Next On The DeMint Hit List

Dear Fellow Conservative:

The United States Senate defeated an important proposal Tuesday that would have banned pork barrel earmark spending for both Republicans and Democrats over the next two years. The vote was 39 in favor and 56 opposed.

While this may appear like a setback, it was actually a major step forward. In 2006, only 15 senators supported the amendment offered by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) to stop the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." In March of this year, 29 senators backed a complete earmark ban.

Now, thanks to all the pressure you and millions of other freedom-loving Americans have put on Congress to break its spending addiction, we've added 10 more votes to our cause. And this doesn't even count the votes we will gain in January when the new senators are sworn in.

The vote Tuesday was noteworthy not just because of the number of senators who supported it, but also because of the vulnerable Democrats who opposed it. In fact, four Democrats voted against the earmark ban who are up in 2012 and who are from states President Obama lost in 2008.

Jon Tester (D-Montana)
Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska)
Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota)
Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia)

These senators are nice folks but they have ignored the will of the American people and they must be replaced with principled conservatives in 2012. That's where the Senate Conservatives Fund comes in and it's where you can help. We've already begun the process of building campaigns against these other liberals in the Senate who are driving our nation deeper and deeper into debt. But we can't do it alone.

First, we need to begin raising money immediately. We will need at least $4 million to win conservative victories in these states. Your support now will help us pay for the opposition research, polling, and voter education necessary to defeat these and other incumbents in 2012.

Second, we need your input on possible conservative challengers who could earn the SCF endorsement. If you know of a strong candidate who may run for the Senate, please let us know so we can begin evaluating them.

Third, we need you to help us recruit more Americans to our cause. We now have over 200,000 members nationwide but we need to double that number to achieve our goals in the next election.

Electing Republicans without regard for their beliefs is not good enough. We've seen what happens when we elect big-spending Republicans. They give us all a bad name and cause us to lose even more seats.

That's why the Senate Conservatives Fund will continue to back solid candidates who will stand up for the principles that make America great. It's why we will continue to listen to the grassroots and ignore the elites in Washington.

Please help us continue the progress we made this year by supporting the Senate Conservatives Fund. With your help, we can build a conservative majority in the Senate that will save the country we love.

Respectfully,
Jim DeMint