News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Local & Bistate

What is a super PAC?

A super PAC is a political action committee that does not make direct contributions to candidates but rather spends money on behalf of candidates or causes through advertising and other means.
Because they avoid direct contributions to candidates, donors to super PACs have no dollar limit. Donors include corporations, unions, individuals and associations.
Information about super PACs, including financial information, is available online at www.fec.gov.

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
October 18, 2012

Political flier irks Lugar camp

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Scars from a contentious Republican primary have apparently not yet healed as U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is objecting to a campaign flier that invokes his name and image in support of Richard Mourdock.

Mourdock defeated Lugar in the May Republican senate primary.

The flier was funded and designed by USA Super PAC, whose chairman is Jim Bopp, a Terre Haute-based attorney with a long history of work for the Republican Party and conservative causes.

The flier states that Lugar “backs Mourdock” in the November senate election against Democrat Joe Donnelly. It also includes a photograph of a smiling Lugar and shows a torch being passed from one hand to another in front of an Indiana state flag.

“Indiana’s Lugar backs Mourdock in senate run,” the flier states in bold letters. “Indiana’s torch has been passed from one great leader to another.”

But the flier is “misleading,” stated Andy Fisher, a Lugar spokesman in Washington, in an email response Wednesday to questions from the Tribune-Star. What’s more, the flier is being funded by an organization “that spent over $100,000 to defeat Sen. Lugar” in the 2012 primary, he stated.

“It was clearly unauthorized and done without consultation with us,” Fisher stated. “During the primary, Mourdock and his supporters perpetuated misleading statements about Sen. Lugar. Unfortunately that has continued with this mailer. …”

Bopp, whose offices are in downtown Terre Haute, told the Tribune-Star he never claimed the flier was “authorized” by Lugar or that Lugar was campaigning for Mourdock. USA Super PAC is independent and does not coordinate with any candidates, he said.

When asked whether he had consulted with Mourdock about the flier, Bopp stated he had not.

“We do independent expenditures, so we don’t consult with or discuss anything that we’re doing with any candidates and we didn’t with [Mourdock],” Bopp said. He also said his PAC paid for only positive ads in the primary, not ads attacking Lugar.

“I don’t see anything at all that’s misleading about this advertisement,” Bopp said. “Lugar said he’s voting for [Mourdock], he hopes [Mourdock] wins. From our standpoint, this is the passing of the torch from” Lugar to Mourdock, he said.

Supporting the statement that Lugar “backs” Mourdock, Bopp pointed to Lugar’s primary election night comments in which he said he hoped “my opponent prevails in November to contribute to a Republican majority” in the senate. He also pointed to a September article in Human Events magazine quoting Lugar’s spokesman, Fisher, stating “Yes, [Lugar] is supporting Treasurer Mourdock” and plans to vote for him in November. The Associated Press also reported in September that Lugar, while sitting out the general election campaign, called on voters to support Mourdock to provide a GOP majority in the senate.

In light of these comments, Bopp said he finds the Lugar objections puzzling. “What’s the problem here?” he asked.

The fight for a majority

Both Mourdock and Donnelly clearly see Republicans who voted for Lugar in the May primary as key to who will win on Nov. 6. Donnelly has been praising Lugar in his public statements, a move Bopp calls “cynical.”

“I know that there are hard feeling [sic] that may not have healed from the primary,” Bopp said in a news release issued Wednesday afternoon. But “it is incumbent on Republicans to make sure that Congressman Donnelly is not allowed to cynically exploit the situation. He was prepared to run against Sen. Lugar and to defeat him [in] the general election, except for the results of the primary.”

Elizabeth Shappell, a Donnelly campaign spokeswoman, told the Tribune-Star Wednesday the Democratic senate candidate has simply been stating he would act in a bipartisan manner if elected, not unlike former Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh or Senator Lugar.

“Joe hopes to follow in their footsteps,” Shappell said, noting that Donnelly and Lugar agreed on federal aid for the U.S. auto industry and in their support of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Bopp said the flier was mailed to thousands of Hoosiers this week at a cost of almost $60,000 to USA Super PAC.

There is intense national interest in the race between Mourdock and Donnelly. Democrats currently have a 51-47 majority in the senate and both parties are hoping to have the majority after the election. The Indiana race is currently seen as a “toss up,” and well-known Republicans and Democrats are traveling to Indiana to try and sway voters for their man.

Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local & Bistate
Latest News
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
AP Video
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Raw: Gun Scare Mars Cannes Film Festival NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Texas Gov. Flies Over Tornado Damage CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Suicide Bomber Kills 2 Americans, 13 Others One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh China, Others Want What's Under the Arctic Ice Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: 6 Die in Russian Ship Fire Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
NDN Video
Twiggy, the Water Skiing Squirrel Sailor Surprises His Mom At Her CU Denver Graduation Ceremony Official: ‘Amazing’ No One Was Killed In CT Train Crash Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Beyonce Is Pregnant! SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion Woman tricked into taking abortion pill Emma Watson Goes Pantless IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths Cindy Crawford Stuns At Cannes
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