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Darron Cummings / AP
Senate candidates running in the GOP primary, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.,and Richard Mourdock, left, participate in a debate Wednesday, April 11, 2012, in Indianapolis.
In the 2010 midterm elections, the GOP was jarred by an array of suddenly-potent Tea Party-backed challengers taking on the party establishment. The movement achieved mixed results overall, but resulted in a Republican Party heavily influenced by it.
History is repeating itself in Indiana where one of the Senate’s two longest-serving Republicans, Richard Lugar, 80, who was first elected in 1976, is facing a challenge in the May 8 primary from state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who became famous in 2009 for opposing the auto industry bailout and the forced write-downs for Chrysler bond holders.
Mourdock is backed by Tea Party activists, the Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association, and old-line social conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly.
As Lugar struggles to fend off Mourdock’s challenge, Democrats hope their candidate, Rep. Joe Donnelly, will profit from the GOP schism and pick up the incumbent’s seat in November.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Wednesday, “The race is very close now and it’ll be decided on May 8 and a number of factors could apply. Obviously turnout is important. Gov. (Mitch) Daniels’s ad supporting Sen. Lugar is a very positive development for him,” he said. “But our job is to hold the seat (in November) and we’ll support the nominee in the general election, but I think we will hold that seat regardless of what happens in the primary.”
A Lugar loss would end the political career of a man who was first elected in 1964 to the Indianapolis school board and who in the 1970s was known as “Richard Nixon’s favorite mayor” when he held that office in Indianapolis. Since taking his Senate seat in 1977, Lugar has become his party’s cerebral foreign policy expert.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. who serves alongside Lugar on the Foreign Relations Committee, said “the knowledge that Sen. Lugar has – having worked on these issues for decades – has been invaluable ... Certainly he’s someone who’s very respected in the Senate and he’s listened to by both sides of the aisle.”
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But no matter how deeply respected Lugar is on Capitol Hill, Mourdock’s charge is that Lugar isn’t conservative enough – although Lugar’s lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union, based on dozens of roll call votes, is 77 out 100, putting him a long way from Senate GOP centrists such as Olympia Snowe of Maine, who has a 48.5 lifetime ACU rating.
Politico's Alex Burns explains why certain conservative groups are launching attack ads aimed at longtime GOP Sen. Dick Lugar criticizing his stance on gun rights, tax hikes and government bailouts.
Mourdock’s campaign ads regularly link Lugar with Democratic President Barack Obama. Early in Obama’s Senate stint, Lugar helped him establish his foreign policy credentials. In 2005 Obama accompanied Lugar on a trip to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan to inspect weapons dumps and sites where smallpox and other pathogens were kept.
“When Dick Lugar moved to Washington, he left behind his conservative Hoosier values,” Mourdock says in one of his television spots. “How else to explain his support for amnesty, for Obama’s liberal Supreme Court choices, even his vote to bail out Greece?”
An ad the NRA has run against Lugar tells viewers that, “Some things shouldn’t change. Our Indiana values, stewardship of the land, and the protection of our Second Amendment and hunting rights. But over his 36 years in Washington, Dick Lugar has changed ... He’s become the only Republican candidate in Indiana with an “F” rating from the NRA.”
The NRA grievance against Lugar goes way back: he voted for Bill Clinton’s 1993 Brady handgun bill and for the ban on certain semiautomatic weapons, called “assault weapons” by gun control advocates.
Lugar, always avuncular and courteous, told reporters this week in Washington that his battle with Mourdock is “a very close contest (and) has been throughout.”
Asked about Mourdock’s view that he has changed in his years in Washington, Lugar chuckled amiably and said “I think it’s his view but we’re getting along fine with voters.”
Since last year, Democrats have accused Lugar of being detached from Indiana issues and denounced him for living in Virginia. They gained ammunition when he had to reimburse the Treasury for some hotel stays in Indiana that were charged to his Senate office account. On the residency issue, Lugar said Tuesday, “It was clearly somebody engaging in negative campaign research, trying to find some difficulty.”
Since this is his first primary challenge since 1976, is it difficult since he’s perhaps out of practice? “No,” Lugar replied, “I’ve been campaigning all over the country for the last 35 years and I’m campaigning vigorously again this time ... This is a very vigorous experience and we’re doing the best we can.”
The Republican fratricide in Senate races two years ago had at best mixed results for party leaders.
Darron Cummings / AP
Brent Gentry shows his support for Richard Mourdock before a U.S. Senate debate Wednesday, April 11, 2012, in Indianapolis. Mourdock is running against Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.
