TERRE HAUTE —
Richard Mourdock, who is challenging six-term U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar in the Republican primary, said Wednesday he’s not surprised that Lugar has decided to run negative ads.
“I am surprised he launched them a full 10 weeks ahead of the election,” Mourdock said while attending a fundraising event at the Country Club of Terre Haute. “You expect something like that in the last three or four weeks.”
Lugar “is out there 10 weeks ahead because his polling is obviously showing we are doing very well,” said Mourdock, Indiana’s treasurer. “Normally you don’t want to give your opponent any name recognition.
“You don’t even want to tell voters there is an opponent.”
According to Mourdock, “It tells me he has to destroy me.”
Mourdock has criticized Lugar for not owning a home in Indiana and not being an “inhabitant” of the state, something Mourdock said is a qualification to be a senator based on the U.S. Constitution.
This week, Lugar began airing ads that label Mourdock a mudslinger, and an ad includes splats of mud against the screen. An announcer describes Mourdock as “desperate,” according to published reports.
Mourdock said Wednesday the residency issue is “not mudslinging … If he becomes an inhabitant, that constitutional issue goes away.”
Mourdock said he doesn’t want the campaign to go negative. “I’d love to see this be strictly on the issues that I always talk about,” including reducing the federal debt, changing the tax code and changing the regulatory environment for businesses.
He says his polling data indicates “we’re well within striking distance and everything is going the right direction for us and not the right direction for Mr. Lugar.”
The fundraising event included special guest Forrest Lucas, founder of Lucas Oil Products. Gold sponsors were asked to pay $2,500; silver sponsors, $1,000; bronze sponsors, $500; and individual attendees, $100.
Mourdock said at one time, Lugar “had a fairly consistent conservative record, but that’s not the case anymore.”
The two Republicans differ on several issues, Mourdock said. Mourdock believes Lugar’s voting record for Supreme Court justices indicates “he’s far too tolerant of the liberal agenda.”
Also, Lugar recently voted against eliminating earmarks, and “he’s voted to raise the debt limit consistently,” Mourdock said.
Lucas said he supports Mourdock because “his thoughts are very much the same as mine. We’ve got to make some changes in the country … Richard is a guy I can trust. He’s really going to fight for what we need to do.”
One concern, he said, is that “it seems like every senator or representative is treating our national treasury like it’s a stolen credit card. Just go get all the pork you can and bring it home. I think more as an American than as a Hoosier. What’s good for America will be good for Indiana.”
Lucas said the pork barrel projects have to stop.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
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