Sen Richard Lugar is looking for a job

[Ed W]

The Republicans continue to eat their own.  Senator Lugar had a 70% conservative voting record, if I remember right, but that's not enough for the tea party.  From the Washington Post:

Republican Richard Lugar, who has represented Indiana in the Senate for 36 years, lost his primary on Tuesday to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, according to the Associated Press. Lugar is the third Republican senator to lose a primary to a tea party-backed opponent since 2010.

[guido911]

How are the OWS/pee party candidates faring this election cycle? I thought they would be kicking exit given the play they get in this forum--and given that the tea party was supposedly dead.

[Teatownclown]

Great news...come the general election this Senate seat will now go for a Democrat. Way to go Teahadists!

Lugar was a good man. Forward.

[Ed W]

How are the OWS/pee party candidates faring this election cycle? I thought they would be kicking exit given the play they get in this forum--and given that the tea party was supposedly dead.

I hadn't heard that the Occupy movement actually backed any political candidates.  It would be kind of hard to do that when the group has to reach consensus without any discernible leaders.  Yet they've seen their message penetrate both popular consciousness and into our political discourse.  

Will Rogers said that he didn't belong to an organized political party because he was a Democrat.  I think it's equally true today and it's even more appropriate for the Occupy folks.  Historically, we've seen the rise of subcultures that eventually find themselves absorbed into the larger culture.  Some call this being co-opted or even selling out, but it's a repetitive theme.  Think of rock and roll, beatniks, hippies, punk rockers, and how their initial appearance was far outside the cultural and political mainstream, but within less than a decade, each had been absorbed.

I don't think it's substantially different with political affiliations.  Both the tea party and Occupy are having a profound effect on our political establishment, but we won't see the full extent of their presence for years to come.  Still, since the tea party seems to be composed primarily elderly people, another ten years may see a significant change in their demographic.  Occupy, on the other hand, appears to be more diverse.

(As I was finishing this, Clown posted what may be an obvious conclusion -- that the replacement of Lugar with a tea party extremist may just hand the election to a Democrat.  Be careful what you wish for.)

[guido911]

I hadn't heard that the Occupy movement actually backed any political candidates.  It would be kind of hard to do that when the group has to reach consensus without any discernible leaders.  Yet they've seen their message penetrate both popular consciousness and into our political discourse.  

That was kinda my point. For as much internet ink that's been spilled in this forum about the glory of the PP and how despicable/dead the tea party was, you'd think that Indiana would have went to a Kucinich clone.

As for what happens in IN, let's wait to see if Lugar goes all Murkowski first. The Dem, not worried right now. How about letting the folks in Indiana let it sink in a DAY before pulling a shroud over Mourdock.

[Ed W]

That was kinda my point. For as much internet ink that's been spilled in this forum about the glory of the PP and how despicable/dead the tea party was, you'd think that Indiana would have went to a Kucinich clone.

As for what happens in IN, let's wait to see if Lugar goes all Murkowski first. The Dem, not worried right now. How about letting the folks in Indiana let it sink in a DAY before pulling a shroud over Mourdock.

While American voters have had brief dalliances with some extreme political thought, they're still centrists at heart, Guido.  I'm thinking that they'll reject the tea party excesses relatively soon, but like the John Birch Society, the tea party will be with us for some time, largely ignored and eventually forgotten.   

[Conan71]

Ruf always said Lugar was a guy he could vote for.  That's all I needed to know