Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
Indiana's primary will be on Tuesday. It appears that Sen. Richard Lugar will likely lose to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock. The latest Howey/Depauw Battleground Poll gives Mourdock a 48-38 lead among Republican primary voters.
Five days ago--when the latest poll gave Mourdock an only five-point advantage--the folks at Powerline noted that "Recently, [Lugar's] campaign has been flailing at Mourdok with an air of desperation."
Mourdouck has said that if he loses he will endorse Lugar. Lugar has not made a similar promise. This morning's press release from the Mourdock campaign ends with the following two paragraphs:
“After a long and distinguished career, Senator Lugar has by all accounts run a very negative and personal campaign,” added [Mourdock spokesman Chris ]Conner. “Choosing to rely on attacking Richard Mourdock’s character rather than discussing his own record of supporting Obama’s liberal Supreme Court justices, earmarks and bailouts and even amnesty for illegal immigrants.”
“It is time for Senator Lugar to definitively address whether he will endorse Richard Mourdock for U.S. Senate, if he prevails in Tuesday’s primary,” concluded Conner. “After a career defined by his statesmanship, it would be a disappointment to all Hoosiers if Senator Lugar opted to make his final act a petty refusal to support the Republican ticket.”
Mourdock received the backing of many Tea Party supporters, who often criticized Lugar for being too moderate. Judged by my Political Quotients, Lugar's a 14 -- about Lindsay Graham or John McCain territory, but still significantly more conservative than Susan Collins (44) or Olympia Snowe (48) territory.
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Comments:
Mar '11
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
Excellent, one more RINO on the way out.
Mar '11
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
Good, although this is a lesser of two evils election if Mourdock's past statements from the 90's are any indication. One can only hope that he's become a lot more conservative since then. But Lugar has become a bitter old man clinging to power, with a huge sense of entitlement.
Apr '11
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
If only Graham and McCain were leaving with him.
Jul '10
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
There goes one of the most sincere smiles in all of Congress.
Dec '10
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
Tim,
Richard Lugar was a very effective Senator. Unfortunately, he is confused as to which party he now belongs. His opponent is definitely a Republican and the Republican primary voters recognize the difference.
So long Senator Lugar it is nobody's fault but your own.
Regards,
Jim
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
I dunno. I guess I find myself reverting to William F. Buckley's famous dictum that we ought to support the rightward-most viable candidate. Mourdock may be a tea party candidate, but if he defeats Lugar in the primary he's likely to go on to a victory in the general election.
I'm no Hoosier, but I sure sympathize with Mourdoch and all those backing him.
Edited on May 5, 2012 at 2:53amJun '11
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
I'm about wherr Peter is. Lugar isn't the squishiest squish, but he has apparently convinced himself that he's Senator-for-Life.
Jul '10
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
I am a Hoosier and will cast my vote for Mourdock on Tuesday. During the one televised debate, Mr. Mourdock made the only compelling argument that can be made against a distinguished career: "It's just time."
Senator Lugar is a throwback to the time when there was bipartisanship. It just doesn't exist anymore. I would welcome the Senator home, but I have doubts whether he'll reside here. I hope he does. This is a somewhat unfortunate end to a respectable career.
We're also retiring Dan Burton, another long serving member of Congress. We nearly got him out in the last primary, so I guess he saw the writing on the wall. He's certainly no squish, but never met a pork-laden bill he didn't like.
Both Lugar and Burton failed to step up when it mattered. I'm not referring to the past four years, but going back many before that. They are not alone.
Sep '10
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
I tried taking that test. Too boring, sorry. I don't know why anyone would want to be a Senator for life like Lugar. That alone should disqualify him. I stopped taking the test when I realized I would vote with Republicans against Democrats ALL the time! How could a sane person not? Luckily I have no constituents and lobbyists banging at my door or bending my ear, and I don't have to beg for money. The US Senate will make a sane person crazy. I see the evidence and I can see the causal factors.
May '11
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
If I lived in Indiana, I would vote for Mourdouk, Mourdok, Mourdouck, Mourdock, OR Mourdoch over Lugar!
Oct '10
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
I think Mitch McConnell's "business as usual/don't rock the boat" approach is having an effect here. People are frustrated with the failure to deal with impending financial crises, and that's helping Tea Party types (sorry, Peggy Noon, but Lugar's experience is mostly "how to get along with the opposition") in the primaries.
I look forward to being one of those insurgent voters, as I vote for Ted Cruz on May 29th
May '11
Re: Sen. Lugar Likely to Lose his Primary
As a Hoosier, I will be voting for Mourdock (and have the yard sign to prove it!) I have been shocked and saddened by the negative and misleading campaign Senator Lugar has been running; it reeks of desperation and denial. I have voted four times in the general elections for Lugar, but his votes on Obama's SCOTUS nominees, combined with the facts that he has already served six Senate terms and is 80 years old, made any future votes for him impossible. Where I once admired his "statesmanship" and "maturity", I now prefer a senator who stands by his (and my) conservative principles and lives in the 21st, rather than the 19th, century. I wonder now which is the true Sen. Lugar: the avuncular, dignified statesman, or the cut-throat, scorched-earth, that-Senate-seat-belongs-to-me-until-I-die candidate.
Edited on May 7, 2012 at 5:52pm