Tragedy Strikes: Voters Reject Dick Lugar

Truly shocking and tragic: After only 36 years in the U.S. Senate, octogenarian Dick Lugar was sent to early retirement, against his wishes, by an overwhelming majority of those who voted in Indiana on Tuesday.

Back-scratching, big-government, business-as-usual statists were among the hardest hit:

Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Lugar's loss "a tragedy for the Senate."

"This is a tough period in American politics, but I'd like to think that we'll again see a United States Senate where Dick Lugar's brand of thoughtful, mature, and bi-partisan work* is respected and rewarded," he said. "That kind of seriousness of purpose should never go out of fashion."

Added President Obama in a statement: "While Dick and I didn't always agree on everything, I found during my time in the Senate that he was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done."**

*bi-partisan work = capitulating to Democrats

**get things done = grow government, always moving leftward

Don't the voters know that even if their power-hungry Senator moves out of his "home" state, completely losing touch with his constituents' values, it's their patriotic duty to return the incumbent to his rightful position so he can continue make Mad Dealz™ with massive amounts of borrowed money? This is what responsible adults do!

Reactions from the Right:

Just a few weeks ago a Mourdock victory was considered, at best, highly unlikley. But a blowout like this was considered beyond the realm of possibility.

Indiana Republicans have concluded, wisely in my opinion, that [Lugar] is not conservative enough for them or for the State.

Any elected Republican that doesn't pursue a small government agenda once in office risks suffering the same fate as Lugar.

Lugar's much-vaunted civility is a courtesy he extends only to his left; turning to his right, he becomes a churl.

So you’re serving us, Senator Lugar, but you’re the one being treated like royalty everywhere you go?

Right now, politically speaking, the Tea Party seems to be a bullhorn, amplifying deep and abiding concerns of the American electorate.

Obama’s favorite Republican — Dick Lugar — is history, and the Tea Party lives.

The left freaks out:

The toppling of Lugar is a seminal event ... it is just as easy to see in it the frightening outlines of a future systemic crisis.

As today’s Indiana outcome shows, the Koch/AFP/Tea Party Axis of Evil can take down an insufficiently obeisant GOP Senator.

More via Memeorandum; x-posted

Outlier: Dick Lugar is Too Liberal For Indiana

To those who say Dick Lugar is "conservative enough," here's a little reminder. This is from Nate Silver at the New York Times:

...the dashed line represents how conservative we would expect a Republican senator to be, based on the partisan composition of her state. The further below the dashed line that the senator appears, the more liberal he or she is, relative to the state. Those far below the line, from a Republican point of view, are arguably not pulling their weight.

Five Republicans stand out as being especially far below the line — that is, they are more liberal than you would typically expect a Republican from their state to be. The list includes George V. Voinovich of Ohio, who is retiring, and Richard G. Lugar of Indiana...

Details on the numbers are here.

Learn about Richard Mourdock here.

Indiana votes today.