So the Tea Party and Dick Armey and Karl Rove and all the Koch money and the poor souls who think they’re well served by being ground troops for this crowd did it, they got rid of Lugar. He just wasn’t pure enough.
A Lugar loss marks a sea change in both Indiana and Washington, where Lugar has long played the role of Republican wise man, a sober internationalist who could reach across the aisle to solve difficult problems.
In today’s political climate, however, Lugar’s bipartisan leanings were part of his undoing — and the defeat of the man Richard Nixon once called “America’s mayor” when he led Indianapolis will send chills down the spines of fellow GOP incumbents seeking reelection in states where a conservative insurrection is possible.