'Virginia Is For Lugars' Website Unveiled Attacking Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar

Democrats are almost as entertained by Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar's residency questions as Lugar's Republican primary opponent, state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, and have whipped up a new website called Virginia Is for Lugars" mocking the fact that Lugar lives in the Washington, D.C., suburbs.

“Hoosiers are waking up to the fact that their senior senator has not actually lived in the state for over 35 years, and that just doesn’t sit well with them," said Matt Thornton, a spokesman for Democratic-aligned American Bridge 21st Century, which created the site. "Despite his Virginia house being worth over a million dollars, he still refuses to move home to his native state, instead preferring to charge his hotel stays to the taxpayer.”

The site notes that Lugar's hotel stays in Indiana have cost more than $50,000 and mentions a brand-new Marriott as an illustration, although Lugar's campaign has countered that the amount covers decades, and the ritzy hotel didn't exist for most of that time.

Comments

[peter777]

05:37 PM on 03/02/2012

Lugar is doing what all too many senators do once they win a second term. They buy big houses in Virginia and become absorbed with and into Washington. Senators should have term limits---- 4 years terms and a limit of 3- 12 years. Maybe then the U.S. Senate would actually get something done.

[Steve Davis 1]

04:34 PM on 03/02/2012

Even though Lugar's media consultant was on Chuck Todd's Daily Rundown this morning insisting Lugar would win, I think he is toast. This "doesn't live here anymore" attack was very effective in Santorum loss in 2006 and Feingold in 2010. So how extreme is this Mourdock guy? Wasn't Mourdock the name of the predator race in HG Wells Time Machine?

[paul87920]

04:57 PM on 03/02/2012

Mourdock is about as extreme as they get. I am not a Republican, but I am a Hoosier and we're playing with fire. If Lugar wins the primary, Lugar will be re-elected. If Mourdock wins, it's a crap shoot, between a far-right Republican, and a moderate Democrat that would probably serve a lot like Ben Nelson, or Joe Manchin. I'm torn. A lot of what Lugar stands for disgusts me, but do we risk it for a 50-50 chance that we might get a Democrat like him?

[pogo]

03:35 PM on 03/02/2012

Howdy Doody ain't going anywhere: he'll be very sought after on K street.

[kareemachan]

03:05 PM on 03/02/2012

Well, Santorum does it. Seems to be a TP/NOP thing.... Remember, IOKIYAR, right?

[happyblackman]

02:59 PM on 03/02/2012

Didn't Lugar criticize Bill Clinton for the Lewinsky affair, only to have the news come out that he had an illegitimate child? Was that him?

[Hoosierbrad]

02:50 PM on 03/02/2012

I am not a Republican, and not a fan of Sen. Lugar, but give the guy a break. When he was first elected to the Senate, it was necessary to be in Washington 9 - 10 months a year, and 6 days a week. They actually worked then. It would have been impracticable to not move to Washington.

[pmoschetta]

03:14 PM on 03/02/2012

That was when he was first elected to the Senate. What's his excuse NOW for not having a residence in Indiana?

Another case of Santorumism

[PunKinPai]

03:15 PM on 03/02/2012

That could have been said for all congressmen. Why did only Lugar and a couple of others (e.g., Bob Dornan) decide to abandon the states they allegedly represented?

[AncientTerp]

02:42 PM on 03/02/2012

Dems be careful what you wish for: Sen Lugar is a reasonable and able man. A Republican replacement would be three orders of magnitude worse. Lugar is under fire in Indiana for not being 'conservative enough'.

[PunKinPai]

03:17 PM on 03/02/2012

It's the right thing to do, politically wise or not.

[HymnsToSilence]

02:40 PM on 03/02/2012

This is good news. I have respect for the job Mr. Lugar has done over the years but facts are stubborn things. I wonder how many others in Congress are living in the same circumstance? Hopefully, that will be investigated, and remedied. Politics should be public service, not a career, in my opinion. "So long, it's been good to know you." W. Guthrie

[knott wrench]

03:46 PM on 03/02/2012

Exactly! Term Limits!

[RickyPoo]

02:22 PM on 03/02/2012

Prediction Time:

Dick Luger is GONE! Done. Finis.

Joe Donnelly is going to be the next Senator from IN.

There has been a perfect storm brewing in the Hoosier State for a Democratic upset for the IN Senate race this Fall with:

--Luger having to deal with a Tea Party primary challenger. We wouldn't even be TALKING about this residency issue now if not for that challenge. This race will make Luger a weaker, more vulnerable candidate in the Fall.

--Mitch Daniels' incessant union-busting. By focusing on running 2016 for president, Daniels has made it harder for Luger to run as a Repub for Senate in IN in 2012. The union-busting RTW law that passed the General Assembly has labor and Democrats MUCH more motivated and fired up than they ought to be.

--The Blunt Amendment. This, along with other far right issues, is forcing Luger into territory that he's not too comfortable in. Luger would rather be discussing Iran and gas prices (the latter issue now working AGAINST him due to his military drumbeats about Iran that he's forced to take in his primary race) and instead, has to talk about how badly he wants to control our bedrooms and doctor offices.

You heard it here first.

Joe Donnelly is going to be IN's Senator in 2013, winning in a squeaker that's going to keep the Hoosier State up VERY late on Election Night.

[luvdatbobcat]

04:17 PM on 03/02/2012

The only reason that Donnelly might have a chance is that he is a Blue Dog Democrat. I don't know that would be enough to get him the win in November.

[MDCA]

02:22 PM on 03/02/2012

Lugar could have had a lunar domicile, and he would have only voted to protect his own wealth.

[xxxAtheistMaximusxxx]

02:20 PM on 03/02/2012

Like it would matter where he lived anyway, the puppet master pulls the string regardless of where the puppet lays it's head.

[daqbet]

02:20 PM on 03/02/2012

I’m in no way a Lugar fan boy, and it would be great to replace him with a Democrat, but all in all Senator Richard Lugar has gained much respect here in Indiana over his many years of service. I think though he represents a brand or Republican that sadly now has no place in today’s Teapublican party

[reporter1]

02:18 PM on 03/02/2012

I want to see his birth certificate.

[TexianLife]

02:12 PM on 03/02/2012

LOL. Even if he had lived in Indiana, he wouldn't have cared or represented his people.

[HoustonWeHaveAProblem]

01:57 PM on 03/02/2012

So a hotel counts as a residence in Indiana? Anywhere else you'd be called a tourist.