Mourdock Ads: Lugar 'Out of Touch'

Indiana state treasurer Richard Mourdock makes an appearance in a new TV ad criticizing his Republican Senate primary opponent, incumbent senator Dick Lugar. Mourdock says Lugar "left behind his conservative Hoosier values" when he went to Washington. Watch the ad below:

The Mourdock campaign has also released a similar radio ad.

At a debate in Indianapolis Wednesday night, however, Yahoo! News reports that the candidates were much more cordial than expected, given the recent ad war between the two Republicans and their surrogates. From the report:

Mourdock, who serves as Indiana's treasurer, opened the debate by saying the two Republicans do share common ground, but the forum would show they "disagree on much."

Yet the two candidates found themselves agreeing on entitlement spending, Medicare and Medicaid, Obamacare, on some foreign policy issues and in their opposition to government regulation.

Earlier, Mourdock had paid a compliment to Lugar, a well-known foreign policy expert who currently serves as ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. When I was "asked to run," Mourdock said, "I was surprised, because all of us have great respect for Senator Lugar's time on the Foreign Relations Committee."

The GOP primary in Indiana is on May 8.