INDIANA – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  Political history will probably be made in Indiana today, as the state holds its primary elections.

If the polls are correct, 80-year-old, six-term Republican Senator Richard Lugar will become the first senator in this election cycle to lose renomination.  Indeed, it's now considered virtually certain that State Treasurer Richard Mourdock will be the Republican nominee.

It is a classic tale.  Lugar, who has always been an electoral star, went to Washington and became part of Washington.  He hasn't really lived in his state for decades, and his actual residence became a campaign issue.  He made himself a specialist in foreign affairs, giving rise to the charge that he'd lost interest in the people back home.  And there is just the feeling among many Indianans that he's stayed too long. 

There is risk in turning him out, however.  He remains personally popular among independents and even some Democrats.  Although Indiana is generally a Republican state, Mourdock might have a tougher time in the general election than Lugar. 

Lugar is a moderate conservative.  In a way, I'd be sorry to see him go.  Both parties need moderates who can work across the aisle.  One element in the greatness of American politics has been practicality, the notion that getting things done is the key, not rigid ideology, left or right.  Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia of New York once said, "There's no Democratic or Republican way to pick up the garbage."  But the practicals are losing out in both parties.  Joe Lieberman, the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000, was virtually kicked out of his own party and now serves as an independent because he dared to agree with President George W. Bush on some issues. 

So, while it will be fine to have a solid conservative running on the GOP ticket in Indiana, Richard Lugar's service has been of value.

May 8,  2012