Dan Parker, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, said this morning that Lugar is just too popular to challenge.
"Let's be honest," Parker said. "Richard Lugar is beloved not only by Republicans but by independents and Democrats."
as gary says at advance indiana:
Regardless of what you think of Sen. Lugar, it is simply unacceptable for him to be given a complete pass by the Democrats. The two-party system is critical to maintaining accountability. By not fielding a candidate, Lugar can now do as he pleases for the next 6 and a half years without any need to consult his constituents. The Indiana Democratic party really let the state's voters down on this one.
let's face it: any democrat running against lugar would be at a disadvantage. the chances of any democrat unseating lugar are admittedly slim. but at least put up a token candidate and run a half-assed campaign.
as far as republican senators go, lugar isn't that bad. then again, that's one hell of a qualifier. sure, lugar voted to increase the minimum wage, but he also voted for the flag-burning amendment and any number of other things i'd disagree with. even the right-leaning star ed board knows better than that. (emabarrassingly, bayh also voted for it.)
as it stands, the only other candidate on the ballot facing lugar will be libertarian steve osborn, and judging from his issues page, i'm not sure i could vote for him in good faith. there's no none of the above option in indiana, either. so what happens if a voter leaves that space blank? as far as i know, the ballot would still be valid and votes for other offices would be counted, but maybe not. for touch-screen voting, is it even possible to "skip" a race on the ballot, or does the machine force you to vote for one candidate or the other? ¶
