Dick Lugar says he'll seek re-election.

[saltpoint]

The hinge on Dick Lugar for me is this: I don't like him very much generally but like him better than most current-serving Republicans in the Senate.

A thin case in Lugar's behalf can be made against the late Jesse Helms. The two men disliked each other. There was no real political justice to allow Helms to serve as he did in Foreign Relations and to diminish Lugar's profile and contributions, but the GOP caucus did just that.

- - -
Helms clashed with other Republicans over the years, including fellow Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 1987, after Democrats had won a Senate majority. Helms had promised in his 1984 campaign not to take the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee, but he invoked seniority over Lugar to claim the seat as the panel’s ranking Republican.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25530608/
- - -

A case could be made that Lugar knows his stuff on nuclear weapons and the potential danger of rogue nukes across the planet.

And it would be generally fair to say that he is "not as bad" as other Republicans who comprise the Congressional caucus in his state, as virtually all of the rest of them are raving lunatics: Coats, Pence, Burton, Buyer, etc.

But still.

But still I would urge the State Democratic Party in Indiana and the national party to mobilize a challenger for this race and to dump some serious cash into the goal of winning it. Lugar is very popular; his seat is likely safe. But the fight matters, and we can't articulate opposition to his usual conservative votes unless we nominate someone to challenge the man, unlike in the last cycle when we let Lugar win unopposed.


http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/08/12/lugar_will_run_again.html

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. I agree with most everything you have written about Dick Lugar

He is an old school Republican and he has, on many occasions, taken stands against his own party. That being said, the Dems in Indiana have almost zero chance of unseating him with any known politician in the state and an absolute zero chance with anyone else. Of all the races in 2012, Dick Lugar is not one that Dems should waste money on. He will win in a landslide.

[saltpoint]

3. Hi, Vinnie -- yes, he'll win, and by the huge

percentages you say he'll win by -- no question.

But there are Democrats at many levels of the ballot and if blue voters are not mobilized for the statewide races, many of those down-ballot Dems bite the dust.

My hope is that as many of them as possible can win their races in the Assembly and State Senate. There need to be people in place for future elections, and Lugar's overwhelming popularity aside, the real election in a Democratic challenger is to lift many other boats.

[JI7]

2. i'm ok with Lugar, if a seat is going to stay republican i would rather it be Lugar

than some of these new teabagging types that are coming up .

[saltpoint]

4. Yep -- as Vinnie said unthread, this one would be

Lugar's to lose, even if he is 371 years old, which I think he is.

I'm hoping for as vigorous a public debate on national policy issues, though, and definitely a shot at winning many local elections down-ballot.

I think if anything, you're being charitable about the Tea Baggers. They're a scary bunch.

[lillypaddle]

5. Funny ...

YEARS ago, I thought politicians like Dick Lugar & Arlen Specter were conservative "crazies." Now, in comparison to the REAL conservative crazies, they seem pretty okay. Weird.

[saltpoint]

6. Yep. There's been one of them whatchamacallits -- a paradigm

shift, and Lugar, who was once Richard Nixon's "favorite mayor" of Indianapolis, is now a "moderate."

Kinda unnerving.