With a month left before Indiana's Republican primary, incumbent senator Dick Lugar is facing more negative ads from two important conservative advocacy groups.
The Club for Growth, which has already invested in the race, is running new ads on TV and radio attacking Lugar and in support of Lugar's primary challenger, state treasurer Richard Mourdock. One 60-second radio ad takes on one of Lugar's top assets: his role as a "statesman" and expert in foreign relations. "Dick Lugar might be a statesman, but he's not a conservative," says the voiceover. Listen below:
The Club is also running a television ad contrasting Lugar with Mourdock on issues like government spending, taxes, and judicial appointments. Watch that ad here.
The National Rifle Association is also up with ads criticizing Lugar, and Politico's James Hohmann reports that the NRA's PAC will be sending out over a million direct mailings to Hoosiers between now and the May 8 primary. A new TV ad focuses on Lugar's "F" rating from the NRA, calling him the "only Republican candidate in Indiana" with that rating. The ad also tells voters it's "time to elect Richard Mourdock for Senate." Watch that ad below (and listen to the radio ad here):
While Lugar's campaign has financial and name-recognition advantages over Mourdock, the latter has had big help from conservative groups looking to take down the senator who was dubbed (unfortunately for Lugar's reelection prospects) "Obama's favorite Republican."
