Winners and Losers Jan. 12: DeMint Lends Romney a Hand

Sen. Jim DeMint may have said he is staying out of the primary race, but he entered the campaign cycle at just the right time to take on some of the candidates and defend his '08 pick.

Winner: The candidate receiving the assist was former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. On Mark Levin's program, . And he criticized the attacks from other candidates.

"I certainly don't like Republicans criticizing one of our own and sounding like Democrats," DeMint said. 

This kind of spirited defense is the second best thing to an endorsement and just as valuable to Romney.

See all of our daily winners and losers.

Loser: DeMint then went on the Laurie Ingraham show and took on anti-Romney ads from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"Well, believe it or not, it’s the same kind of ad they ran against me when I first ran for Congress," DeMint said. "I was not supposedly the conservative in the race. I don’t think that’s healthy right now."