Sen. Jim DeMint said Sunday that he is “tired” of President Obama’s speeches and “frustrated with things that have been leaking out from the White House.”
“Frankly, I am so tired of his speeches, it’s going to be hard for me to watch,” Mr. DeMint, South Carolina Republican, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We need a plan in writing, he needs to send it to us and tell us what it is going to cost so not only Congress and the American people can read it, businesses can read it.”
Mr. DeMint is the latest Republican to criticize Mr. Obama’s upcoming “jobs” speech to Congress, set for Thursday.
Last week, Rep. Joe Walsh, Illinois Republican, called the president “idiotic” - he later apologized - and said he would skip Mr. Obama’s address to meet with voters in his home district.
One day before a Labor Day forum for top GOP candidates in South Carolina, Mr. DeMint said he would support anyone in the GOP field over Mr. Obama at this point.
“They all have strengths,” Mr. DeMint said on “State of the Union.” “And there´s no one in that group that I couldn´t support as our nominee, and there´s no one who would not do a better job than our current president. So I´m very open right now. I´m listening to what they say.”
Mr. DeMint will host the unique forum in Columbia, where candidates will each have 20 minutes to talk about their political agendas without the interruption of a typical debate format.
“Instead of forcing them to answer my questions,” Mr. DeMint told ABC´s “This Week” on Sunday, “we are going to encourage them to define the issues on their own terms.”
Six of the top Republicans candidates will be on hand - Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, businessman-turned-politician Herman Cain, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
“We´ve got the top tier there on Monday,” Mr. DeMint told “This Week.” “I´m excited about our field. I think the more people find out about Republican candidates, the more strengths they see.”
Mr. DeMint, who endorsed Mr. Romney in 2008, said he has not picked a favorite in the 2012 field. But “there are things I certainly like,” he said, about Mr. Perry, who leads GOP polls, despite having switching over from the Democratic Party early in his political career.
“I want to find out more about him, obviously, but people change,” he said, pointing to the fact the former President Ronald Reagan was once a Democrat. “I know I´ve changed some positions I had 10 years ago, because the country´s in a very different position.”
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who is running near the bottom in most national polls, was left off the list and won´t be at the debate.
Mr. DeMint said it could be months before any of the candidates receives his endorsement. Before that happens, he wants to see what they would each do about the economy, jobs and spending cuts.
Mrs. Bachmann, speaking on CBS´ “Face the Nation,” said she would improve the nation´s job situation by overhauling the tax code.
“This is what I do know: It needs to be simplified, it needs to be fair, and it needs to be reduced,” she said.
She also re-emphasized her support for increased domestic drilling for oil. “If we access American energy again, we will create millions of jobs and high-paying jobs. We have the technology in the United States to responsibly access America´s energy resources,” she said.
• Tim Devaney can be reached at tdevaney@washingtontimes.com.
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