Lugar’s struggles increase as Tea Party’s other targets fall

The Hill ^ | April 10, 2012 | Cameron Joseph

[Clintonfatigued]

The Tea Party has lost a number of its top election targets this year, leaving Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) to emerge as public enemy No. 1 for national conservative groups — and poll numbers suggest they could get their man.

Groups including the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, Tea Party-affiliated FreedomWorks and the National Rifle Association have increasingly prioritized defeating Lugar, and social-conservative groups like Gary Bauer’s Campaign for Working Families and the Eagle Forum have endorsed Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R), Lugar’s primary opponent.

Mourdock remains largely unknown to voters, but in a recent poll he trailed Lugar by just 7 points, 35 percent to 42. The Club for Growth and NRA are already both up with major ad buys against Lugar, and other groups plan to follow suit.

“It is a big focus of ours,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola told The Hill.

[Clintonfatigued]

Indiana is a strongly Republican state and Obama is unpopular here. I’m not that worried about Mourdock losing the general election.

[vette6387]

“First of all, that will make McConnell of Kentucky the senior most Senator in the ruling party (assuming that it’s the Republicans)”

Just how do you come up with that assertion? Both Lugar and Hatch were sworn in on exactly the same date, January 3, 1977, so how do you find Lugar to be the senior guy?

[ModelBreaker]

“When things like that happen it’s hard to keep folks from liking you anyway.”

His record in the Senate got me to dislike him a lot. Props for Indianapolis. He should have stayed Mayor.

[Impy]

“Largley unknown”? People really oughta to have at least heard of their State Treasurer.

[muawiyah]

There's the problem then ~ not everybody in Indianapolis feels that way and they vote.

So, why do you dislike Indianapolis?

[muawiyah]

I'd bet good old fashioned doughnuts on that one ~ the Senate has its factions ~ just like the public.

McConnell gets to the top by two paths ~ one, he's actually liked by some of the other senators, not all of whom are RINOs, and, he's the least disliked Republican.

In a small body, being "least disliked" can be exceedingly important.

With or without RINOs (which in my book are guys who ever ran for office as Democrats, or who served as Democrat appointees, or who made important cash contributions to Democrats running for office (or for the Libertarians) ~ you know, like REAL RINOs, like ROMNEY and HUNTSMAN and..... well, you know, we had 7 out of the 10 RNC certified national primary candidates who fell into that category) McConnell would still be a contender for Minority Leader, or for Majority Leader.

This works over on the Democrat side as well. Harry Reid is the least disliked in a crowd of quite dislikeable people. Think of Chucky Schumer ~ NOBODY LIKES HIM! If Reid hadn't taken pity on him Chucky would never advance.

As far as sounding like "the chairman of the rino preservation league" may I remind you that there's an election that's going to be held this Fall ~ and you are up against people who really do want to know why you think it's so important for Indiana to GIVE UP top end seniority in the Senate where there will be a Republican majority?

Electing a new seniority deficient guy in the place of the guy with the most seniority is MORE SERIOUS than your ordinary election.

What is it that Mourdock can get that Lugar can't?

You really need to get that over to the Republican voters in the primary.

These are the same folks who scared off Evan Bayh, but that was then and this is now. Are they really happy with the non-RINOs you've sent to Congress? And are all those non-RINOs actually not RINOs?

[muawiyah]

Read up on “Senate seniority system” ~ time as a Senator isn’t the only thing ~

[hoosiermama]

Have only seen “fire Lugar” and Mourdock signs in people’s yards. First ones on 231 from Bloomington to Lafayette appeared last fall. Now they’re everywhere.

[nodumbblonde]

Thanks for the pings to these threads, Clintonfatigued. Much appreciated!

[TMA62]

I have not seen a single Lugar yard sign or bumper sticker. Nothing.

I have only seen Mourdock and “Retire Lugar” signs. I predict Indiana will retire Lugar on May 8. :-)

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

...and you are up against people who really do want to know why you think it's so important for Indiana to GIVE UP top end seniority in the Senate where there will be a Republican majority?

The answer is, being conservative Republicans, we aren't interested in who can use the redistributive powers of government to best enable us to suck off of the government teat. So a candidate's vision of government should be more important to us than his time spent employed in government or his ability to give us "goodies"... right?

