroying his opponent, whoever it ends up being.