U.S. Sen. DeMint announces S.C. re-election bid

COLUMBIA (AP) – U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint launched a bid for a second term Monday with no GOP primary opponent, $2.8 million in hand and a growing national profile.

But he'll likely need the cash since his profile has grown as he famously said Republicans can make the national health care overhaul debate a Waterloo for President Barack Obama.

"If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo," DeMint said in July. "It will break him."

Democrats seized on that.

"I think that has been a rallying cry for Democrats," South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler said. "Senator DeMint apparently intends to run against the president."

The Waterloo remark prompted the Democratic National Committee in July to run ads criticizing DeMint in South Carolina and saying he didn't have plans of his own for a health care overhaul. While DeMint said he did have a proposal, Democrats, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, aren't likely to back down, Fowler said.

"I think the DSCC is eagerly anticipating going up against Jim DeMint based on my conversations with them," Fowler said. "They very clearly are interested in this one."

DSCC spokesman Eric Schultz said DeMint "doesn't seem to care much about South Carolina. Whether it is his attempts to stop health care reform, block any economic progress, or his international travel, Jim DeMint continues to marginalize himself as out of touch with South Carolina's mainstream values."

DNC spokeswoman Joanne Peters referred questions to Schultz.

DeMint campaign manager Luke Byars expects the national party will make the effort. "I don't know of any other U.S. senator who has actually had the Obama White House ask the DNC to run a commercial in their home state this far out from the election," Byars said.

DeMint has been outspoken against his Republicans as well. The video released Monday to announce his bid mentions his efforts opposing overhauls of immigration laws and health care.

"It's been a tough fight, politicians in both parties continue to support more spending, more debt, higher taxes and more government takeovers," DeMint said. "This has brought our economy to its knees and cost millions of Americans their jobs."

Byars said that talk has "resonated with a lot of voters."

The campaign says it will report later this week that it raised $500,000 in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, and will have $2.8 million on hand.

The Greenville Republican for now has no opponent in June's primary.