Free Republic

The left absolutely loves to call conservatives hopelessly “partisan.” It’s their favorite label to attach to us, bar none. Make no mistake, it’s an effective attack. The word itself sounds harsh, even angry. Partisan. Most people would agree that the word has extremely negative connotations in modern American political culture. Consider the backlash Senate hopeful Richard Mourdock (R-IN) endured in May for the following comments: “I certainly think bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view. We entered this campaign wanting to be a voice, and hoping to give more of a national voice to...

Following Richard Mourdock’s commanding victory in the Indiana Republican primary, CNN’s John King felt it appropriate to criticize Mourdock for of all things his campaign pledge of legislating as a conservative. King began the interview with a loaded question, asking the GOP candidate, "are you so rigid in your ideology that you will refuse compromise and therefore keep the country from solving its problems?" The presumption, of course, that the country's problems can only be solved through compromise away from conservative solutions. King like many in the media have been mourning the loss of Dick Lugar who many viewed as...

Statement from Chris W. Cox on Richard Mourdock's Significant Win in the Indiana U.S. Senate Primary Election Thanks to your votes, Richard Mourdock has won the Republican primary election for U.S. Senate in Indiana defeating 36-year incumbent, Sen. Richard Lugar. Since the 1990s, Sen. Lugar has become notorious for his zealous support of gun control schemes and his fervent anti-gun positions. Your NRA was fully vested in this race with a comprehensive campaign that encompassed thousands of radio and television ads in the months before the today's primary election. This effort also included 600,000 web ads. The media campaign was...

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., one of the longest-serving members of the Senate, lost the Republican primary to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock on Tuesday. With 14 percent of the vote counted according to the AP tally, NBC News has called the race for Mourdock, who leads Lugar 61 percent to 39 percent. Facing a headwind of tea party anger and hamstrung by a lingering story about his out-of-state residency, Lugar's campaign struggled badly in the final weeks of the campaign to make a forceful case for his re-election. Mourdock's bid was boosted by national conservative support from groups like the anti-tax...

Tea Party Upstart Mourdock Defeats Longtime Indiana Sen. Lugar By Kim Geiger May 8, 2012 Richard Mourdock has defeated longtime Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana in the Republican primary, according to an Associated Press projection, ending the career of one of the Senate’s most pragmatic politicians and casting a cloud over GOP efforts to win control of the chamber. Mourdock, state treasurer in Indiana, campaigned as a conservative alternative to Lugar. He became a darling of the tea party movement after he began a legal challenge to the terms of the Obama administration’s bailout of Chrysler. Mourdock was endorsed...

Sen. Richard Lugar, the third longest-serving member of the Senate, went down to a primary defeat tonight to his Tea Party-backed opponent in the Republican primary. State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, backed by tea partiers and conservative campaign groups outside the state, ousted Lugar in Indiana’s GOP primary, the Associated Press projected. Mourdock will face Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in November. In Lugar, the Senate would lose one of its few remaining members with a habit of bipartisanship. In Mourdock, Lugar has been unseated by a mild-mannered, twice-elected statewide official who wants to eliminate five federal departments and cut more spending...

Former Republican Rep. Tom Davis told The Hill newspaper: “The middle is getting squeezed,” but his comment vastly understates the crisis in the capital. Activists in both parties have declared war on moderates. The ideological gap between the two parties is widening rapidly. Paralysis is pervasive. Political scientist Keith Poole of the University of Georgia, who studies voting patterns, told the National Journal: “We are clearly as conflicted as we’ve been since 1905. The parties are, I think, completely dysfunctional and incapable of acting on major policy.” The National Journal reports that as recently as 1999, more than half of...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The tea party upstart who is trying to dislodge one of the U.S. Senate's most respected Republicans is about to cry.Minutes into his stump speech at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner here, as hundreds of Republicans poke at chicken and mini-potatoes, Richard Mourdock chokes up, his voice cracking over the sound system, all the way to the bar at the back of the room."Honestly, as I look at our nation's capital, I feel more frustrated with Republicans than Democrats," says Mourdock, the Indiana state treasurer. But "bipartisanship has taken us to the brink of bankruptcy. It...

Rick Santorum Backs Richard Mourdock in Indiana Senate Race By Shushannah Walshe | ABC OTUS News Rick Santorum has weighed in on the fierce primary battle in the Indiana senate race. The former presidential candidate tweeted his support of State Treasurer Richard Mourdock over longtime Sen. Dick Lugar. @RickSantorum: I encourage Hoosiers to help GOTV for @RichardMourdock. If I lived in Indiana he'd have my vote in Tuesday's #INSen race. Lugar has held the seat since 1976, but Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock is waging a serious challenge and is leading in state polls. Mourdock also has the backing of...