[muawiyah]

That's good in theory but you are dealing with one of America's more evenly divided electorates. This is the same bunch who sent Evan Bayh back to the Senate and had him as governor twice.

Assuming you can keep the TEA Party faction behind you, and knowing that a sufficiently modest enough Democrat can probably keep most of the Democrats behind himself, how do you get your more grasping, greedy, driven by economic interest Republicans to vote FOR your guy in the primaries?

Then, how does he win in the general election?

See how that lustre of MO SENIORITY MO SENIORITY begins to shine in the eyes of the largest single minority you have to pull to your side.

I"ll guarantee you can win against the Democrats with Lugar this year, but getting rid of Lugar without giving it up to a Democrat is the game.

[muawiyah]

Way back when, Vance Hartke papered the state with Hartke signs ~ none of them got posted on the East side of Indianapolis.

He didn't even get votes there ~ he still won the election.

I used to have a large collection of Hartke signs in my dad's garage ~ collected them on the road where somebody drove over them.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

I"ll guarantee you can win against the Democrats with Lugar this year, but getting rid of Lugar without giving it up to a Democrat is the game.

Why bother? If your answer is "we need to become a little like big-government Democrats in order to beat the Democrats and elect a guy who is likely to not support important Republican measures, and instead vote with Democrats" then what is the point? Even if we "win," we lose.

If Indiana is that far gone, might as well pack up, call it "California-lite" and move on to more conservative states...

BTW, good job channeling Karl Rove (and other professional political "advisers") with your argument. As many have pointed out, your scenario is generally the one concocted by the political class to justify their own paychecks... they're going to bring you the "moderate" vote. Yet that never works (especially nationally)... just ask McCain, Dole, or soon-to-be Romney...

[muawiyah]

Lugar-Mourdock debate will be available nationally on C-Span. This is one of two events this year where both appeared before the same audience. See for yourself. Whoever wins the primary will be running against this guy: http://donnelly.house.gov/about/bio.shtml

[muawiyah]

BTW, the way I can tell you haven't read anything I've written is your reference to "the moderate vote".

Everybody who is anybody on FreeRepublic know that I"m a proponent of the Goldwater/LBJ/Nixon/Reagan model for winning elections ~ HOLD THE BASE, PULL IN A FACTION FROM THE OTHER GUYS.

That's because there are no moderates ~ there is no middle ~ only two great poles of political affiliation in this country. That's why third parties don't work here. You'll want to do a search on Google.com for FREEREPUBLIC BIMODAL SADDLE. Should give you a week's worth of reading and thinking.

Indiana is very evenly divided and some of the factions show up in both major parties. The Democrat opponent could clearly run as a Republican in most districts and be thought of as a Republican.

[muawiyah]

NOTE: I don't get ideas from Karl Rove. In reality he picks up on my ideas as does Dick Morris. I"ve even had Mitbots buy into ideas (with facts) they saw here first ~ even used the same words in the same order!

Dick owes me half a book for all my stuff he took from the net.

[John O]

There's the problem then ~ not everybody in Indianapolis feels that way and they vote.

Most blacks are racist and won't vote for a republican anyway. The rest will either wake up and vote conservative or won't.

That's no reason to back a democrat (lugar) against a republican (Mourdock)

So, why do you dislike Indianapolis?

Indy is a small portion of Indiana. It is disliekd because it's your typical big city hell hole (but admittedly it's less of a hell hole than most big cities. However, merely being a big city moves it firmly into the hell hole category)

I think the only city hated worse down in the southern part of the state is bloomington. Another city liberal hell hole.

Indiana does not need a democrat senator. If lugar runs we will get a democrat senator. If Mourdock runs we at least have a shot at getting a republican.

Oh BTW, Bayh got in becuase he had the right name. Far too many people voted for him because he was Birch's boy. I love hoosiers but they can be awfully stupid in name matters.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

In reality he picks up on my ideas as does Dick Morris.

And you're PROUD of that?!?!?!

[muawiyah]

Remember, not everything Rove spews is Leftwingtard CR*P. He'd never get away with that since there are certainly more than enough of them around ~ and cheaper too. So he needs OTHER STUFF ~ and this is where he gets it.

Br'r Morris can get publishers to publish his books. You tried that trick lately?

I'd suggest you watch the debate on CSPAN tonight.

I"m watching it ~ then checking out South Park for the latest philosophy and a couple of laughs.