Without going into a lot specifics:
When I was younger, it could be argued I idolized Lugar. I attended the Leadership symposium at U Indy (ICU at that time) when I was a sophomore in HS. I really wanted to get into politics as a career and thought Lugar was it. I came to my senses my last year at IU and began to look at how things were done and who was doing it. I really soured on Lugar with his go along to get along ways as I got older. Many of his positions ran counter to what I'd begun to realize were my true positions around 2000. Mostly around personal freedom and individual liberties. I felt a lot of his foreign policy was interventionist in nature and unwarranted in general after the fall of the Soviet Union. At home, he was in favor of federal gov't regulation on things that I felt should be decided at the state and local level.
The way the super PACs and professional political operatives went after Mourdock in that primary over trivial BS like his tie in a debate or the idea that he dyed his hair was, to me, vindication that he had become a "swamp creature", to borrow that phrase.
I felt like the Senate was just a giant good old boys club that was no longer interested in governing, but continuing their own enrichment and status quo. I felt the same way about McCain and a few of the other Republicans. There was no longer an opposition party, both parties were just 2 sides of the same coin. I still feel that way today. I was happy to see it blown up. I kind of chuckle at the idea that it was because of that, Donnelly was elected and we got the ACA. Lugar would have voted for it too.
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