richard mourdock in indiana, christine o'donnell in delaware, ken buck out in colorado.ob, i'm going to back to this again. when the chief ramrod of the right wing senate candidates leaves the post, who would replace him? how is this good news for the right? >> look, i'm not saying whether it's good news or bad news, i'm telling you what i think his calculation is. his calculation is he can be more of a free agent. i think he will get very involved in primaries, he will push hard right issues. i wish him well because the candidates he succeeded in nominating have quite often lost winnable seats. the notion, for example, that ted cruz -- the republicans were going to win that seat and it was going to be a conservative republican, but there are at least five senate seats and probably control of the senate that have been lost because of these tea party nominees, and he's driven that process. but you watch him drive it from outside. think of grover norquist and the influence he has. i don't like grover norquist. i don't like jim demint, but that's what i think he's thinking.

he beat charlie crist in a primary and one of his biggest failures is christine o'donnell.e's not afraid to get into the mix and we -- he didn't want to be here much longer. he was going to be out in 2016 so he was ready to go. you're right, the question is what does he do with this new position? use it to positive agenda? tell america what we stand for or, as many republicans we all talk too are worried about is he's going to use that perch to punish republicans who don't tow the tea party agenda. gwen: what is the tea party? we saw that with dick army and paid a lot of money basically to go away. we've seen a lot of shifts and moves. jim demint's departure from the south carolina senate seat races the question of who replaces him? >> right, and there's a tea party governor whom he elected and there's a lot of talk she should pick tim scott for that seat. also a tea party candidate and he's african-american. what a great opportunity. that i got criticized for not diversifying and anybody that wasn't white. now you have an indian female governor appointing an african-americ

selecting candidates like sharron angle and some of the whackier ones like christine o'donnell.und the country always trying to get several notches to the right of what we have. bob bennett, not right wing enough, orin hatch, not right win enough, john mccain not right wing -- their idea of right wing is way out, and the leader of them all is this guy who is leaving the senate. how do you see it? >> i think this is the place where the conservative movement and the republican party often times part ways, and jim demint has been the burr in the bonnet of mitch mcconnell who people on the left think of as this hard right intransigent guy because he said his top priority was making barack obama a one-term president, but really mitch mcconnell in a lot of ways is like john boehner. an old-time dealmaker. people like jim demint can't stand people like that. they feel the party has become to easy to capitulate. remember with the budget control act when democrats were screaming bloody murder and thought the president had capitulated? guess what? on the far right they thought john boehne

. >> reporter: candidated like christine o'donnell of delaware, who in 2010, aired an ad assuring voters she was not a witch. demint says he can be a more effective communicator of conservative ideas by leading a think tank. he will also get a hefty race. the current president of the her tan foundation makes more than $1 million a year. a u.s. senator scott, makes $174,000. >> pelley: nancy, thank you. washington state's new marijuana law went into effect today, make together first state to legalize the drug for recreational use for people 21 or older. john blackstone tells us those that are supposed to enforce law are a little foggy on the details. >> reporter: at seattle police headquarters, jonah spangenthal lee was given the task of explaining the state state's new marijuana law on an online guide. >> what do you call it? mari-what? the guide to legal pot use in seattle. >> reporter: a lot of people are saying thattix. it will take a year for the state to write regulations for selling marijuana illegally. for now that leaves some confusion gaffes. for example it's still illegal to sm

they really would have taken it back if it wasn't for christine o'donnell and others. like dick armey, he did leave his post, reverend al, but he got an $8 million payday. they always get more pay but it's great to see somebody like that actually having to leave the senate. >> he was one of the faces of the tea party movement, governor. with him stepping down today, what was that mean, in your opinion, for the future of the tea party who has already lost major characters and major players in the congress so far? >> well first, rev, i want to go on record and say that i'll miss these guys. they drove more people away from the republican party to become independents or democrats. but the whack co- fashion isn't gone entirely. because of some idea that the u.n. was going to come in and take over home schooling, they are nuts. and they are still nuts enough around to make trouble for the republican party. you're right. sensible republicans are moving away in droves. what is it? 44 republicans have already said they are not going to honor the no tax pledge? that's good news

he also endorsed candidates including kr christine i'm not a witch o'donnell, todd legitimate rape akinnd richard god intends for you to get raped mourdock. demint couldn't help himself on the way out giving speaker boehner one poke in the eye on the rush limbaugh show yesterday. >> i think it's safe to say boehner is not forcing either of you guys out, right? >> that's pretty true. might work a little bit the other way, rush. >> zing. is demint more of a threat to his party now he's outside the senate? as lbj famously said of jay edgar hoover probably better to have him inside the tent out, than outside the tent in. joining us is former chairman of the rnc, in a red sweater, msnbc contributor, the notorious michael steele. that is a fetching color for you, chairman. >> thank you. ho, ho, hey. >> chairman steele tell us what this departure means for the rnc? everybody is reading this differently. some saying tea he's going to become a thorn in the side of gop when at heritage, other people are saying get rid of him, let the gop become a party of dealmaking and legislating inside congres

