Senator Jim DeMint has left the United States Senate and now heads The Heritage Foundation. DeMint was replaced in the senate by Tim Scott, a staunch Conservative from Charleston. Scott was appointed to fill the remaining two years of DeMint’s term by the governor.
Jim DeMint has not only served South Carolina well as our United States Senator; he has served the nation. He has worked tirelessly to recruit, campaign for and help elect a nucleus of conservative senators. These new senators have the potential over the long term to change the culture in the United States Senate for the good. They have the potential for transforming the government in Washington, D.C., into a servant of the people rather than a bottomless pit devoted to tax and spend policies.
In a Christmas message to constituents, DeMint expressed his thanks: “It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the people of South Carolina in the United States Senate. I will always be deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me. Your encouragement and friendship over the years has sustained me and my family in ways you may never fully know or appreciate.”
His farewell address delivered on the floor of the Senate gave in-depth insight into what motivates our former senator and the issues that will attract his attention as president of a very influential “think tank.” The encouraging theme of his “farewell address” was “I’m not leaving the fight.”
C-Span aired the address several times during recent days. I viewed it at least three times. Every South Carolinian should see this inspiring message from a proven statesman and servant of the people. Leaders of the Republican Party would be well-served to live by his words and quote from them frequently.
Some Republicans have been critical of DeMint for not being more supportive of the “party.” He addressed that issue.
“I’m not leaving the fight… I’m not leaving to be an advocate for the Republican Party.” DeMint said he was leaving the senate to become an advocate for “ideas that we can point to and say, ‘That is working’.”
“All we have to do is look at what works… Creating an environment where business can strive is not a political idea, it is an American idea,” DeMint insisted.
From The Heritage Foundation, DeMint hopes to make conservative ideas so attractive that they will become pervasive throughout society. He sees many state governments adopting conservative solutions to current problems, and a few states will continue to tax and spend and come to Washington for financial help.
The somber retiring senator reached into his pocket and unfolded a piece of paper and read what many South Carolina Republicans have adopted as the Republican Creed, but DeMint said is really the American Creed:
I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon.
If I can seek opportunity, not security,
I want to take the calculated risk to dream and
build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to
guaranteed security, the thrill of fulfillment
to the state of calm utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence,
nor my dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master, save my God.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and
unafraid. To think and act for myself, enjoy the
benefit of my creations; to face the whole world
boldly and say, “I am a free American.”
May God bless Jim DeMint: a Southern Gentleman, statesman and American Patriot, his family and his work.