DeMint raising cash for non-‘RINOs’

As the election season heats up, one Senator is trying to raise $200,000 to support the campaigns of “strong Republican” candidates. 

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), head of the political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund, is aiming to raise the funds within the next two weeks to help pay for phone banks, voter mail and radio and television advertising to elect candidates endorsed by the group, according to a solicitation e-mailed this weekend to potential contributors.  

“It’s not enough to just be a Republican,” DeMint said in a statement. “We need to elect the right kind of Republicans — principled leaders who will fight for balanced budgets, constitutional limits and individual liberty,” he said in the e-mail. 

DeMint specifically spoke out against “Republicans in Name Only” or RINOs, saying “we need people in the Senate who want to join America, not join the Senate club.”

“If we don’t elect strong Republicans this year, we won’t have the strength in the Senate to stop massive spending, bailouts and debt that are bankrupting our country,” he said. 

DeMint is known as the most conservative member of the Senate, earning a 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union. 

While acknowledging that “money is tight right now for many Americans,” he suggested smaller amounts to make a “major difference.”

“If everyone contributes $25, $50, $100 or even $1,000, we will have all the money we need to let voters know which candidates will truly stand up for their interests,” he said.