One of the GOP incumbents, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, ultimately survived after losing the Republican primary by running in November as a write-in candidate.
Establishment GOP candidates in Arizona, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Missouri defeated their conservative primary opponents and went on to win in November. The party favorite in Washington beat his conservative challenger in the primary, then lost in November.
Elsewhere, conservative challengers forced one GOP senator, Robert Bennett, into retirement in Utah and another, Arlen Specter, into switching parties in Pennsylvania.
Conservative favorites won four Senate seats (in Pennsylvania, Utah, Kentucky, and Florida), but lost to Democrats in four other Senate contests (Delaware, Connecticut, Nevada, and Colorado) – races which more mainstream Republican candidates might have won.
One of the Establishment GOP victims of the Tea Party surge in 2010, was former Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware, who lost to Christine O’Donnell – who then was defeated by Democrat Chris Coons in November.
Castle is now a partner with the DLA Piper law firm.
Reflecting on the parallels with his bitter loss to O’Donnell two years ago, Castle said if Lugar loses the primary, “it has the effect of making it more and more difficult for people who take middle-of-the-road positions, who try to work with both sides of the aisle to get things done ... .”
The Tea Party trend puts such pragmatism, Castle said, “at jeopardy in the Republican Party ... It moves the party not just further to the right, but to a much more conservative stance than it used to have. It’s going to ultimately lead to a minority status in the country.”
Pointing to the danger of Mourdock winning the primary but losing to Donnelly in November, Castle said that for Indiana Republicans, Lugar “may not be 100 percent what they might want, but the alternative is you may elect somebody from the other party.”
Castle’s campaign fund has given $1,000 to Lugar’s campaign.
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Seeing the race from a different angle, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, whose Senate Conservatives PAC supported O’Donnell against Castle and Sharron Angle in Nevada in 2010, said, “Richard is a friend of mine – but of course, we’ve got two Richards in that race. Dick Lugar is a friend of mine, but I’d be honored to serve with Mourdock. He’s clearly someone who is in line with some of the things we’re trying to do,” but he added, “I’m not going to get involved” in the Lugar versus Mourdock primary. “I’m not involved in any incumbent races right now.”
Meanwhile Democrats are waiting to take on the survivor of the GOP primary. "While Joe Donnelly has been focused on jobs and the economy, both Richard Mourdock and Dick Lugar have spent the last year slinging mud, pandering to the Tea Party, and showing voters that they're both of touch with Indiana's middle class. Joe's candidacy gives us an excellent chance of winning in November regardless of who Republicans nominate," said Shripal Shah, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Despite the Democrats touting Donnelly's chances, there are echoes of Indiana’s 2010 Senate race when Democrats had hopes for former Rep. Brad Ellsworth, a centrist Democrat with a voting record much like Donnelly's.
Ellsworth ended up losing by 14 percentage points to Republican Dan Coats. Democrats say 2012 isn't 2010; turnout this year is going to be significantly higher and the economy is healthier now than it was in 2010.
But Donnelly voted for the Obama health care bill and for his stimulus plan, neither of which will help with conservative voters in Indiana. And his fund-raising has been less than stellar.
Democrats privately say that Donnelly runs stronger against Mourdock than against Lugar.
Tom Williams / Roll Call/Getty Images
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., talks to a reporter before the Senate Republican Policy luncheon in the Capitol.
“Yeah, I understand that,” Cornyn said. “Sen. Lugar is a legend in Indiana. To show how quickly things change, six years ago, he was uncontested in the Republican primary and in the general election ... But it will probably make it more of a contest if Sen. Lugar is not the nominee, but I’m confident we’ll hold the seat.” Cornyn said the Indiana race “is not one of my worries.”
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Everyone must get out to vote. This is closer than we think it is. We cannot afford to have Romney as President. Surely, he will undue the Affordable Health Care Act that President Obama and all of us, his supporters, have worked so long and hard for. Health care is a human right. Once we achieve this, we have more human rights to obtain which can be achieved only under Barak Obama. For example, healthy food should be made available to all Americans free of charge. This is a health issue. You can still purchase less healthy food should you choose to, but healthy food should be made available by the government free of charge. The same goes for housing. Every American has a right to have housing. The government should provide townhome style housing or even condos to its citizens and residents. We shouldn’t have to pay for our housing. If Americans want a large
luxurious house, then they shall be free to purchase one using their own
money. Minimum housing should be provided however. Imagine all of the
jobs that will be created by passing such a law! Also, the government should nationalize all higher educational institutions so no poorer American should ever have to compete with a wealthy right-winger capitalist for the same level of
education. This will level the playing field and make things fair. And lastly,
we should have one automobile (green energy only) provided to each family so
they do not have to bear the burden of expense in commuting to work and
school. Again, imagine how many jobs this will create. Also, I shouldn’t have
to pay for gas so I demand the government provide my gasoline for my commuting
until green energy becomes a 100% viable alternative to fossil fuels. And if
the right wingers don’t like this, they can buy whatever car they want with
their own greedy money. And if they don’t like President Obama, they can, as Romney so eloquently states, “Self deport.” Where? The North Pole for all I care.
