Jim DeMint's Resignation

First of all, I don’t think Jim DeMint’s resignation from the Senate to go to the Heritage Foundation is some kind of pre-positioning for 2016. That’s not how you become President, and I think he knows that. If you think this is pre-positioning for a Presidential run, you need to stop doing drugs.

We all know that DeMint isn’t exactly a “team player”. He’s kind of the lone voice of really hard conservatism in the Senate, and he’s not really getting much done. Most of DeMint’s power was stop other things from getting done, and that’s got to be frustrating for him. Honestly, he hasn’t really been that effective at getting other hard-conservative/tea party folks elected, so it’s not like he’s been practically productive.

I think this is DeMint cashing in his chips when he can, as I’m sure the Heritage Foundation will probably pay him pretty well. Other than that, the main intrigue is how the seat goes. Governor Haley gets to nominate someone, and then they’ll have to have a special election in 2014 (I think). If that’s the case, then both seats in the US Senate from South Carolina will be up in 2014.

In any event, the Democrats will still control the Senate, and DeMint will still be a voice of hard-conservatism.

Ultimately, I kind of rate this as kind of a non-event. The only thing that is kind of a story here is someone walking away from a US Senate seat. He probably could have kept that seat as long as he wanted. You kind of have to respect that on a certain level.