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.”
McCain — who lost Indiana to Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 — is featured in a new radio ad for Lugar, rebutting charges that Lugar is Obama’s favorite Republican. He argues that Lugar “fought every day against Obama’s budget-busting proposals which have mortgaged our children’s futures” and said the senator’s “strong opposition to Obamacare helped spark Indiana’s involvement in the Supreme Court case to overturn the government’s takeover of health care.”
“Some in Indiana are claiming Dick Lugar is Obama’s friend,” McCain says in the ad. “That’s ridiculous. And I know it firsthand, because I fight alongside him every day in the Senate. Dick Lugar is a patriot and a hero, and we need him in the United States Senate.
The winner of the May 8 primary election will face Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly in November. Democrats are already seizing on Palin’s endorsement to draw contrasts in the event that Mourdock prevails.
Palin’s endorsement of Mourdock makes perfect sense, said Ben Ray, a spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party.
“Both of them support Paul Ryan’s plan to end the Medicare guarantee, both of them want deep cuts to Social Security and both of them support bad trade deals to ship our jobs overseas,” Ray argued. “Richard Mourdock and Sarah Palin are just wrong for Hoosiers.
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.
McCain — who lost Indiana to Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 — is featured in a new radio ad for Lugar, rebutting charges that Lugar is Obama’s favorite Republican. He argues that Lugar “fought every day against Obama’s budget-busting proposals which have mortgaged our children’s futures” and said the senator’s “strong opposition to Obamacare helped spark Indiana’s involvement in the Supreme Court case to overturn the government’s takeover of health care.”
“Some in Indiana are claiming Dick Lugar is Obama’s friend,” McCain says in the ad. “That’s ridiculous. And I know it firsthand, because I fight alongside him every day in the Senate. Dick Lugar is a patriot and a hero, and we need him in the United States Senate.
The winner of the May 8 primary election will face Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly in November. Democrats are already seizing on Palin’s endorsement to draw contrasts in the event that Mourdock prevails.
Palin’s endorsement of Mourdock makes perfect sense, said Ben Ray, a spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party.
“Both of them support Paul Ryan’s plan to end the Medicare guarantee, both of them want deep cuts to Social Security and both of them support bad trade deals to ship our jobs overseas,” Ray argued. “Richard Mourdock and Sarah Palin are just wrong for Hoosiers.
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