I can't say that I'm surprised that Sen. Richard Lugar is still sore over his loss in the primary to Richard Mourdock. I predicted before his loss that he would do everything he could to ensure Mourdock's loss as part of a "See, I told you so" effort. Lugar, naturally, spent Memorial Day weekend in a place other than Indiana. He typically takes foreign junkets paid for by the Aspen Institute during the Memorial Day weekend. This year, he spent it in Washington
taking shots at Mourdock during an appearance on CBS' "Face The Nation."
Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar isn’t helping the Republican who beat him in this month’s primary get elected in the fall.
“For the time being, I don’t plan an active campaign,” Lugar said on CBS’s “Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer” today . . .
“I’ve offered advice to my former opponent and now candidate as to the kind of way he might be a constructive senator, how he can make any difference whatsoever,” Lugar said. “I hope that he will in fact begin to adopt some of those ideas.”
Mourdock has said he wants to help build the GOP majority in Washington so that bipartisanship will mean that Democrats will have to join with Republicans. During the primary, in which Mourdock won 61 percent of the vote, Mourdock and his supporters criticized Lugar for being too willing to work with President Barack Obama and other Democrats.
Lugar said today that a main reason for his defeat was that “a large portion of the Republican Party of Indiana believed, apparently, in the idea of individualism as opposed to community, a sense of compromise, or a sense of talking across the aisle.”
Asked whether other issues were a factor, Lugar, 80, said some mentioned his age, his 36 years in office, and the complaint by some GOP county chairman that he hadn’t attended their annual fundraising dinners in part because of the time he spent time traveling overseas on foreign policy issues.
“I understand that,” Lugar said. “I’m just saying in terms of service to the country as I saw it, I think our priorities were right. We’ve been very much involved in Indiana throughout this period of time with all sorts of programs. But this was just not a year in which that was necessarily appreciated.”
He still doesn't get it. His arrogance knows no bounds.
Monday's Star front page "Lugar: No plans to stump for Mourdock" carries the message of a bitter Senator clinging to his bipartisanship. Isn't it odd he so willingly makes peace with the Dems but not with his own constituents or even his own party. Too bad he didn't mention he casts votes for legislation Hoosiers and the NRA didn't like, not to mention rubber stamping liberal Supreme Court justices whose ideology is foreign to conservatives, or his less than sterling fiscal record compounding our debt. Peripheral issues such as residency & age pale in comparison but add to the discussion in whether an 80 yr. old reads word for word all the bills he votes to pass, especially when the Devil is in the details and bad advise from Indiana Attorneys General, and yes, even from his own party locksteps and ditto players.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, you've previouly blogged about the lack of thanks/support in your successful representation of Mr. Greg Wright on related matters, and I can only hope that one day it will become more than pro bono.
I hope that Lugar's successor's Indianapolis staff will be more receptive to callers's requests. In my experience with Indiana members of Congress, his was the worst.
ReplyDeleteAnd with patriot paul, I heartedly thank you for your successful representation of Wright, and wish you numerous rewards, Gary.
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