PJ: In the run-up to this election, Senator John McCain came out in support of incumbant Senator Lugar while his former running mate, Sarah Palin, came out in support of Tea Party challenger Mourdock. Mr. Mourdock's campaign focused on Mr. Lugar's occassional compromises with democrats on key legislation even though Lugar's voting record was demonstrably conservative. Mourdock made his case that compromise (with the enemy?) is not acceptable, taking the hard-right partisan stance of other Tea Party candidates. If it is true that McCain once warned Sarah Palin about letting the far right fringe take over the party then it would appear that Mrs. Palin has no intention of heeding his advice and instead has been working to aid the fringe in such a take-over.
Since the 2008 election Mr. McCain has defended his choice of Mrs. Palin as his running mate saying that she was the "best qualified" to serve at his side if elected. But if he was worried about unleashing the unyielding hard-liners of his party and believed that they would eventually take over the Grand Old Party to the detriment of the country then his continued defense of this woman will be his undoing. For a man who once chanted "Country First" over party considerations, he has let his country and himself down.
The Guardian
Richard Mourdock defeats Richard Lugar in Indiana primary
Veteran senator noted for his work on nuclear non-proliferation loses nomination to state treasurer in victory for Tea Party
Richard Lugar, the veteran Republican senator for Indiana, has been kicked out by the Tea Party movement in the state primary, losing to treasurer Richard Mourdock and bringing to an end a career in the Senate spanning nearly four decades marked by his efforts on nuclear non-proliferation treaties.
Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate foreign relations committee, received 40% of the vote to Mourdock's 60%.
"I have no regrets about running for re-election. Even if doing so can be a very daunting task," said the 80-year-old Lugar as he conceded to Mourdock.
Mourdock, who enjoyed the support of the conservative Tea Party movement, urged supporters to donate to his general election campaign. "We left everything on the table to win the primary," he said.
Mourdock will face the Democrats' Joe Donnelly in the November general election. Within minutes of Lugar's loss, Democrats were already painting Mourdock as too extreme for the state.
Republicans need to gain four seats to take control of the Senate, and a Lugar loss "gives Democrats a pickup opportunity," said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.
Earlier in the day Lugar, 80, made clear he would stand by Tuesday's outcome, ruling out running as an independent. "This is it," he said.
Playing out in a conservative state, the race illustrated the electorate's animosity toward many incumbents and anyone with deep ties to Washington. That was clear when Lugar, who has not faced questions about his residency in decades, found himself on the defensive over whether he lived in Indiana or northern Virginia.
Lugar also was cast as too moderate for the conservative Republican party in Indiana and he was criticised for his work with Democrats on issues such as nuclear non-proliferation, underscoring deep polarisation in the country as well as a split in Republican ranks between the establishment wing and the insurgent Tea Party, which advocates small government, deep spending cuts and no tax increases, disdaining compromises with Democrats.
In a statement, Obama praised Lugar as someone "who was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done".
Lugar's primary loss will ultimately remove from the Senate, which is responsible for ratifying international treaties, an influential advocate for a bipartisan foreign policy. Lugar and Sam Nunn of the Democrats were responsible for the 1991 passage of the Co-operative Threat Reduction Program (CRT), more commonly known as Nunn-Lugar.
CRT provided money to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction in states of the former Soviet Union. That resulted in the denuclearisation of Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus. It also made available funding and expertise to decommission nuclear, biological and chemical weapons stockpiles as agreed to by the Soviet Union under disarmament treaties such as Salt II.
The Mourdock vs. Donnelly matchup could develop into a hotly contested race with the potential to affect the White House contest.
Obama carried Indiana in 2008, partly because of his ties to the populous north-western part of the state neighbouring his hometown of Chicago. Democrats acknowledge it will be difficult to win Indiana again this year. Still, the state could become more hospitable to Obama if the Democrats, believing they have a better chance with Lugar out of the race, spend heavily to compete against Mourdock. The state is on the Obama team's watch list.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/09/indiana-us-elections-2012
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