News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Top Story

Related Photos

  • Tribune-Star illustration

    Election 2012 logo copy.jpg

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.
comments powered by Disqus
November 6, 2012

Donnelly gives Democrats Indiana Senate victory

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Democrat Joe Donnelly triumphed Tuesday in one of the nation’s most tumultuous Senate races, capitalizing on fallout over his tea party-backed opponent’s comment that a pregnancy resulting from rape is “something God intended” to capture a seat that just a year ago looked to be a lock for Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar.

Donnelly beat state treasurer Richard Mourdock after a bruising campaign that saw outside groups pump millions of dollars into the state in a race viewed by many as a test of the tea party’s strength.

The victory was a coup for Democrats, who had been waiting years for a shot at the seat. Lugar was so popular that in 2006 Democrats decided not to challenge him.

Even a year ago, Lugar seemed a safe bet to win a seventh term, despite widespread conservative anger with the veteran statesman’s votes on divisive legislation and his support for President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees. But questions about Lugar’s residency combined with a flood of outside spending by groups such as the anti-tax Club for Growth carried Mourdock to a 20-point victory in the May primary.

Democrats pounced on the opportunity as Mourdock made a series of quick missteps that alarmed more moderate Republicans. In a series of interviews the day after his primary victory, Mourdock said compromise should consist of Democrats bowing to Republican demands and stood by tea party views popular with the base of conservative voters, but not the general populace.

“To me the highlight of politics, frankly, is to inflict my opinion on someone else,” he told MSNBC the day after the primary.

Mourdock later tried to tack back toward the middle with declarations that he could work with Democrats, but he stumbled again in a televised Oct. 23 debate when he explained his opposition to abortion except in cases in which the mother’s life is in danger.

“I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen,” Mourdock said.

Republicans, including presidential nominee Mitt Romney, initially distanced themselves from Mourdock but later walked their criticism back, with many saying they didn’t agree with his statement but supported Mourdock’s candidacy.

Democrats spent millions of dollars flooding the airwaves with those comments and other statements by Mourdock in a bid to attract disillusioned Lugar supporters.

For all the Mourdock campaign said about the comment not mattering to voters and arguing that the electorate was more concerned with “Obamacare” and federal spending, voters said it still weighed on their minds in the voting booth.

Kaye Young, 78, of Indianapolis voted for Lugar in the primary and said she thought it was “a shame they kicked him out.”

She said Richard Mourdock “irritated the tar out of me” with his comment on rape. But she still voted for him.

“I don’t want a Democrat in there,” she said. “I’m against Obama and Obamacare. I don’t think Obama has done a good job.

The comment came to be the defining moment of the race. A Howey/DePauw University Battleground poll taken Oct. 28-30 showed Donnelly breaking open a double-digit lead over Mourdock.

“Candidates really matter in Indiana, they (voters) want a good, common-sense approach. They don’t like candidates too far in either direction,” said Christine Matthews, a veteran Republican pollster who conducted the Howey/DePauw poll with Democratic pollster Fred Yang.

“Mourdock was just too far out there, there was just a sense he’s too far outside the mainstream,” she said.

National Republicans descended on Indiana late in the battle after it became apparent Mourdock was in trouble, sending national staff and Republican senators, including National Republican Senate Committee Chairman John Cornyn, to campaign for Mourdock.

The Donnelly campaign, meanwhile, ran a steady, largely mistake-free race, consistently boxing in Mourdock as a tea partyer and getting ads up early to define Donnelly as a moderate Democrat in the mold of former U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh.

Indiana’s Senate battle was the most expensive the state ever has seen, topping $25 million spent on air by outside groups and the campaigns.

Donnelly now becomes the new standard-bearer for Indiana’s Democrats, whose statewide successes almost exclusively have stemmed from the Bayh family. Mourdock, meanwhile, joins the ranks of tea party candidates who ousted moderate Republicans in primaries but could not find enough support among the general electorate.

 

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Top Story
Latest News
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
AP Video
Raw: Trucker Bumps I-5 Bridge Before Collapse Suspect in Killing of Officer Found Dead in Cell Raw: Texas Deputy Shot by Colo. Suspect Honored Major Detours Following Wash. Bridge Collapse Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying Raw: Jersey Shore Reopens for Summer American Held in Grisly Czech Murders Obama:Sexual Assault Threatens Trust in Military Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse UK-bound Pakistan Plane Diverted, 2 Men Arrested Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day' First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo Raw: Tornado on the Ground in Oklahoma Today in History May 24 Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned Britain Braces for Possible Copycat Attacks Today in History May 25 Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
NDN Video
Young protestor goes viral on Youtube High Wire Spectacle Thrills Crowd in Austria Toronto Mayor says he's not a crack head Maine island offers lighthouse getaway Suspect in Killing of Officer Found Dead in Cell Should We Prepare for Quakes? Lynn Kindergarten Class Rescues Ducklings Congressional gold medal awarded to civil rights heroes Charles Ramsey visits Kentucky Unique Display Greets Guests At Revel Casino Cape Cod Train Service Worries Residents BASE jumper rides snowmobile off cliff to honor dead friend Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day' SHOCKING: School Guard Throws Girl Down Stairs Star Wars X-Wing Star Fighter Made of Legos Actress Amanda Bynes Arrested in New York Singer Psy Has An Imposter President Obama Heckled at National Security Speech Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air More lewd photos may soon come out: Weiner
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
  • -

     

    March 12, 2010

activity
Real Estate News