Jim DeMint on How to Build a Conservative Movement
Genevieve Wood /
Candidates for federal and state office are running successfully on conservative ideas—cutting government spending, protecting religious liberty, repealing Obamacare—that have taken hold over the past five years, Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint says.
“What we’re here to do is to build a conservative movement that allows candidates to run on our ideas and win,” DeMint told me in an on-camera interview after his speech Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC2016, held just outside Washington, D.C.
DeMint, who represented South Carolina in the House and Senate and befriended tea party activists before assuming the helm at Heritage in 2013, said the conservative gains have confounded the Washington establishment.
“People this year are just so frustrated, they’re willing to throw out everything that’s any part of Washington,” DeMint said. “In some ways, that’s a good instinct to have.”
To find out what he means, watch the video.