Indiana GOP lines up behind Lugar's primary challenger

[Lunar]

Can someone please explain to me what the supposed problem with Lugar is?

He voted for the DREAM Act and for the START treaty most recently, as well as TARP

[CARLHAYDEN]

Lugar is pretty far right-wing, his only mistake is that he's not 100% insane.

Jfern,

Please drop that canard that "Lugar is pretty right wing."

Its not only false, its so absurd its insane.

[Landslide Lyndon]

 its so absurd its insane.

I'll just let the others make the obvious jokes about Carl using that description for somebody else.

[feeblepizza]

I've kind of been on the fence for the Senate race. Lugar has already been in the Senate for 30+ years, an he can arguably be called a RINO. But, I know that a certain person on this forum* will be extremely PO'd if I don't side with Team Lugar.

Murdock, however, is an actual conservative. Thus...I'm going for Murdock.

*Do I even need to say the name?

[tmthforu94]

I've kind of been on the fence for the Senate race. Lugar has already been in the Senate for 30+ years, an he can arguably be called a RINO. But, I know that a certain person on this forum* will be extremely PO'd if I don't side with Team Lugar.

Murdock, however, is an actual conservative. Thus...I'm going for Murdock.

*Do I even need to say the name?

The fact that so many Hoosiers want to throw away one of this nation's most respected and knowledgeable Senators for someone who will just be a rubber stamp for the Tea Party doesn't make me angry. It disappoints me. This entire process reminds me of something occurred back in 1692...

[Napoleon]

Lugar should switch sides.

Why in the world should we be taking in reject Republican Senators? Let them lie in their own beds. We aren't the party of non-Republicans. We are Democrats and should be helping elect people dedicated to our party, not people who have spent decades in the Senate trying to stop everything we want to accomplish.

[Skill and Chance]

Lugar should switch sides.

Why in the world should we be taking in reject Republican Senators? Let them lie in their own beds. We aren't the party of non-Republicans. We are Democrats and should be helping elect people dedicated to our party, not people who have spent decades in the Senate trying to stop everything we want to accomplish.

Because getting Snowe (I) or Lugar (I) to caucus with them could be the defining point of a second Obama term.

[Napoleon]

Lugar should switch sides.

Why in the world should we be taking in reject Republican Senators? Let them lie in their own beds. We aren't the party of non-Republicans. We are Democrats and should be helping elect people dedicated to our party, not people who have spent decades in the Senate trying to stop everything we want to accomplish.

Because getting Snowe (I) or Lugar (I) to caucus with them could be the defining point of a second Obama term.

Okay let's just have even more right-wing versions of Lieberman polluting the caucus. Are you guys forgetting Obama won these states?

[Marokai Backbeat]

Can someone please explain to me what the supposed problem with Lugar is?

He voted for the DREAM Act and for the START treaty most recently, as well as TARP

Ah, gotcha. Terrifying that those three votes suddenly make a long and well-respected Senator lose his party's support.

[Franzl]

Can someone please explain to me what the supposed problem with Lugar is?

He voted for the DREAM Act and for the START treaty most recently, as well as TARP

Ah, gotcha. Terrifying that those three votes suddenly make a long and well-respected Senator lose his party's support.

It would be really really terrible to see Lugar go down.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Can someone please explain to me what the supposed problem with Lugar is?

He voted for the DREAM Act and for the START treaty most recently, as well as TARP

Ah, gotcha. Terrifying that those three votes suddenly make a long and well-respected Senator lose his party's support.

They'd have gone for him anyway. Always has smelt a little wet.

[Roemerista]

Lugar should switch sides.

Why in the world should we be taking in reject Republican Senators? Let them lie in their own beds. We aren't the party of non-Republicans. We are Democrats and should be helping elect people dedicated to our party, not people who have spent decades in the Senate trying to stop everything we want to accomplish.

But isnt that what the Democratic party is mostly comprised of...?

[tpfkaw]

Can someone please explain to me what the supposed problem with Lugar is?

He voted for the DREAM Act and for the START treaty most recently, as well as TARP

Ah, gotcha. Terrifying that those three votes suddenly make a long and well-respected Senator lose his party's support.

Interestingly enough, the primary challengers were an improvement in both cases.

[Marokai Backbeat]

The master of false equivalency strikes again.

[CARLHAYDEN]

 its so absurd its insane.

I'll just let the others make the obvious jokes about Carl using that description for somebody else.

On a previous thread about the subject I extensively documented Lugar's voting record, from the perspective of conservatives (ACU), liberals (ADA) and media (National Journal).

I guess from your perspective telling the truth is a "joke."

[CARLHAYDEN]

Update:

The ACU finally came out with its 2010 ratings.

The lowest ranked Republican Senators:

Kirk (IL)            62.5 (only a handful of votes in lame duck session)
Voinovich (OH) 63 (retired)
Snowe (ME)     64
Collins (ME)     64
Lugar (IN)       71


The Republican average was 91.8, with the media 95.

When ADA ratings come out will update those.

[Franzl]

Ratings from interest groups aren't relevant in my opinion/description of politicians. I'm not that stupid.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Ratings from interest groups aren't relevant in my opinion/description of politicians. I'm not that stupid.

As I pointed out in a previous thread on the subject, both liberals (ADA), conservatives (ACU) and nonpartisans (National Journal) ALL agreed that Lugar was on the left of the Republican party.

So, they're all wrong and you're 'correct'?

Hmm.

[Franzl]

Ratings from interest groups aren't relevant in my opinion/description of politicians. I'm not that stupid.

As I pointed out in a previous thread on the subject, both liberals (ADA), conservatives (ACU) and nonpartisans (National Journal) ALL agreed that Lugar was on the left of the Republican party.

So, they're all wrong and you're 'correct'?

Hmm.

Yes, actually, because my view of what constitutes "liberal" and "conservative" can't be expressed with some stupid scale from 1 to 100. Especially a scale that only works as a frame for the "mainstream". Why should I base my views on what the Republican and Democratic party lines are?

[CARLHAYDEN]

So, what you mean by a term has nothing to do with what most sources mean by a term?

Hmm.

[Bacon King]

Daniels won't ruin his cred with GOP activists to save Lugar, not when he's eyeing a 2012 Presidential run.

But hey, Lugar (I-IN) would be great. Unfortunately Indiana has some draconian ballot access laws, though: as an independent candidate he'd need 34,195 signatures by the end of June.

(edit: fixed the number of signatures. FYI: in Indiana, a candidate not running for a party with automatic ballot access has to get a number of signatures equal to 2% of the total votes cast in the most recent Secretary of State election to appear on the ballot.)

[CARLHAYDEN]

Daniels won't ruin his cred with GOP activists to save Lugar, not when he's eyeing a 2012 Presidential run.

But hey, Lugar (I-IN) would be great. Unfortunately Indiana has some draconian ballot access laws, though: as an independent candidate he'd need 34,195 signatures by the end of June.

(edit: fixed the number of signatures. FYI: in Indiana, a candidate not running for a party with automatic ballot access has to get a number of signatures equal to 2% of the total votes cast in the most recent Secretary of State election to appear on the ballot.)

Daniels has been acting quite stupidly lately.

Wouldn't put any move to the left as something he wouldn't do.

[Landslide Lyndon]

FWIW, Coats says he won't endorse Lugar.

[SvenssonRS]

FWIW, Coats says he won't endorse Lugar.

Consistency would be nice, Dan.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

At this point, Lugar is toxic to anyone who wants to win conservative voters in the future. The fact that things got this out of hand endorsement-wise kind of shows how dead-in-the-water Lugar actually is.