Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)—who raised millions for right-wing candidates in 2010—has found his latest target: fellow Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who’s up for re-election in 2012. In a fundraising solicitation, DeMint slammed Brown for being “the Most Liberal Senator” in Congress and vowed to help defeat him in 2012. DeMint detailed Brown’s sins in an email sent through right-wing website Townhall.com:
He recently made national headlines when he compared those of us who oppose unchecked union power to Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin…?
There is no bigger supporter in the U.S. Senate of big-government spending, bailouts, and debt than Sherrod Brown.
Thankfully he’s up for re-election next year and freedom-loving Americans across the nation have a chance to end his assault on our liberties.
Brown, a first-term Senator, certainly isn’t taking his re-election for granted: in the first three months of 2011, he raised $1.3 million and made appearances last week with Vice President Joe Biden back in Ohio. Polling has shown him leading potential Republican opponents by only a small margin.
No one’s entered the race officially as of yet, but at least one prominent possible challenger has emerged in recent days: Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s former secretary of state and a 2006 candidate for governor—a staunch conservative who’s on the board of the National Rifle Association. Ohio voters ushered in conservative Republicans like Gov. John Kasich just last year, and the GOP seems to be betting the same will hold true in 2012.
