After endorsing RINO Trey Grayson in the Kentucky GOP primary, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell ate crow when then-candidate Rand Paul pulled off an upset victory over the establishment’s pick.
Prior to 2010, McConnell was a Kingmaker in Kentucky politics – a powerful force that everyone deferred to and no one dared defy. However, to the chagrin and national embarrassment of the veteran politician, the Kentucky voters had different plans.
In less grandiose style, this phenomenon was repeated throughout the country. Shock waves reverberated throughout the collective body of the establishment in 2010 when Tea Party candidates were sent to Washington en masse to represent the people.
Now two years later, the citizens of Indiana have an opportunity on May 8th to capitalize on the movement that had a major impact in sending congressmen and Senators to our nation’s capital who were committed to restoring America to limited-government principles.
America was founded on the proposition that people should be free. If you agree with this basic precept, you have no other alternative than to support Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock for Senate over incumbent Senator Richard Lugar.
In the interest of full disclosure, I interned for Senator Lugar in the summer of 2006 and I am an alumnus of his college – Denison University. But unlike the many sharks that swarm the Potomac River around DC, I refuse to play the inside-the-beltway, quid-pro-quo game.
Senator Lugar is a very likable man and an extremely intelligent and knowledgeable politician. However, my problem with him transcends likability; I have profound ideological and policy disagreements that force me to oppose his reelection. As it should, principle trumps everything else.
Senator Lugar’s 35-year career in the Senate has represented a full scale of anti-liberty positions – supporting ethanol subsidies, confirming Obama Supreme Court Justices Kagan and Sotomayer, falling in line with the DREAM Act, voting for the auto bailout, as well as being a rubberstamp for many other anti-conservative laws.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Nevertheless, considering this cursory view of his career, it’s no wonder National Review, the National Rifle Association, the Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, Herman Cain, and many other prominent conservative politicos and organizations have endorsed Mourdock in this race.
Look at how he compares to recent Tea Party victors…
Here are the ratings from Heritage Action for America’s legislative scorecard. The new Tea Party Senators have the following conservative scores: Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) – 99%; Jim DeMint (R-SC) – 99%; Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) – 97%; Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) – 96%; Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) – 94%; Pat Toomey (R-PA) – 88%.
What was Senator Lugar’s score? The career politician, who now resides lives in McLean, Virginia, received a score of 74 – well below the Tea Partiers.
Since he isn’t currently a member of the U.S. Senate, it’s impossible to determine what candidate Mourdock’s rating would be. However, based on his stated policy views and opposition to Lugar’s RINO tendencies, we can rest assured that it will lie within the range of the newly-elected Tea Parties rather than near the wholly-inadequate 74 rating of the moderate Lugar.
Indiana, you have a choice on May 8th. Are you content with the status quo, or do you want a change? Do you want a conservative fighter who will stand up for limited-government principles? If so, your choice is simple. Richard Mourdock is your man.