Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) campaigns with Mitt Romney in 2008, when DeMint was an early supporter

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) campaigns with Mitt Romney in 2008, when DeMint was an early supporter

“If we get the [Senate] majority and the White House, we have got to pass a budget that sets up the structure, through reconciliation, to repeal Obamacare by killing the mandate,” he says. He also wants to “totally redo our tax code,” put “Medicare on a sustainable course,” and “deal with Social Security.” But should Republicans win then stumble, “it’d be betrayal to our country.” “We need to do it in the first 100 days,” DeMint says. “[Mitt] Romney has told me, face to face, that he knows that he needs to get these things done right away. He is looking at this as a one-term proposition.”

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, one of the most conservative Republicans in the U.S. Senate, says that if Republicans win in November, the tea party agenda will be the Republican agenda—and that Mitt Romney has personally pledged his support, even if it means he'd be a one-term president:Maybe DeMint's lying, but given that what he's describing sounds an awful lot like the Ryan plan, I wouldn't bet on it. Whatever the case, it's a question Romney should answer. Publicly. If he's pledged his support to pursuing Jim DeMint's tea party agenda, he should own up to it before the fact. Not after, when it's too late.