Finally. Conservatives are starting to fire up on the Cut, Cap, and Balance pledge and are deciding they must hold people accountable.

Senator Jim DeMint appears to be one of them. He tells ABC News that “It would be the most toxic vote” for Republicans.

Now, he’s not saying necessarily that he is going to challenge them, but there are growing hints that he might. I, for one, hope he will.

He said he will not support any candidate for Congress — incumbent or challenger — who does not sign a pledge promising not to vote for a debt limit increase without first passing a balanced budget amendment, making deep spending cuts and putting strict limits on future government spending. The same rule applies to presidential candidates.

“I don’t have many litmus tests, but this is one: Any candidate who doesn’t understand that we need to balance the budget should not be president of the United States,” DeMint said. “So, I’m looking for candidates to sign the pledge.”

Now, the question is whether DeMint will actually choose to primary Republicans who raise the debt ceiling without extracting serious concessions to include passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment. If this really is the gravest situation the country faces, then that should happen.