selecting candidates like sharron angle and some of the whackier ones like christine o'donnell.ll around the country always trying to get several notches to the right of what we have. bob bennett, not right wing enough, john mccain not right wing -- their idea of right wing is way out, and the leader of them all is this guy who is leaving the senate. how do you see it? >> i think this is the place where the conservative movement and the republican party often times part ways, and jim demint has been the burr in the bonnet of mitch mcconnell who people on the left think of as this hard right intransigent guy because he said his top priority was making barack obama a one-term president, but really mitch mcconnell in a lot of ways is like john boehner. an old-time deal maker. people like jim demint can't stand people like that. they feel the party has become to easy to capitulate. remember with the budget control act when democrats were screaming bloody murder and thought the president had capitulated? on the far right they thought john boehner and mitch mcconnell had capitulated a

his candidate lost in the general election, including obviously richard mourdock in indiana, christine o'donnellin colorado. what do you think is going to be the influence now for jim demint going into the heritage foundation? >> i think he's been a singular failure when you look at the candidates that he's endorsed. they have all lost. >> well, that is not entirely true. he says marco rubio was the first one that supported me. >> he doesn't have a good win-loss percentage. beyond that, i think it's just another sign of the disarray of the republican party and the tea party movement. i think they don't know what they stand for or what to do. barack obama says his higher popularity, republicans are completely not unified. they don't know which way to go forward. i think they have soul searching to figure out what they want to stand for and in reality what they need to do is be more balanced and more inclusive and change their views on some things if they are going to be successful. >> do you think it's possible that he saw the writing on the wall, chip? the l.a. times calls senator demint's a sig

. >> would you give him credit for promoting christine o'donnell, todd akin and other individuals?> no, that's would have to be demerits. there's no gold star, but a swift kick in the pants so to speak. i think mr. melber's point is exactly right. that unintended consequences, nevertheless can have positive results. the reality is that if he is, indeed, forged that new competitive spirit legislatively speaking where people are competing over a particular spot in the senate or in congress because of ideas and that those ideas mean something to actually existing people, then that is for -- all for the good. the reality, however, is that mr. demint did not promote ideas or people who were edifying in the broad spectrum of ideas for american society. i think by exposing some of the bitter contradictions that led to some of the political from fracases we saw in america. i wouldn't hail him for his choices. i would hail him for his ability to put a spotlight on some of the contradictions and spot lights. >> i think we should be thankful for when he said when he said being less dependent

. >> but he is also the guy that gave his personal seal of approval to crazies like christine o'donnellharron angle and richard mourdock and todd akin. in the end, is this a net-net win for republicans who have some amount of their sanity, a shred of it left? >> not necessarily. when they did the count of his 35 major legislative proposals, none were enacted into law. as you were reporting, alex, it was really the king maker status and the relationship with the tea party that he leveraged more so than doing anything specific on the hill. having said that, what i think is particularly interesting is this reflects sort of the weird moment that we're in political life in the country. participation is very high. democracy is very low. and so while people are turning out to vote, and we have all this incredible enthusiasm out there. we just had this big long election. we have a congress that everyone knows is broken. we have money that really, you know, floods the system. and we have a senate in particular that has record-breaking filibuster and obstruction rates under this administration as

going to be the next senator, everybody knew that, but he lost the primary to a lady named christine o'donnell. so, there's a state of a million people -- >> a tea party person -- >> in delaware, yeah. yeah. but with a million people in delaware, only 30,000 voted for her in the primary. and that was enough to keep mike castle off the ballot. and the million people in delaware couldn't choose him. and, you know, and that's true in almost every state. so, that's how it's happened. the ideologues have focused on using the party primaries to elect people who are not representative, maybe not even representative of their own party. but the other candidates now cannot be on the ballot in november. you know, the congress has most of the major power in this country about war, about taxes, about spending. you know, so, when you narrow the choices that the american people have as to who's going to serve in congress, in the house or senate, you're really undermining the whole democratic system. and i don't know if you noticed this example just the other day. bill bolling, the lieutenant governor of virg

losing far right candidates who were not the first choice of party leaders such as delaware's christine o'donnelly reid in 2010. as forde mint's replacement colbert said the choice is clear. >> let's see you want somebody young. somebody conservative. somebody from south carolina. maybe somebody who has a super p.a.c. >> reporter: now the governor has not indicated whether she favors colbert or anyone else. she may not make her decision for another month or so. but if by some small chance he's not selected norah and charlie he could still run for the seat outright when both of south carolina senate seats are up for grabs in 2014. >> all right, nancy cordes. i won't hold my breath on that one. from stephen colbert to justin bieber. he says winning a grammy award is one of his goals but it won't happen this year. he didn't get a single nomination and he's not happy about it. we'll show you what's next. >> this portion of cbs "this morning" is sponsored by party city. dress up your holiday party. party city nobody has more party for less. ,,,, >>> this is a cbs 5 eyewitness news morning update. >>>