Grover Norquist, the influential conservative activist who is the president of Americans for Tax Reform, will endorse Richard Mourdock over Dick Lugar before next week's Republican Senate primary in Indiana, Yahoo News has learned. Lugar, who has represented Indiana in the U.S. Senate since 1977, has never signed Norquist's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" never to raise taxes. A majority of Republican lawmakers—and some Democrats in conservative districts—have signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge. Norquist will join a handful of high-profile conservatives and organizations—including Sarah Palin and the American Conservative Union—who have backed Mourdock, Indiana's state treasurer who is running to...

Dear Tea Party Supporters,We have received word from the Richard Mourdock for Indiana U.S. Senate campaign that they are within 1 POINT of RINO Sen. Dick Lugar!   Just 3 weeks ago, we were 6 points down in the race so we are surging at just the right time.  . There are only 12 days left until Tea Party Express-endorsed State Treasurer Richard Mourdock faces Obama’s “Favorite” Republican, Senator Dick Lugar, in the Indiana U.S. Senate Primary.  We need your support to make sure that Mourdock continues his surge in the polls.  . Here is our new TV ad that...

Longtime Indiana Senator Dick Lugar is trailing state Treasurer Richard Mourdock by five points in the closely watched Republican primary, according to a new poll on behalf of Citizens United. The survey shows Mourdock leading with 44 percent and Lugar at 39 percent, with nearly 17 percent of voters still undecided. Lugar supporters point out that Citizens United is backing Mourdock in the May 8 primary, however. Both candidates have seen their favorable numbers plummet and the nastiness is expected to increase with less than two weeks left. From Politico: The Club for Growth has just reserved another $421,000 of...

Dear Friends,There are only 20 days left until Tea Party Express-endorsed State Treasurer Richard Mourdock faces Obama’s “Favorite” Republican, Senator Dick Lugar, in the Indiana U.S. Senate Primary. This is the first Tea Party vs Establishment battle of the cycle and we MUST send a powerful message to the powers-that-be: WE THE PEOPLE WILL NOT BE SILENCED! . . There is timid career politician and then there is Sen. Dick Lugar. He not only refused to join republican Senators in challenging Obamacare, he voted to confirm liberal activist judges like now Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor – these justices...

The Tea Party has lost a number of its top election targets this year, leaving Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) to emerge as public enemy No. 1 for national conservative groups — and poll numbers suggest they could get their man. Groups including the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, Tea Party-affiliated FreedomWorks and the National Rifle Association have increasingly prioritized defeating Lugar, and social-conservative groups like Gary Bauer’s Campaign for Working Families and the Eagle Forum have endorsed Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R), Lugar’s primary opponent. Mourdock remains largely unknown to voters, but in a recent poll he trailed Lugar...

The National Rifle Association is supporting tea-party favorite Richard Mourdock in his GOP primary race against veteran U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar. National NRA lobbyist Chris Cox is scheduled Wednesday to announce his group's support for Mourdock, the Indiana state treasurer running against Lugar in the May primary. The Mourdock campaign confirmed the endorsement Tuesday. A handful of high-profile conservative groups have lined up behind Mourdock in his bid to oust Lugar. The anti-tax Club for Growth threw its support behind Mourdock last month. Lugar's supporters have opened a pair of Super PACs recently to raise unlimited funds to support his...

Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock picked up an endorsement from a presidential candidate in his primary challenge to Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) this week. Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain announced he would support Mourdock’s primary bid to unseat Lugar during a Monday visit to Indianapolis, the Associated Press reported. Cain reportedly met with Mourdock after addressing Indiana Republicans on the invitation of the state party. Indiana Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb invited all the GOP presidential candidates to speak to the Republican faithful in the state, but Cain was the first to schedule a visit. Cain placed fifth in Iowa's...

This GOP Senator Is Ready To Take Down The Tea Party Grace Wyler Feb. 3, 2011, 4:20 PM Image: scriptingnews via Flikr Veteran GOP Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana has thumbed his nose at Tea Party threats. The Hoosier State Republican knows they are coming after his Senate seat in 2012 but he is not going down without a fight. Lugar, who has served six terms in the Senate, has $2.3 million in his campaign war chest, which likely puts him far ahead of any potential primary challengers. But the 78-year old says he is kicking his fundraising up a...