CBS | Dick Lugar Not Planning on Helping Richard Mourdock in General Election

Posted on May 30 2012 – 8:30 PM – Posted by: Doug Brady

CBS News) In his first interview since he lost his primary earlier this month, Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar said he had no plans to campaign for Richard Mourdock, who beat him.

“For the time being, I don’t plan an active campaign,” Lugar said on “Face the Nation.”

The 80-year old lawmaker, known for reaching a landmark post-Cold War agreement on weapons reductions with Russia, has served in the Senate for 36 years. He lost to Tea Party-backed State Treasurer Richard Mourdock by 20 percent during the May 8 primary.

Lugar told host Bob Schieffer that Republican voters in Indiana wrote off the need for bipartisanship.

“A large portion of the Republican Party of Indiana believed, apparently, in the idea of individualism as opposed to community – a sense of compromise or a sense of talking across the aisle,” Lugar said.

The senator largely dismissed the critique that he no longer had a residence in Indiana and spent most of his time in Washington or traveling overseas on foreign policy trips. He blamed the money and influence of outside groups, including the National Rifle Association, the Washington-based Tea Party group FreedomWorks, and the anti-tax lobby Club for Growth, for his loss.

More.

Article source: http://conservatives4palin.com/2012/05/cbs-dick-lugar-not-planning-on-helping-richard-mourdock-in-general-election.html