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Buy the Book
DeMint Fights the System
Considering the genre, Senator Jim DeMint’s new book is a great and timely read.
The Great American Awakening: Two Years That Changed America,
Washington and Me
By Jim DeMint
(B&H Books, 240 pages, $14.99)
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
— Ode, by A.W.E. O’Shaughnessy
It is that rare person who dares go against the flow, challenging the status quo in hopes of a better world. But Senator Jim DeMint has been that dreamer of dreams, a world-foresaker, and over the last several years he has shaken American politics. A quiet, humble man of faith, with a Southern drawl and a constant smile, DeMint hardly seems the revolutionary type. But he was tea party before the tea party, at many times waging a lonely revolution inside the U.S. Senate. He was a voice of reason and common sense when many Republicans felt it better to go along with the Senate’s business-as-usual.
Such lone stands are often tests of personal courage and conviction, especially from a position of relative weakness: as a relatively junior Senator, DeMint couldn’t wage his battles from a position of strength, yet still he fought because of his deep convictions and love of country. His new book, The Great American Awakening, chronicles DeMint’s journey over the years between 2008 and 2010, and the struggles, and ostracizing, he endured as he proposed such things as term limits for appropriators. It also follows his early associations with the tea party, as he earned the nickname “Senator Tea Party.”
In his story, DeMint realizes he is up against a system, or as I call it The System: a powerful reinforcing loop that continually strengthens itself. Our System of government, with a Ruling Class of long-time incumbents surrounded by lobbyists and buttressed by the party system, stopped serving the American people a long time ago. With every passing year, it continues to strengthen itself, accelerating as it drifts away from the original vision for our government and nation.
Inside the Senate, within that very System, DeMint sees everything for what it actually is. In a moment of illumination, he realizes he cannot beat the Ruling Class alone, and so he did something many considered startling and infuriating: he created the Senate Conservative Fund to work for personnel change inside the Republican Caucus and the U.S. Senate. Even though he does not state it in such terms, DeMint realized that he who controls the primary nominations controls the party and thus controls the System. And so DeMint set out to do just that, and by force of will, to control the candidate nomination process.
The book also chronicles some of the internal fights DeMint faced with colleagues in the Senate, his thoughts on the rise of the tea party, and even his personal struggle with his wife’s breast cancer. There are parts in the story (such as his fight to clarify the facts in Honduras in 2009) that are interesting tidbits of information.
But I had several frustrations with the book. There are really no new revelations and, as with many political books, the writing here is a bit pedestrian. At just over 200 pages, it was a bit of a grind to read, which is a shame because it does give an insider’s view of two of the more fascinating years in American politics. In the end, the book is worth a read for the simple fact that you will better understand Jim DeMint the man. You’ll understand his fights and the loneliness of his struggle, and come away with a better appreciation for his steel resolve.
There is no doubt that DeMint is on the right path in his war against The System and the Ruling Class. With recent reinforcements like Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio and Pat Toomey, the tides have begun to shift within the Republican Senate Caucus, and within the Senate itself, though there is much work left to be done. My hope is that someday the U.S. Senate has dozens of Jim DeMints in it. That will be the day The System and the Ruling Class lose and the American people win.
About the Author
Ned Ryun is the founder and president of American Majority, a political training institution. His “With the Tea Partiers” column run each month in the The American Spectator’s print edition. You can follow him on Twitter @nedryun.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (16) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Ned Ryun
More Articles From Buy the Book
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/08/02/demint-fights-the-system
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tsd| 8.2.11 @ 7:23AM
One who gets it. One who deserves support. Go Jim Go.
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Ken (Old Texican)| 8.2.11 @ 7:28AM
Folks, the Senate Conservative fund is a great place for some of your campaign contributions. I'm on Demint's e-mail list. You all need to get on it too for updates and candidate recommendations.
Nancy in NC| 8.2.11 @ 8:39AM
Jim DeMint doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. His personal net worth hasn't risen since going to DC and he lives in the same house in Greenville, SC. He's one of the few that has never sold his vote or sold out period. He deserves our support. I will buy his book, just as I did his first .
Carol| 8.2.11 @ 9:56AM
God Bless Jim DeMint - a true stateman who really is looking out for the folks.
Wish there were others.
Joe D.| 8.2.11 @ 10:31AM
Jim, don't give up the ship. We need to get rid of more statist in both parties. Why are we not going after Snowe and others that need to go in our own party. Are you getting scared? We are not saying that they all need to be very conservative. But, come on, Snowe is a liberal statist. She is not even a moderate as we know them.
Solo| 8.2.11 @ 10:49AM
Jim Demint is truly a blessing. A true statesman who understands his role as a protector of the Constitution.
We've made some modest gains with recent appointments to Congress of like minded representatives. Let's hope the trend continues in 2012 and pray that it's not already too late.
Doctor Right| 8.2.11 @ 12:40PM
5 of the GOP Reps who voted against the Boehner-Reid-Obama Debt bill are from South Carolina.
Interesting...The first official shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston.
Coincidence? We'll see...
God Bless the Palmetto State!!
PattyMor| 8.2.11 @ 1:04PM
I love Jim DeMint and was saddened that he will not run again. I support his Senate Conservative's Fund. He is one of the few in government that I still respect. Most of the rest are just jackels.
Elizabeth Craine| 8.2.11 @ 3:51PM
I love Jim Demint. He is the real deal. I belong the the Senate Conservative Fund. If everyone could give a little even as little as $10 would go a long way to getting more conservatives in the senate. We need to send Jim DeMint more reinforcements.
John | 8.2.11 @ 6:02PM
Senator Jim Demint, we salute you, you're a true conservative and patriot, saving America from the Satan (Obama). We thank you.
They Lie| 8.2.11 @ 7:29PM
You will never meet a more humble and honest man than Jim Demint. He makes me proud to be a South Carolinian, in spite of that ahole Lindsay Graham. I belong to Demint's Senate Conservative fund and urge all to join. We must be a part of changing the ruling class. We can only do that by becoming involved and donating our time and money to conservatives. Talk is cheap, but doesn't pay the bills. Jim Demint would make a great POTUS. He would undoubtedly go down in history as the greatest. It will take men like Demint to save this nation if it is to be saved. He's not a Haaaavad man, but a Clemson Gentleman and that makes him so much better.
apple| 8.2.11 @ 11:06PM
We are not saying that they all need to be very conservative.
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apple| 8.2.11 @ 11:08PM
You all need to get on it too for updates and candidate recommendations.
http://www.ainibag.com
http://www.honey-gifts.com
POST American| 8.2.11 @ 11:41PM
News leads -------------JUST IN!
"Lesbian Heroes in Norway IGNORED?"
-Yahoo News
"BANKSTERS ABOLISH CONGRESS"
-Alex Jones
WHY ALEX JONES is now --the-- PRESS.
PattyMor| 9.16.11 @ 2:39PM
Jim DeMint's Senate Conservative's Fund is one of the few organizations that I trust to spend my campaign donations wisely. I too am a member of the Senate Conservatives Fund and donate to people who Jim recommends. Better go down swinging with Conservatives, than win with RINO's.
Next up for defeat: Richard Lugar and Olympia Snowe.