Javan Browder of SC and Laura O’Halloran of Louisiana who both served as National Co-Directors of “Campaign to Draft Jim DeMint 2012” are now supporting Rick Santorum.
Campaign to Draft Jim DeMint 2012 was a national grass roots campaign which tried to get Senator Jim DeMint to run for President in 2012. Since DeMint chose not to get into the race Browder and O’Halloran put their support behind candidates who were running.
Browder decided to support Michele Bachmann and served as SC State Tea Party Coalition Chair for her campaign until she dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucus. Browder said, “Once the deadlines had passed for DeMint to file papers to be on the ballots in the early states I began to look at the other candidates. There were about three of them I could have supported, but Bachmann was my top choice and I am proud to have been part of her campaign.”
O’Halloran who is a staunch Fair Tax advocate decided to support Herman Cain in large measure because of his 999 plan and how it would have moved the system towards a consumption (fair) tax. As we know, Cain dropped out of the race before the Iowa caucus.
With Bachmann and Cain out of the race Browder and O’Halloran have thrown their support behind Rick Santorum. “Laura and I met through the Draft DeMint effort. Through facebook and the occasional phone call we have built a strong working friendship. It’s pretty cool that we are back on the same team. I think it speaks to the conservative tea party core values we share since Laura and I find ourselves coalescing around the same candidates” Browder said. He added, “Of course not all DeMint ‘Drafters’ are supporting Santorum, but some of us are.”
O’Halloran stated that, “I ask myself which Republican candidate contrasts most with BHO? Not Mitt nor Newt for obvious reasons. They both have baggage- from both sides of the fence. Certainly it’s not Ron Paul because of his full libertarian leanings and weak foreign policy. Rick Santorum is the one that sees the moral fiber of this country tearing apart and is not afraid to address it head-on. The communists in this country have tried to disintegrate the glue that binds our values, strength, and ultimately our Constitution. Let’s not allow them to accomplish the tearing down of America. We must fight back with Rick Santorum.”
Browder added, “I met Rick Santorum a couple times back in spring and early summer and was very impressed at the time. What stood out most to me was his earnestness and his strong standing on moral principle. Rick understands that ALL of our problems as a culture and a nation stem from a lack of morality. He is the only candidate left in the race that is truly holding to that message and also has the personal moral integrity to back it up. But Rick is far more than just a ‘Bible thumping candidate’, he is solid all around and I am especially impressed on his foreign policy. When I first met him I pressed him on the issue of how to deal with what we are facing with Islam without compromising the freedom of religion, and he totally understands that very complex issue and knows how it needs to be addressed.”
In the grand scheme of things Browder and O’Halloran’s support may be considered fairly minor, though both are well known and respected among the tea party movement. But Santorum has also had a mass of major evangelical endorsements lately including those of Gary Bauer and James Dobson in addition to 150 evangelical leaders who met in Texas this past weekend and overwhelmingly voted to endorse him. *Update: Michael W. Smith and Twila Paris have joined in endorsing Santorum.
Santorum by most accounts was the clear winner of the last debate which was held in Charleston Thursday. Browder said, “Santorum picked the perfect time to shine. He was on fire in the debate last night and he really distinguished himself from Romney and Gingrich as the far truer conservative.”
With Santorum having been declared the actual winner of Iowa as of yesterday, and a strong finish in NH it will be very interesting to see how things shape up as the field has narrowed and SC votes to tomorrow.
(Below and above are some pictures of Browder and O’Halloran with Rick Santorum, Jim DeMint, and. Michele Bachmann)
O’Halloran is the Founder and President of the Tea Party of Livingston Parish, and Co-Founder of River Parishes Tea Party. She also serves on the Tea Party Patriot’s National Council.
Browder has been involved in the tea party movement since its beginning and is a founding board member of SC Right. He is currently working along with a core group of others to create a statewide tea party organization in SC that is committed to remaining true to the values of the tea party movement.
The post Former “DeMint Drafters” Now Supporting Santorum appeared first on The South Carolina Conservative.