Richard Mourdock, the Indiana state treasurer who defeated 36-year incumbent Dick Lugar in the GOP primary for his Senate seat last night, doesn’t believe in bipartisanship and that has a lot of folks worried due to the continuing partisan nature of Congress.
The Tea Party-backed candidate for Senate who will face Democrat Rep. Joe Donnelly in November joined The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd this morning to further explain his ideology.
“Bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view,” Mourdock told Todd. “We entered this campaign hoping to give more voice to the idea that Republicans and more specifically, conservatives, should be in the majority of the Senate and the House, and hopefully we’ll have a Republican in the White House. If we do that, bipartisanship means they have to come our way.”
Wow. I think bipartisanship actually means compromise, reaching across the aisle - something Lugar was known for during the course of his career.
Todd asked: “Why be a Senator then? Why not be a party leader?” if you’re not interested in compromise?
Explanations for why a veteran like Senator Lugar suffered such a crushing defeat vary. Some of the talking points used by his competitor included painting Lugar as out-of-touch with his constituents, as well as being too willing to compromise with non-Republicans.
Those messages worked well in this Republican primary, but it doesn't eliminate the fact that the Democrats now have a shot at gaining a Senate seat occupied for the last 36 years by a Republican.