Either way, we can achieve these things if President Obama is re-elected
for another term. So, EVERYONE – GET TO THE POLLS…
The Tea party is bad for the Republican party, and the country. Democracy is built on the idea of people with different viewpoints finding reasonable solutions to problems thru compromise. Without compromise, nothing can get done, which is exactly what is going on now, and probably what the Tea Party wants. To the Tea Party, compromise equals treason. The problem is, this unwillingness to work together can lead us down a dangerous road.
And this is why we have MoveOn.org and the Occupy Wall Street Movement. These are non-devisive, class act political movements with the right messages of hope. They are non offensive and do not cause problems with law enforcement like the T-Party fanatics!
Obama turns out to be one of the worst Pres we ever had , the Republicans
come up with the same old lines of slavery for the workers . Back in NYState , some 30 years ago , the Republican Governor candidate was for the elimination of pensions to all Governmental Workers . This was before the Internet era when computers were being developed . The same idea is used by the Democrats as well as the Republicans in the theft of Social Security , Fica monies paid into the what was supposed to be separated funds .
Most of what is called Government Benefits like Medicare and now Medicare D or prescripion drugs program were meant to do whay the Tea party was in favor of years ago which is allow big business not to fund retiree expenses for their ( businesses ) retirees and not to have pension obligations . For year , wall streeters , knew that IBM had unfunded pension obligations on their balance sheet . Why , because this unfunding of these obligation allowed it to function better . Why was this allowed well the big shot exectives could alway claim this was the way the Social Security Fund was funded , namely with bad debt .
As indicate in another post , Social Security monies go into the general fund of the US , and it is replaced with an IOU , or bad debt note . This to wall street or the banking system is worse than any corporate bond or loan by any company. It has no time that it has to be paid . It is used to pay whatever is the over budget items is incurred or is the private piggy bank of the Pres and Congress .
Obama made the whole process a lot worse . Here is the Obama problem . He is buying votes by allowing those not entitled to Medicare or Social Security benefits to be entitled . Many new Americans Citizens truly believe the streets are paved with Gold . Obama made them entitled , not by work but by his buying of votes . To wit Obama is putting the finishing touches on destroying what are called entitlements that prior to Obama had some element of work for the benefits. Republicians and Democrats with spin will tell you that these benfits or their lack of benefits called entitlement have to be cut back . Well the real truth of this is these benefits have been benefiting not the people but Congress and and business for years . The whole idea is to cut the throat more of labor , or to make labor into slaves . "Paygo " is the name of the scheme to steal Social Security monies with bad IOU and pay it out as going into the general fund, not a pension fund . Remember Debt without a maturity would be rated by any rating agency for corporate debt as bad debt . This is because there is no intention of having this debt ever fully paid back . There is no law that says they have to fund the Pension fund with Fica monies with real money . It may be true that all the money coming in is paid out now , but I am talking about stealing the principal amounts for years . So , the money was never in the Social Security Funded accounts for years as what was placed there was an IOU . Therefore , Bush's proposal about investing portions of contributions or Fica would raise question of the other portion of the contract which is separate funds for Fica at all time and have these fund in liquid asset money , not IOU s , and then spend all incoming money , increasing the national debt , with no one knowing this is going on with Paygo , which uses Social Security money as supplement , none budgeted monies of the United States , which is not a retirmement account.
