Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Richard Mourdock defeats Dick Lugar in Indiana Senate primary

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' IN-Sen: His victory came as no surprise, but Richard Mourdock's final margin over Sen. Dick Lugar in the GOP primary was a punishing 61-39'far greater than the 10-point spread we saw in the final poll of the race. Lugar released two separate statements in response to his loss, one positive and the other shockingly negative toward Mourdock. (Both are at the link'scroll down for the second one.) Said Lugar:

If Mr. Mourdock is elected, I want him to be a good Senator. But that will require him to revise his stated goal of bringing more partisanship to Washington. He and I share many positions, but his embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance and my experience of what brings results for Hoosiers in the Senate. In effect, what he has promised in this campaign is reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy and rigid opposition to the actions and proposals of the other party. His answer to the inevitable roadblocks he will encounter in Congress is merely to campaign for more Republicans who embrace the same partisan outlook. He has pledged his support to groups whose prime mission is to cleanse the Republican party of those who stray from orthodoxy as they see it.

This is not conducive to problem solving and governance. And he will find that unless he modifies his approach, he will achieve little as a legislator. Worse, he will help delay solutions that are totally beyond the capacity of partisan majorities to achieve.

Remarkable. As a consequence of Mourdock's win, we at Daily Kos Elections are changing our rating on this race from Likely Republican to Lean Republican. While polls have shown Mourdock neck-and-neck with the man who will be his Democratic opponent, Rep. Joe Donnelly, Indiana remains a red state and background factors favor the in-party. But make no mistake: This is a huge headache for national Republicans, and Lugar's departure from the scene will provide a big shot in the arm for Donnelly's campaign. The GOP cannot afford to take this race for granted.