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Last updated on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Sen. Richard Lugar’s tough re-election fight has gained the attention of an influential Capitol Hill newspaper.
In a nod to a popular 1970s children's book, Roll Call called Lugar's battle, "Dick Lugar's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week."
Many political analysts agreed with Roll Call, citing a number of back-to-back mishaps.
Lugar's opponent, Richard Mourdock also weighed in, RTV6's Norman Cox reported.
"The fact that he's spending a lot of money for high-priced lawyers to tell the people of Indiana 'I don't have to live here, and you can't make me,' I think that's a bizarre argument for a United States Senator to make," Mourdock said.
Despite the criticism, Lugar's campaign said it was a good week, because their volunteers went over the 1,000,000 mark in phone calls to Hoosier voters.
"We're finding as we talk to voters that there's many who are very upset that there are these outside forces trying to hijack an election here in Indiana and talk about issues other than those that are important to the primary voters," Lugar's spokesman Andy Fisher said.
The Roll Call article said Lugar will probably win his residency challenge, but he could generate more damaging headlines in the process.
Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis political science professor Margaret Ferguson said it's hard to imagine Lugar losing, but that the residency battle doesn't shed a positive light.
"Symbolically, (the residency fight) is probably more important than anything, because it really does look like he's 'gone Washington,' which is a critique of incumbents," Fergusons said. "Being an incumbent is sort of a disadvantage right now."
Ferguson conceded that Lugar can't ignore the residency ruling, which would make him appear indifferent on the issues.
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