Shelby: DeMint Erred in Criticizing McCain

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) took fellow Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to task Monday for criticizing Sen. John Mccain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign last week.

“I think my friend Sen. Jim DeMint should keep this stuff in the caucus and not be out beating up on fellow Republicans,” Shelby said during a CNN appearance Monday.

“There’s a lot of blame to go around, but I have to mention George Bush, and I have to mention Ted Stevens, and I’m afraid I even have to mention John McCain,” DeMint, who is jockeying for a seat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee in the next Congress.

“I wouldn’t blame John McCain. John McCain has not been president of the United States,” said Shelby, the ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. “He ran a spirited campaign. We lost. I hated to see us lose but there were a lot of things working against us.”

–Michael O’Brien