Sen. Jim DeMint ... a man of principle ?

in the Senate ?

DeMint: ‘I’d Rather Lose Fighting for the Right Cause’
September 15, 2010 4:16 P.M.
By Daniel Foster

Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) is now one of the most powerful forces in the Republican party, whether his colleagues in the Senate Republican leadership like it or not. And based on quotes like this, I’m going to guess the answer is “not.”

To ABC’s Jonathan Karl:

I asked Senator DeMint if he’ll have any regrets if come November 3rd he realizes Republicans blew their chance at winning a majority because some of the candidates he supported lost.

“No. I’ve been in the majority with Republicans who didn’t have principles and we embarrassed ourselves and lost credibility in front of the country. Frankly, I’m at a point where I’d rather lose fighting for the right cause then win fighting for the wrong cause,” he told me.

And to Alex Leary at the St. Petersburg Times:

“The GOP would not have a chance to take the majority in the House or the Senate if it weren’t for the tea party. To think that we could be where we are if we had Arlen Specter and Charlie Crist leading our ticket is just foolishness.”

That’s proved out by the fact that DeMint has picked primary winners with far greater success than the NRSC — which may explain why after an initial chill, Cornyn and co. have decided that they’d rather eat the resources spent on an O’Donnell loss than sit on the sidelines and watch DeMint and his PAC guide her to another upset.

UPDATE: Later on in the Karl interview, DeMint answers the 40/60 question:

“I’ve said I’d rather have 40 Marco Rubios than 60 Arlen Specters and the reason for that is if you want 60 Republicans, you’ve got to have at least 40 to start with who stand on principle. And if we can show America this election the clear contrast between the Pelosi-Reid-Obama agenda and more of a constitutionally limited government, if our candidates have that clear contrast, I think they’re going to win in every state.

“We’re going to have an earthquake election if we put the right candidates and I think that’s what we saw in Delaware last night. Christine O’Donnell has been maligned by everyone from the right to the left but people in Delaware love our country and they don’t want it to go bankrupt. They’re going see this contrast because now republicans are offering a contrast with the democrats who are going to continue this radical agenda with the President. I think the people in Delaware are smart and you’re going to see Christine O’Donnell win that election.”