Lugar Throws Mud At Mourdock While Complaining That Mourdock Is Throwing Mud At Him

Sen. Richard Lugar is upset that his Republican primary challenger, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, is making such a big deal about the fact that he hasn't lived in Indiana for 35 years by his own admission. Lugar responded with a 30-second spot falsely accusing Mourdock of shirking his official responsibilities. The transcript of the spot reads:

Announcer: Dick Lugar -- called one of Indiana's most respected ... (Splat!) Whoa! Is that MUD? (Splat!) Really?

Richard Mourdock and his D.C. cronies are attacking  Senator Lugar again? (Splat!) Throwing more mud? (Splat!) More negative ads? (Splat!) More juvenile cartoons ? (Splat!)

Richard Mourdock is even going so far as to call Senator Lugar a "disgrace" and claiming he's not a Hoosier?! (Splat! Splat! Splat!)

Typical, desperate 11- time candidate, Richard Mourdock is obviously throwing mud to hide his own disastrous record....

Like Mourdock failing to show up for his taxpayer-funded job 66 percent of the time... including missing every single Police Pension Fund meeting for two years... and Mourdock proposing a budget so irresponsible one financial expert called it "ridiculous" and "too goofy for words."

Serious times demand serious leaders.

That's Senator Lugar.

The claim that Mourdock failed to show up for his job 66% of the time is patently false. As State Treasurer, Mourdock serves on a number of state boards. Mourdock can either attend the meetings himself or send a designee from his office to act as his proxy. The claim that he only attended 66% of those meetings is based on his absence, not his designee. If you count all the meetings that either he or a member of his staff attended, the attendance rate was 99%. The report using the 66% attendance figure was authored by Brian Howey, who is an unabashed supporter of Lugar's re-election campaign. Howey persisted in citing the inaccurate figure even after he was taken to task by Mourdock.

The claim that Mourdock missed every Police Pension Fund meeting for two years is equally misleading and also originated from Howey. As Mourdock's campaign points out, he is not a voting member of this board; rather, he serves as the Trustee of thee State Police Pension Trust and his duties are to oversee the investment of the Trust. Mourdock says the Trust realized a 19% return last year on its investments and was nominated for a national award by Money Management Intelligence. "The meetings the Lugar campaign refers to are for the purpose of determining individual disability payments and other human resources decisions involving Indiana State Troopers," the Mourdock campaign explains. "These decisions are made by a board of senior officials of the State Police Department and Treasurer Mourdock does not have a vote."

Richard Mourdock's proposal that is described as "ridiculous" and "too goofy for words" is based on a federal budget proposal that eliminates four cabinet departments and cuts spending by $7.6 trillion over 10 years in order to balance the budget. The critical quote credited to an "expert" actually originated from John Ketzenberger, a former journalist who has no formal training in fiscal affairs but plays one on TV. Lugar's criticism of a plan that gets serious about balancing the budget pretty much tells us he has no intention of taking up fiscal responsibility if he wins another six-year term.

Lugar's criticism of Mourdock being an 11-time candidate doesn't quite hit the mark either. Lugar is a 12-time candidate, including his first unsuccessful run for the Senate against Birch Bayh in 1974 and his unsuccessful bid for president in 1996. The D.C. crony reference is even more perplexing. The D.C. insiders are all backing Lugar, not Mourdock.

Meanwhile, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker held a news conference in front of Market Tower today to ask reporters why Lugar is using his official Senate offices as the registered business address for Lugar Stock Farm, Inc., the business that owns the family farm. As you read first here, certified fraud examiner Greg Wright has filed a complaint with the Select Committee on Ethics asking it to investigate the finding of his research.