The two have never met, but Sarah Palin’s star power hasn’t gone unnoticed by Sen. Jim DeMint.
“We’ve never spoken, but she left me a nice message, and I believe she’s done more for the Republican Party than anyone since Ronald Reagan,” DeMint said.
In a Politico article published Wednesday, DeMint and other senators are quoted talking about 2012 election candidate and courting possibilities. Mitt Romney is “near the top of [DeMint’s] list” as well.
DeMint is not the first political official to draw connections between Palin and the 40th president. Earlier this year, Arizona Sen. John McCain made the Palin-Reagan comparison during a CNN interview.
“I think that anybody who has the visibility that Sarah has is obviously going to have some divisiveness,” McCain said. I remember that a guy named Ronald Reagan used to be viewed by some as divisive.”
In a November interview with Special Report’s Bret Baier, Palin expressed uncertainty that she could be compared to Reagan.
“Well, Reagan was criticized for being an ideologue, for being too superficial, too idealistic, too optimistic and a bit too independent. I see, perhaps, a comparison in maybe some of our record, but nobody can be compared to Ronald Reagan,” Palin said.
[WATCH: Palin on being compared to Reagan]