Weigel

Richard Lugar: No Moderates in Foxholes

The polls in Indiana show Sen. Richard Lugar losing ground to Treasurer Richard Mourdock, probably the Tea Party-friendly challenger with the best chance of beating an incumbent this year. The Lugar response: A media blitz His newest ad plays that beloved game of counting every procedural vote on a bill as a vote of importance. Lugar didn’t just oppose Obamacare: He opposed it 32 times.

A previous ad portrayed Lugar as a dutiful signer of conservative petitions, a reliable voter against anything Barack Obama did.

And did you know Lugar engaged Barack Obama in hand to hand combat to save the Keystone XL pipeline? He did.

Interestingly, nothing makes mention of how Lugar criticized the new proportional response doctrine that the administration used vis-a-vis Libya, bypassing congressional oversight in order to keep the no-fly zone humming. That was probably Lugar’s most visible stand against Obama, the most notable use of his clout.