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Tomorrow is primary day in Indiana, and things are looking very bad for long time incumbent Republican Senator Dick Lugar. Lugar is facing a serious primary challenge from State Treasurer Richard Mourdock who has the backing of the Tea Party and some of biggest spending conservative groups, including the Club for Growth and the National Rifle Association.
According to the Indianapolis Star roughly $4 million of outside money has been spent on the race, and 70% went to Mourdock. Conservatives are trying to make a example of Lugar for not sticking to their orthodoxy and it looks like they will succeed.
The only recent independent poll shows Mourdock with a solid lead over Lugar. The Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll has Mourdock leading by ten points, with the race at 48% Mourdock – 38% Lugar. This is a huge turn around from just over a month ago, when the same poll had Luger leading by seven in late March. Similarly a poll from last month on behalf the Citizen’s United found Mourdock 44% – Lugar 39%, but it should be noted that Citizen’s United is backing Mourdock. While it is hard to accurately poll primaries that tend to have low and unpredictable turnout, the size of Mourdock’s lead makes him the clear favorite.
If Lugar does fall tomorrow, he will be just the latest incumbent to lose the Republican party’s nomination for not being conservative enough. Last year conservative challengers cost both Bob Bennett (R-UT) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) their Republican nominations. Their loses potentially played a role this year in other Republican Senators like Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) deciding to retire instead of dealing with potential primary challenges.
This is why we are getting a more uniform, extreme Republican party where individual members have become less willing to cross party lines. Conservative groups want their Republicans to vote a certain way, are prepared to enforce discipline, and actually have the resources to do so.
Our political parties are becoming more like political parties in other democracies, with members being fairly unified in opinions and mostly voting as a block. There is nothing wrong per se with a democracy that has strong political parties. But as a country we do need to accept that the previous age, in which meaningless party labels made technically “bipartisan” legislation common, is over. It is not coming back.
17 Comments
End of,his career? Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Been hiding for years.
The Rs have far more to fear from the right wingers than the Dems do – IMO.
With the disapproval rate of Congress at 78% (RCP ave) all incumbents should lose their sinecures.
Indiana went for o last time but the state is bright red, one of the brightest. Love to see this guy bite the dust. They all,played so nice,with the teas.
i dont think this just “idealogical” and Luger just isnt batshit crazy enuf. He has been in congress for like 100 years. Any one under 50 is probably ready to get rid of this fossil. At least the reuplicans get rid of their entrenched congress people who have been around since the bronze age.
Lol… thats why I think its funny the dems are running Bob Kerry. Its like they havent figured out yet the boomer era is over and we just want them all to go buy a vineyard or RV and let us clean up the mess they have left us all with.
I think lots of people are just voting “throw the bums out“. I like it! We’ve needed that for about thirty years. “Voter imposed” term limits. That could be our only answer.
Okay, so when are we going to have a movement to throw out all the former moderate/right wing Republicans who have become rightwing Dems after the GOP went to batshit rightwing?
Nothing could be further from the truth…
“Our political parties are becoming more like political parties in other democracies, with members being fairly unified in opinions and mostly voting as a block. There is nothing wrong per se with a democracy that has strong political parties”.
WRONG…!
We dont have two political partys… we have ONE party with two names. Both partys are corrupt and serve the exact same masters… the 1%… both partys “opiniions” are exactly the same… THATS the problem.
How can we possibly ever change anything [we cant]… when people are willing to parrot propaganda about our corrupt government.
This would appear the be another blatent attempt to misrepresent our government… and whats really going on… in order to maintain the status quo… and promote the corrupt system and the corrupt politicians we have now.
Exactly… 100%
Correct. Throw ‘em all out, every one, every cycle, over and over, until they get the message that they represent the people.
It’s kind of like the guy with the 2X4 getting his mule’s attention. It can work on elephants and donkeys too, I’m sure.
Lugar and his fellow “moderate” Republicans spent years enabling people like Mourdock.
World’s smallest violin.
I believe I read where Lugar’s been in office for 36 years. A cuppa, tree tings:
1) Almost certainly he’s out of touch with Indiana. Being in Washington for 36 years will to that to almost anybody, with all the cocktail parties, dinners, concerts & book signings to attend.
2) If you have been in office for all that time, with all of it’s attendant advantages and you lose, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.
3) Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to go. 3-4 terms is the Senate is plenty for anybody.
Creepy Lugar probably voted with the Democrats a time or two when it didn’t matter anyway.
A solid Teabagger is better for the Kochs.
Regardless, The R’s and D’s are in lockstep – destroying Civil Liberties, Never-ending wars and MIC Funding, Security State Lockdown, War ON Drugs, Privatization, School Vouchers, NCLB, Social Spending Cuts, Destruction of the environment, Fracking, Gay bashing, Labor Bashing, Abortion Rights, Bank Bailouts, Tax Cuts for the rich, Free Rides for Giant Ag, PHRMA and Big Oil, Retroactive Immunity for COrporations, Tort Reform, etc.
The two parties are in total agreement on these issues.
Let the tea party win all the primaries they enter. that only increases the odds of the R’s losing the general election. Yes it’s true that you can get a lot more old rascist white people to your primary election and make your nutcase tea party moron win the primary.
When the crazy rascist teaparty candidate shows up in the general election it only brings out more independants and progressives who look at the tea party idiot running and decide they now have a reason to vote, and they make an extra stop at the voting booth, on their way to the liquor store, to vote against the dumbshit from the tea party.
The tea party will loose more seats for the R’s by the time they’ve run their course.
I’ll be glad to, send me the funds to buy one, you ageist clown! Have at it! For you to be so contemptuous of an entire generation, and blame the “Boomers” for this mess is not only unfair, it displays a profound arrogance on your part. Lugar was born April 4, 1932-which makes him not a Boomer! Did I mention ignorance? If not, append it to arrogance.
It is extremely tiresome to read such sanctimonious proclamations issued by you, ever so clever, folks who have arrived at the conclusion that everything is the “Boomers” fault. You may want to stop and consider how the ranks of the so called “Boomers” are swelling as that demographic is continually redefined to include people born through 1963! At one time, “Boomers” were those born in the years immediately after WWII. How old is Lugar? Those of the Reagan revolution were my parents, not me.
Unfortunately, both of our “two parties” hold the same underlying corporatist values.
I’d like to add a point about moderate, bipartisan, aisle-crossing Dick Lugar: When Clinton went to war in Yugoslavia, Lugar’s public response was “I hope he falls on his face.” Way to make sure politics stops at th water’s edge, Dick.
for those of you cheering Lugar’s demise (ans it *is* hard to root for the cipher he’s become), this Mourdock guy is a serious asshole.
One of his bigger ads here read simply “Lose the EPA”
oh great….