In Epic Statement, Lugar Rips Foe, Congress

Calls opponent Richard Mourdock an 'unrelenting partisan'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2012 11:37 AM CDT
Lugar Rips Partisanship in Congress, Foe
Sen. Richard Lugar meets with voters outside of a polling location Tuesday, May 8, 2012, in Greenwood, Ind. Lugar is being challenged by two-term state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.   (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Dick Lugar isn't going quietly into the sunset. The newly deposed Indiana senator has released a scathing 1,425-word statement lambasting his party, his opponent, and Congress in general, Politico reports. Lugar says he wants opponent Richard Mourdock to win because he wants to see a GOP majority for pal Mitch McConnell. But he doubts Mourdock would be a good senator. "He and I share many positions, but his embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance."

"What he has promised in this campaign is reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy," Lugar complains. It's not just Mourdock, either; Lugar sees legislators on both sides manning partisan battle stations, much to the delight of special interests. Now as never before, lawmakers dare not "admit any nuance" on most issues. "If this attitude expands in the Republican Party, we will be relegated to minority status," he warns. "Bipartisanship is not the opposite of principle." Politico has Lugar's full statement here. (More Richard Lugar stories.)

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