Thread: Amnesty Hawk Lugar (IN) Now Has A Challenger

Amnesty Hawk Lugar now has a primary challenger, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

With Mitch Daniels being such a Bushbot supporter of black market labor and illegal immigration it is with great caution that I think we must consider Richard Mourdock since he is such a big supporter of Daniels. Look at the comments toward the end of this article. Mourdock is hook, line and sinker for Daniels.

I look forward to obtaining more information on Mourdock's positions, particularly illegal immigration. As much as I want to see Lugar defeated I do not want to send any money to what will become another amnesty supporter.

Good luck Hoosiers!


http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/sen ... -in-action

Lugar challenger hypes Indiana race, criticizes senator as missing in action
By Shane D'Aprile - 03/28/11 05:35 PM ET

Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock says his primary challenge to longtime Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) will become the pre-eminent conservative-versus-establishment match of the 2012 primary season.

"Given those who are up for reelection next year, I think you may see a lot of money flow into this race," Mourdock told The Hill on Monday. "You have [Sen.] Olympia Snowe in Maine, who I don't see getting much of a conservative challenge. You have [Sen.] Orrin Hatch in Utah, which has a convention system, making money less important. That leaves my race."
Despite the institutional advantages for Lugar — sky-high name ID and deep pockets — Mourdock will announce he’s raised between $125,000 and $150,000 during the first month of his campaign and has already lined up the backing of dozens of party officials throughout the state.
Meanwhile, Lugar has emerged as one of the Tea Party's leading 2012 targets, and a host of conservative activists are supporting Mourdock.

In the interview, Mourdock criticized Lugar as missing in action from Indiana politics and said six-term senator’s focus on international issues is weakening his standing with voters back home.

"It's great that Lugar is seen as this international statesman, but what about Indiana?" Mourdock said. "The domestic issues are what people in Indiana care about. They're less concerned right now about the movement toward democracy in the old Soviet republics than they are the movement of Indiana jobs to Mexico and China."

The Lugar camp referred to recent comments from Hendricks County GOP Chairman Mike O'Brien in response to Mourdock's critique. Over the weekend, O'Brien praised Lugar as "the nation's go-to Republican questioning President Obama's assumed authority to intervene in Libya," arguing that his presence in the foreign policy debate shows "that in the midst of chaotic times abraod, a Hoosier voice is the one calling for accountability and clarity of purpose."

With the specter of a government shutdown looming, Mourdock saved some criticism for the Republican leadership in the House and Senate.
He said his party has failed in the messaging aspect of the budget battle and suggested that a government shutdown might not be the worst consequence, given the fiscal crisis.

The Tea Party movement has advocated massive spending cuts in the federal budget and urged Republicans to stand firm in negotiations with Democrats, even if that means a government shutdown.

"Is it time to make the point that we've got a serious, serious problem that we need to deal with? Yes," Mourdock said. "I think this shutdown, if it happens, is going to make the point a lot more dramatically than last time."

Given that states are much more cash-strapped than they were during the previous shutdown in 1995, Mourdock said "the pinch point will be felt much more dramatically," potentially leading to a shift in Washington's long-term thinking.

"Do I like the idea that it might happen and it could happen? No, I don't," he said. "Do I think it’s gonna be more instructive if it happens versus it doesn't? Yeah, I do."

Mourdock blasted both the Republican House and Senate leadership for not framing the budget fight in a more "instructive" way for the American people.

"My view, and I think the view of most Hoosiers, is that from the Senate Republican side, we don't see any response at all," Mourdock said. "I can't tell you what the Republican leadership in the Senate is really standing out and doing."

While Mourdock and Lugar will battle it out in the coming months, they're at least in agreement when it comes to the presidential race. Mourdock said that he would unequivocally back one of Lugar's closest political allies in next year's race for the White House.

"I would walk through fire for Mitch Daniels. I literally would," Mourdock said of the governor, who's backing Lugar's reelection campaign.

Many in the Republican Washington establishment have urged Daniels to make a presidential bid, but the governor has his conservative and Tea Party detractors. Conservatives are still smarting from his call for a "truce" on social issues last year, and in-state Tea Party activists have attacked him for his support of Lugar.

Mourdock said he had three separate conversations with Daniels before deciding to launch a challenge to Lugar and that while Daniels made it clear he would back the incumbent, the governor told him he had "earned the right" to run against the longtime incumbent.

"He said to me, 'Richard Mourdock, don't you ever let anyone tell you that you don't have every right to do this. You've earned this right,'" Mourdock said.

"He said to me, 'Richard Mourdock, don't you ever let anyone tell you that you don't have every right to do this. You've earned this right,'" Mourdock said.

I think I would prefer a doctor over another backscratcher.

Hopefully the Indiana Tea Party will be making some more comments.

Sure wish John Hotstettler would throw his hat into the circle.