Obama is the worse killer on the block . He is confusing you all to believe that new citizens are entitled to this by law making them entitled .He is making Medicare as one example and extending this to children which is from 1 to 22 or something like this. In a very rich country with loads of jobs and no debt extending benefits TO THOSE WHO DID NOT RECEIVED THESE BENEFITS BY WORK WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE . In Obama case , by extending benefits to those who did not earn these benefits in very poor economic times to confuse the meaning of the word , """"ENTITLEMENTS """" becasue Obama redefined this word , and his party , to make it what is was not supposed to be , meant for those who paid in for these benefits . In fact Medicare or Medical benefits ought to be taxed to the firm whose retirees receive these benefits . So , if a person is entitled to a pension by Federal Standards who should be paying the retirees the benefit of a specific company . the company where the retiree , is vested . Vesting is a federal law . A person is vested for every 5 years and years thereafter for a pension plan. This is the same way Medicare abcd , should be funded . As to Fica funds being stolen , they are stolen ,as SOP , by Congress and by both parties . Young people say accordng to government there will be no social security for them . Absoultely this is true , because for years the funds were are still are being stolen by the Congress and bad debt iou put in its place . The politicaian stole the money - Paygo is the their process of stealing the money .
What is the point of discussion here except to say that Obama made the process a lot worse and added to the theft of the Entitlement by redefining what is a proper entitlement to buy votes . Obama even is resorting to racial comments to stur up the Black vote in the Zimmerman case . Obama and the Democrats are making the problem worse . He stinks as a President . He added trillions to the debt of the United States . He was supposed to end two wars when he came to the White House . We are still in one of these wars without an end , and no solution to terrorism because the will of both Bush and Obama is to want a no win war. Get this they are reform and benefiting the countries who harbored the terrorists and will still do so , and still do so . The point of Obama killing Ben Ladden is moot compared to the point that of the reality that Ben Ladden was a welcome guest of Pakistan and this is main point of wanting terrorism and war , to make us slaves . Get it we are working so wars can't be won . It is completely off the wall , that even the sports fans don't get this . Wars are engaged in to be won , not for nation building of those who allowed the terrorist in to engage in terror and attacks against us . In this case , who is the enemy .
The answer is get allow recalls every year by the public if any Congressman or Pres is not doing their job . Every Federal official that is elected should be on the ballet every year for recall and reelection if recalled . There are other solutions as well , but one has to have a stomach and a desire to stop this corruption.
I would like to talk about QE 3 which is almost a fact given where we are in the economy . Sine it is assumed that this is beyond the smarts of readers and only a business question it is not placed into being political which it certainly is .
It looks like both parties are on a pathway to self destruct the US Economy and make workers slaves . This is a constant theme of the ages and still true .
Slavery was a profitable business for many of the Blacks in Africa selling slaves .
Slavery was a practice before the issue was of Black or White or Color . Slavery has been the issue from ancient times.
The idea of Social Security was a safety net by FDR so that slavery would not be the Standard . Standing on a bread line or as I was told by the Bush AD FEMA , that I should ask my charity for help when I was left homeless after Wilma is in fact a form of telling someone they should be a slave . There were two classes of Citizen whose who were entitled because they were connected to the right party and those who had to go to their welfare center called a charity , or a church , but certainly not the Federal Government who was reserved for the exectional who were of their party and echoed what they said .
So , too is the Fed in its actions political first and second . What does the US do when it certainly should not be the reserve currency of the world.
6 million in new debt is being created every minute . The flood gates are not holding and the Fed is playing a game pretending they can do something .
We are even bailing out Europe with Ameican Fed exchanges supporting foreign currency , when in effect are dead as a nation . Inflation is not due to high gas prices but due to high prices to eliminate debt by inflation of the debt . This has never worked in the history of the world as a long term policy .
Chuck,
Thanks for your two fact-free posts.
Where do you get your "information"?
I just love watching middle-aged, fat, angry white men fighting over which of them is the most religious, bigoted, racist of all.........
its funny how some really expect us to believe that the mission to get osama was pre-concieved by george w. bush. the man was not interested in getting him. he was too busy tapping our phone lines and searching for wmds... there was no plan to capture or kill osama during bush's tenure. just like on a website called political.com, some ass lied and said that bush put out a timeline. and i'm like, how in the hell you get such information and why wasn't it mentioned as a priority during that time? go ahead keep spreading the lies! because, when your done.. the historical fact remains... PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA GAVE THE ORDER! everybody remembers those dark days when there was a chart plastered on the upper right-hand side of the television of the severity of the war(green, orange, yellow and red).. everybody remembers, when bush pushed to have phones tapped here in the united states to find terrorists... everybody knows when they looked on tv of how the war took an interesting turn towards the bush family's arch-enemy sadaam hussein!(in which he was found, captured, and hung at the gallows)! and everybody knows that the gas was up to about $4.00 at the gas pump! the american people should be offended that these ass-wipes would try to use a smoke screen of lies to try to make people forget about that dark place in time... its sad that many of these liars have such a hate for this president that they are willing to create disillusionment! sorry, liers its not gonna work on me.. why? because i lived through that time... 9/11 and backlash of the 2 wars we inherited will forever be etched in history and in my mind..
