Didn't he lose to a tea partier? Maybe Indy people are fed up that he was not conservative enough for them? I was actually pulling for him since he and I went to the same college, albeit 40 years apart.
There is a degree of truth in what you say, but tea partiers know how to channel their energy. They don't make news by burning businesses or defecating on police cars, but tea partiers are committed to walking their precincts. (BTW, that's where Lugar lost the primary -- despite the disadvantage of initially being viewed as casually dressed Jevohah's Witnesses. :grin Nonetheless, all kidding aside, as I walk my dog and talk with people out mowing the grass or working in their gardens, I have been finding out what motivates / aggravates them politically and whether they really want to make a difference in election results. All I will say now is that some of you may be very surprised in the next few months.
That works at the local level, but the Tea Party failed miserably at that in the Senate rates in 2010. They lost easily winnable seats in Delaware, Nevada, and Alaska (to a write-in campaign!) by running crazy people. I don't know if this guy is crazy or not, but it does open the door for the Dems to steal an otherwise guaranteed GOP seat.
I agree that dumping Lugar makes it a lot more difficult to keep his seat out of Democratic hands. However, one works with what one has.
I know it gives your life meaning to participate in this silly crusade against the socialist monster (who has governed as a center right Republican, a positively BobDoleian one), so you just keep on keeping on. Like Herman Brood said, "Whatever makes you feel good is good." And laughing at you makes me feel good because I like to laugh at funny jokers, so we both benefit every time you post here.
He's not Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Angle or even Joe Miller. Mourdock has been elected to statewide office before as the state's treasurer. But even so, its a position with little name ID since its way down the ticket. But nonetheless, I still would make him the favorite but the Dems have a solid candidate and the chance to steal a seat. As for tea party mobilizing potential, they definitely had energy in 2010 but in terms of broad statewide field operations, they sucked and will continue to suck. A lot of tea party Republicans were elected in states where the Republican state party wasn't and still isn't organized. That's not a problem in a year with overwhelming enthusiasm but in a year where effective grassroots organizing has value, it will hurt people like Mourdock.
Thank you. It feels good to have your permission to work in politics and to provide joy to your life.
That's not a bad strategy at all especially in non-Presidential year elections. With this being a presidential election year though Tea Party turnout might be neutralized by large turnout of other voters.
One never knows. However, if Obama wins, I won't feel bad because I know I will have done everything I can to effect his defeat. Also, I will say that I have faith in networking with neighbors who network with their families, friends and co-workers who network with their families, friends and co-workers .. and so on. It's like a super-multiplying chain letter from the 70s.
They also won in Florida, Kentucky, Utah, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. The Tea Party has done a much better job this time around identifying candidates. Hatch will lose, and Ted Cruz will force Dewhurst into a runoff where Cruz will win.
I don't know if it makes any difference, but I will vote for Joe this fall. I have always voted for Lugar before, I will try to ask some family members to do the same and switch from Lugar to Joe.
I thought about writing a long post about this, but Matt Welch did it for me: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/opinion/welch-lugar/index.html Spoiler Side note: Doesn't Mourdock vs. Lugar sound more like a fantasy battle than a primary election?
"rightly or wrongly" isn't really an issue. By all the evidence we had/have, there is literally nothing credible at all to suggest that an economy without either of these things would not be considerably worse off.
