Is Jim DeMint going to Torpedo his Tea Party Creds by Endorsing Romney?

It's inexplicable enough to see Ann Coulter endorse Romney but Jim DeMint? Such an endorsement would be a betrayal of the Tea Party. Senator Tea Party would risk becoming Senator Benedict Arnold. The only reason any conservative would get behind Romney is that said conservative has bought the premise which says Romney is the only candidate who can beat Obama. That is the extent to which any grace should be extended to DeMint for doing so. And it's a lame reason.

Via Roll Call:

Mitt Romney is the favorite to receive Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) much-sought-after endorsement in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to knowledgeable GOP sources.

DeMint, who endorsed the former Massachusetts governor in 2008, made clear in an interview late last week that he has made no decisions on whom he will support in the 2012 primary. But Republican operatives familiar with the DeMint-Romney relationship and privy to the conservative Senator's private assessment of the GOP field believe Romney is the most likely candidate to receive the backing of the tea party favorite.

"Jim is far more likely to endorse Mitt than anyone else currently in the race," a Republican with South Carolina ties said. "Jim is a business guy and that's his background. He's not really the good ol' boy conservative type. So Mitt in a lot of ways is a more comfortable fit for him."

The first sign that endorsing Romney is a bad idea is that the mainstream media wants him to get the nod, just like it wanted John McCain to get the 2008 GOP nomination. Until McCain won the nomination, the liberal media defended him and touted him up as the best choice because he could get the independent voters.

Once McCain got the nomination, what happened? The answer is that the liberal media turned on him, and quickly. The New York Times tried to push a story that said McCain had an affair with a staffer; the media in general pushed the narrative that said four years of McCain would be like four more years of Bush; he was too old to be president and he didn't know how to operate a computer. Remember?

McCain was thrown under the bus by the media only after he won the nomination. Why, on earth, would the same liberal media not do the same to Romney? The answer is that it would. But how will they do it? They could surreptitiously attack his Mormonism by keeping it alive as an issue to debate by pitting evangelical Christians against moderates.

Last week, there was talk - though quickly denied by camp Rubio - that the chief of staff for the Tea Party favorite from Florida worked hard behind the scenes to move up Florida's primary to help Romney. Whether true or not, there is a school of thought which says the longer voters are exposed to Romney, the more support he will lose.

There's the issue of Romneycare and now it's been learned that Team Romney reached out to Obama Science czar John Holdren in 2005 for the purpose of reducing CO2 emissions in Massachusetts.

The decision to support Romney is one based in fear, a fear that says no one else can beat Obama. The fact that the liberal media is pushing Romney should cause all conservatives to check themselves before they wreck themselves (h/t Ice Cube).

h/t Hot Air