http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/DeMint-GOP-TeaParty-Republicans/2009/1... DeMint: Democrats Drank Kool-Aid on Obamacare Tuesday, 15 Dec 2009 Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., had some harsh words for Democrats aiming to make President Obama’s healthcare program law. In an interview with Newsmax.TV Monday, the Senate’s leading conservative Senator said his Democratic colleagues are not considering their constituent wishes, but are helping President Obama “make history” in putting through a radical government takeover of private healthcare. DeMint said Congressional Democrats “have drank that Kool-Aid,” adding that they are even willing to “walk the plank” to see Obama’s plan rammed through Congress. He noted that most members of Congress don’t even know what’s in the bill, since it is being drafted in “secret.” DeMint also offered sharp criticism for some members of his own party, and is even backing conservative candidates who oppose Republican establishment picks. The senator tells Newsmax.TV’s Ashley Martella that supporting these alternative candidates can help transform the Republican Party and bring it in line with where he believes most Americans are on matters of spending, governmental intrusiveness and free-market economics. “These are Republicans who are willing to stand for those mainstream, common-sense principles that Americans are demanding right now,” DeMint said. “I’m not trying to pull the Republican Party to the right; I’m trying to pull the Republican Party to where America really is.” The senator believes Republicans deserve a choice who will stand for conservative principles and not just be someone who the party establishment thinks can win. DeMint says the GOP has drifted too far to the left in recent years when it has come to spending and the expansion of government, and his goal amounts to reversing that trend and returning to the conservative principles espoused by Ronald Reagan. Returning to basic conservative ideas, he says, will help the Republican Party regain the popular support it lost in the past decade. “We need to pull the Republican Party back to mainstream America and to what Americans would say is common sense not to spend more than you are bringing in,” DeMint said. “That’s where we need to be. “This isn’t some far right-wing movement that you see with these Tea Parties, rallies or town halls.” He says those who have made their voices heard at the Tea Party rallies speak for millions of Americans who have grown tired with how business has been conducted in Washington and “how it is mortgaging our future to buy votes today” on healthcare and other issues. “[Reagan] kept his focus on limited government. He kept his focus on a strong defense and less taxes, so our private economy can work,” DeMint said. “The people in power now are advocating exactly the opposite more government spending, more debt, more government control of healthcare, General Motors, insurance, banks, whatever.” The senator says the latter is a recipe for disaster that failed in Russia and China. He also criticizes the $1.1-trillion spending bill that passed last weekend laden with 5,000 earmarks as the latest example of the Democrats’ fiscal irresponsibility. “It still tells you that the people running Washington don’t get it,” DeMint said. “We are in the middle of a recession of Americans losing their jobs, and they’re passing spending bills. These are discretionary, non-mandatory bills that are 15-20 percent above last year in some cases, and we don’t need to be doing that at a time when we’ve got debt that is completely unsustainable.” Democrats, he says, think Americans are “stupid” and will forget about the healthcare fight in next year’s midterm elections, but he promises that will not be the case. DeMint says candidates such as Marc Rubio in Fla., Pat Toomey in Pa., Michael Williams in Texas and Chuck Devore in Calif., have the character and ideas the Republican Party needs to reverse these trends and return the GOP to respectability. He especially expressed confidence in Toomey, whose showing in the polls forced incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., to bolt from the Republican Party last spring, as someone who stands for the principles of liberty. Sen. DeMint was questioned by Martella about his fellow South Carolina Senator Linsdey Graham, who has teamed up with Democratic Senator John Kerry to push for an international climate change treaty. DeMint suggested Graham’s rhetoric may tilt to “their side” but said he doubted his Republican colleague would ever voter for climate legislation like the cap-and-trade bill proposed in the House. See Video: Sen. Jim DeMint talks about his defense of conservative candidates - Click Here Now: http://www.newsmax.com/video/?bcpid=36344180001&bclid=22770166001&bct...