DeMint: Republicans Had Little Choice on Debt-Limit Vote

Last week's debt-limit vote brought criticism from many conservatives, but Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint said he believes Republicans did the only thing they thought they could do.

"It was a defining vote this week," DeMint told NBC "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer. "I think it showed that all the Democrats in Congress were completely willing to give the president a blank check to borrow whatever he wanted. Most of the Republicans weren't."

However, the former South Carolina GOP senator said, Republican leaders, like House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have figured out that they either give President Barack
Obama "all the money and debt he wants or he's going to close the government down and blame it on them. So I think they did what they thought was the only thing they could do."

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DeMint said he doesn't blame Boehner or other Republicans for their vote, but he also does not believe people who share his brand of conservatism feel well-represented in the nation's capital, and many Americans, "regardless of political labels," feel the same way.

"I hear it all over the country and I think that's why you see a stirring in the country,” DeMint said. “Frankly, people are less interested in the label of Republican and Democrat and they're tired of that but they will unite around some principles that will give us a stronger economy, a strong society, a strong America... America's not nearly as divided as it looks like they are in Washington.”

DeMint said he is concentrating on his work with the Heritage Foundation, which is working to promote conservative goals. He said he is not involved in the super PAC he founded, Senate Conservative Fund, which aims to oust moderate Republicans, including making a push this past week to remove Boehner as House speaker. 

"We're less involved with, really, trying to cram anything down the throats of congressman and senators,” said DeMint.

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