DeMint Wary to Enter Primary Circus

As the nation waits to see who South Carolina Republicans pick in the GOP Presidential Primary, Sen. Jim DeMint explained why he's holding on to his endorsement.

DeMint spoke to the South Carolina Tea Party Convention less than a week before primary voters head to the polls, but he's got his sights on Senate Primaries this summer.

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"My focus is on the Senate, because I've seen us with a Republican president and a bad Senate and it's just the waste of a good president," DeMint said. "We can change the Senate and send good legislation to the president and send a balanced budget to the president."

But DeMint also alluded to the division among Tea Party voters and suggested that might be making him weary of endorsing one candidate.

"There are folks in this room who feel strongly in a lot of different ways," DeMint said before smiling. "That's why I'm not involved."

He stressed again for the crowd to recognize the ideas of candidates like U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who had a strong second-place finish in the New Hampshire Primary.

"If Republicans ignore the libertarian ideas of individual liberty and constitutional limited government, then our party is not going to be a Republican majority," DeMint said.

He also stressed unifying the party behind one candidate once the primary votes have been counted.

"The scariest statistic for me is that 47 percent of Americans approve of how Barack Obama is doing his job. Those of us who know better have got to be united," DeMint said. "We don't need a third party and we don't need to be nipping at the heels of somebody because they're not perfect on their voting record."