FreedomWorks for America, a tea party group that is assisting Indiana GOP state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in his effort to unseat six-term Sen. Dick Lugar, has sent an anti-Lugar mailing to the state’s citizens ahead of Tuesday's primary.
FreedomWorks’ mailer begins with a picture of actor Jimmy Stewart in the classic movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” In that film, Stewart’s character fights against corruption in the capital. “But one politician went to Washington . . . and never came back,” the flyer reads.
“Nearly 36 years ago, we sent Dick Lugar to Washington to do the same thing. Unlike Mr. Smith, however, Dick Lugar lost touch with the people who sent him there and became part of the problem instead.”
The mailer criticizes Lugar for having his residence in McLean, Va., outside Washington, D.C, rather than in Indiana. “When Dick Lugar went to Washington, he liked it so much he decided to stay,” the mailer reads. “He sold his Indiana home 35 years ago and moved permanently to Washington. He wasn’t even eligible to vote in his own primary until he worked out a deal to claim a family farm address as his residence.”
Lugar has abandoned his conservative roots, FreedomWorks says. “He has lost touch with Indiana, and now represents the interests of Washington and big government.”
The mailer cites several votes as examples:
• Lugar voted 15 times to raise the debt ceiling by a total of $7 trillion
• Lugar voted for the $700 billion Wall Street Bailout
• Lugar voted for the billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac
FreedomWorks also attacks Lugar for voting to confirm liberals Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.
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