Lugar is kind of confessing to the crime conservatives have been accusing him of, isn't he?
Republican Sen. Richard Lugar lobbied Democrats and independents Friday to cross party lines and save him next week in the political fight of his life.
The six-term senator says he needs votes from outside his own party if he is to survive Tuesday's GOP primary. Recent polling has shown Lugar trailing tea party-backed state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.
I'm sure Democrats and independents would rather deal with a Lugar than a Mourdock, but wouldn't Democrats really be happier with one of their own in the Senate? If the conventional wisdom is right that Mourdock would have a harder time winning the general election than Lugar, why in the world would Democrats go to the primary in support of Lugar? Just wondering.
The Indiapolis Star yesterday used Lugar's problems as an excuse for one of those weepy, why-we-can't-get-along editorials lamenting the departure from Washington of moderates in both parties:
At the same time that moderation has withered on Capitol Hill, Americans' confidence in Congress also has dropped. Only 14 percent of Americans think Congress is doing a good job, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
The biggest complaints against Congress are that it can't accomplish anything of substance and members' over-the-top partisanship is out of control. Both of those fatal flaws are likely only to grow worse after this year's elections.
But later in the same editorial, the Star identifies these problems as the ones that aren't getting solved as long as Congress lacks the ability to compromise:
This nation is facing enormous challenges in rebuilding its economy, cutting the deficit, taming the debt, fixing its schools, safeguarding Social Security and Medicare, and establishing a sensible energy policy.
Don't the Star editors think there just might be a connection between the moderation they're nostalgic for and the deficit, debt and impending collapse of entitlement programs that they admit are bad things? The federal monster has grown because of cooperation, not gridlock.