for example, remember christine o'donnell, i'm not a witch, from delaware. ken buck of colorado. and others. so those are some of the reasons why he definitely has ruffled many a-feather with the party leaders and i have to tell you first thing i saw when the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell released a statement today was making the point that demint had, quote, uncompromising service. didn't have to read between the lines too much to see there's a backhanded compliment. >> dana, what about bigger picture here and talking about the republican party aenl just talking about folks like ryan and rubio, let's say, part of maybe the next generation republicans. do you think that demint's brand of republicanism is falling out of favor with sort of the newer version of what the republican party is trying to create? >> i don't think so. i think that demint himself said thefe le i've had -- easier for him to leave because there's more people like him in the senate. you know, him saying that he can do more on the outside might be true, you know, what he's done on the inside as i sai

some of the candidates he backed, christine o'donnell, the nevada candidate who ran against harry reidin the world. he said health care would be the president's waterloo. yes. the president suffered a heavy midterm defeat, a tsunami of republicans coming in and taking back the house of representatives. but after that, the president emerging victorious. he's going on to the heritage foundation. came to washington to do good. he's going to end up doing well over there. >> su susan, the supreme court taking up the issue of gay marriage. the majority of americans support this. what about the republican party? >> it will probably take longer than it should, unfortunately. but this is alleges a generational thing. i think that's where we've seen the increase in support of marriage equality is from the younger generation. it's almost a no-brainer. so if the republican party wants to start expanding and reaching younger voters, then they really have to at least understand that there is a point of view there that they have to understand and respect. >> okay. morris, your burning question after

the people he has tried to bring to the senate, you can credit jim deminute for christine o'donnell withel from nevada. both lost. this guy stood by todd aiken gave money to todd aiken after the rape comments sfood by richard murdoch. this is the guy who buckedtood by richard murdoch. this is the guy who bucked mitch mcconnell and supported tea partyer rand paul for senate and rand paul is now in the senate. in fact, a lot of republicans blame jim demint because he supported these walkinghacko primary candidates who ended up becoming the nominees of their parties and lost at blame him for not taking control of the u.s. senate when they had an opportunity top do so. jim demint is a guy who led the opposition to obamacare. jim demint wanted legislation to ban gay or unmarried teachers from teaching in public school. you can't -- you can't get any more extreme than jim demint. he blocked creation of the national women's history museum. i mean, you go on and on and on. you can't get any more far right wing. so it's good for the senate to get rid of this guy. but you know what's troubling to

he could never get them elected but christine o'donnell and you know, richard mourdock and all of theout -- sharon engel in nevada. couldn't get them elected. was able to get tim scott appointed. it is ironic. here you've got -- he will be the only african-american senator. but basically another allen west right? the first black republican since 1901 in the united states senate and yet he's a tea partier. >> the other thing i think about somebody like scott is you know, he's not going to sort of sit back and learn the ropes and learn the issues and -- >> bill: he will try to be a show-off. >> absolutely. you've got a guy who i think is going to be on fox news every five minutes you know. okay, great, fine. >> bill: last year during the negotiations over the debt ceiling, he suggested they should impeach president obama. because he wouldn't go along with what the house republicans wanted. >> level of intelligence. >> bill: this is the voice we got in the united states senate. and you -- there in madrid, telling people about this american election. we learned a lot from this, didn't we?

remember christine o'donnell?ate republican leader mitch mcconnell was annoyed for backing o'donnell and a couple other losing candidates in 2010 and cost republicans the majority. at the time demint told us he was unapologetic and still is. you're trying to send a message to the gop establishment. >> the gop establishment is out. and what we're going to do is help the american people take back their government. >> reporter: in the flood of gop reaction to demint's surprise retirement, he didn't have to read between the lines much in the gop leader's three-sentence statement to see some hard feelingsthanking demint for his service and another who called demint a friend. >> i've always liked the guy. and even though i disagree with so much of what he's done, i appreciate that -- i personally believe he does this out of a sense of real belief. it's not political posturing for him as it is for a lot of people. so i like jim demint. i wish him well. >> reporter: now, wolf, remember jim demint is one of the most conser

like christine "i am not a witch" o'donnell if you remember her. demint backed the not a witch candidate and she lost big time. he backed todd aiken of the legitimate rape comments and mourdock of the other rape comments. the reason jim demint isn't in the majority today is because of jim demint. but jim demint says he's okay with that. >> i'd rather have 30 republicans in the senate who believe in the principles of freedom than 60 who don't believe in anything. [ applause ] well, let -- let me make myself even clearer. i would rather have 30 marco rubios in the senate than 60 arlen specters. >> arlen specter you might remember got driven out of the senate in part by folks like demint. he went to the democratic party and became the 60th vote on obama care. so that worked out well for demint. but demint does rather this being in the minority thing so much that he wants to seven out the rest of his term in the minority. when you're a senator and you even begin talking to another employer about leaving the senate, you have to file this paper with the