Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) clashed late last year during a closed-door luncheon as they debated whether Republicans should take a strong stand against earmarking.

DeMint, the leader of the conservative Steering Committee, called for a renewed emphasis to rein in pet projects, angering Stevens, the notorious earmarker and senior appropriator from Alaska.

At the November meeting of DeMint’s committee, a fuming Stevens called on former Steering Committee heads to convene an unusual meeting to discuss the panel’s future steps, according to one person knowledgeable of the situation.

Calling for a meeting was an “obvious message” by Stevens that he wanted DeMint removed as chairman because of the junior conservative’s relentless push against earmarks, the source said, asking for anonymity because the talks generally occur in confidence.

“He certainly spoke up in some of our Steering Committee lunches and expressed his displeasure,” DeMint said in a recent interview.

“I’ve made a lot of enemies within my own party, but I think some of these folks have the responsibility to show what it means to be a Republican,” said DeMint.

Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for Stevens, said his boss was “part of a group of several senators who were simply discussing the general management of the Steering Committee.”

Saunders said Stevens “made no such statement” about DeMint’s ouster, and DeMint could not recall whether the Alaskan sought to remove him from the post. Steering Committee staff declined to comment.

The Hill

If the Republicans really wanted to take back Congress this is how they could do it.  They could make a pledge to completely eliminate earmarks 100%.  Not a single one of them would request another.  They’d prove to the American people that they are going to walk the walk.  This won’t happen, of course, because there are too many in the party more concerned about buying votes for their reelection and you have senile old coots like Ted Stevens who get high off of the power they wield with our tax dollars.   Fortunately, I think 2008 will be the last we see of Ted Stevens.  He’s either going to jail or he is going to be defeated for reelection.

Even though the earmark push faces resistance within the GOP, DeMint and other conservatives say it would be wildly popular with the public and bring the party back to its core roots of fiscal conservatism.

“I think earmarks have basically destroyed the Republican Party,” DeMint said.

DeMint makes me proud to say I live in South Carolina.