It will not matter how many times Odumbass poses in front of the American Flag or how many lies he tells. Thuis emproer has no clothes and we all see him for what he is, an incompetent poser. The really interesting part of all of this is the reaction to Independents to his party line and his use of Harry Reid in the Senate to block any legislation while he can step back and blame Republicans for the gridlock his deal with Harry has caused.
We see through that strategy and so do the independents that put this racist poser in the whitehouse in 2008. They now show approval ratings of 30% for Odumbass and the numbers for the Dems running for house and senate nin the fall are no better. Thanks, Barry for destroying your party, their agenda and setting their cause back 100 years!
Does it strike you as odd that you morons were saying this same line of lies BEFORE Obama took office?
Obama has IMPROVED the economy and kept us out of the slide into depression that Dubby was driving us into.
Obama got Bin Laden, Dubby could not.
There are hundreds more examples, but of course you would deny them even in the face of reality because you started with a rant that Obama is incompetent over 3 years ago.
Who is the racist here?
LOL
@ bf: the President's approval rating is closer to 48% according to the latest Rasmussen poll. Even your likely favorite, faux snooze shows Obama at 45% (couple weeks ago). Which is a bit higher than Congress's rating of 9%. Get back to us, when you read up have something useful to say.
As the American Taliban pulls the center of the Republican Party toward its extreme positions, the Republican Party will lose ground as a voice in American politics. Reagan, that left wing liberal would roll over in his gold lined casket if he knew how crazy they have become.
The recent scurrilous bill passed by the T-tards that poses as a sympathetic support for students while it guts women's health care is as bottom feeding as it comes. These entrenched political hacks are taking America in a headlong irresponsible trip to violence and suffering. Kick their slimy azzes out.
Republicans, Richard Lugar, 80 Indianans don't need Lugar!!!
Lugar is old enough to NOT KNOW BETTER!!!!!!!!!!! We need leaders who can lead!!!!
THE REPUKES AND TEA SHYSTERS are all F***'D up ever since they went the DEVILS IDEOLOGY way.
They DO-NOT CARE ABOUT THIS NATION AND THE PEOPLE !! All they are focused and concerned about is THEMSELVES first and foremost, then is MONEY & CON JOBS, after that DICTATING to the PUBLIC and brainwashing their Devils Ideology !!!!
LETS SINK THEIR CRUISE SHIP THEY ARE ALL JOY RIDING ON ?
Vote them out or don't vote !!!!
Get ready American’s
If you can UN-embed yourself from your ostrich syndrome long enough to position yourselves for the coming inevitable economic boom. Be it more specific interrelated education & or skill-set training relating to the domestic energy industry jobs that Will be available. Specifically Oil & natural gas production, transportation, distribution. Secondly electric energy i.e. wind, hydroelectric, nuclear & coal. This is the will of many millions of Americans and it Will Come to fruition. Christmas time 2012 will be good, 2013 will be excellent ! Resistance is Futile,----> 4ward
Thirty million directly related &100 million indirect support jobs over the next 10 to 15 years in this country alone. This being a conservative estimate...
YEA! WE CAN ALL GO TO WORK TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY.
If You are Happy or not, I'm with Happy!
vote nov
This is an excellant example of ONE OF THE BIGGEST REASONS, our current government CAN'T WORK & WON'T WORK for the 99% American People! It is set up for CAPITALISM and as we head into a GLOBAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, you can easily see why it doesn't work for the 99%! There is NO economic control over GREED! We will have to make major changes to our government to get it BACK TO A SERVICE GOVERNMENT that the Republican Capitalists don't want, because it interferes with their monetary GREED! The hell with the 99% American People, THEY ARE OUR SLAVES of the 1%! This is what we have now!It's time for change, and that time is NOW! Not later, but right NOW! It's a good time for change, because half of the 99% Americans won't be working and making a living for their families because of the ECONOMIC COLLAPSE brought on by Republican corporates' GREED! We will have to start by helping each other instead of depending on corporate control! That means if you have something I need, I'll swap you for something that YOU need until we can break corporate rule! There is no other way! OCCUPY WALLSTREET won't work, they need to also join us to make our government a SERVICE, not make us SLAVES!! We can start by first voting 100% DEMOCRATIC, and if they won't work for us, then we CAN & WILL install a TRUE DEMOCRATIC government that works for us, NOT JUST THE 1%!!!
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need".
Karl Marx
Welcome to the Revolution Comrade 'TR' Rose II