"Dana Milbank's Heritage disaster."

Dylan Byers explains.

"In some ways DeMint and Heritage are like divorcees who didn’t fit in their prior relationships, but now have found each other."

Writes Jennifer Rubin:

Heritage cannot keep up with AEI, Hoover and others on the serious scholarship, so why not get a huge fundraiser, a headline- grabber and household name? DeMint, meanwhile, can vastly increase his earnings (he is among the poorest members of the Senate), enjoy a lavish expense budget and not be bothered with the late hours and constituent complaints that make for a certain drudgery in the Senate. Moreover, he wasn’t doing anything in the Senate for years other than taunting colleagues and trying to stop legislation that failed the purity test (all of it). That in part is a function of a do-nothing Senate, but it was also DeMint’s choice to eschew lawmaking, policy enactment, bridge-building and steady but slow progress in passing a conservative agenda. Ultimately, that’s not very fulfilling, especially if you aren’t paid very well.

DeMint quits.

He'd already said he wasn't running for reelection, but his term wasn't up until 2017.

“I’m leaving the Senate now, but I’m not leaving the fight. I’ve decided to join The Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas....”

Which implicitly says something about the Senate and the future of the GOP (and the tea party within it).