Bipartisanship for Thee, Not For Me

John Kerry is weeping great tears for the impact of Senator Lugar's primary loss on the Senate's foreign policy "bipartisanship." But Kerry wasn't nearly so enthusiastic about "bipartisan" "moderation" on foreign policy when it came to Joe Lieberman back in 2006; in fact,

he called Joe Lieberman "the new Cheney" (about the harshest insult one Democrat could visit on another) because of his support for the surge in Iraq.

What's more, Kerry was one of the few senators openly to back extreme lefty Ned Lamont over Lieberman, even when it was clear that Lamont wasn't going to win.

So when Kerry bemoans the loss of Lugar, it simply validates the instincts of Indiana Republicans that Lugar's much-vaunted "bipartisanship" -- especially in recent years -- wasn't anything of the sort. Rather, it was simply code for his willingness to provide political cover for Democrats.

That, plus Lugar's contempt for home state voters -- manifested most overtly in his failure even to maintain an in-state address -- was enough to do him in. Indiana primary voters, quite rightly, once again reminded the political elites (as Massachusetts voters did two years ago) that US Senate seats don't belong to particular senators . . . they belong to the people.