Early last year, GOP leaders in Washington warned Lugar’s team of the potential for danger and the need to run a ruthless primary. Look no further, they said, than the complacent campaigns of former Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska: Both lost to tea party-backed opponents, though Murkowski managed to keep her seat in the fall after winning a historic write-in campaign.
For Republicans, the 2010 model of how to smother a primary opponent was Arizona Sen. John McCain, who ran a scorched-earth campaign that eviscerated former Rep. J.D. Hayworth’s credibility early, often and with tenacious relish.
Lugar didn’t heed the advice.
It’s not that he didn’t hit Mourdock hard — his campaign launched a $2.4 million wave of mostly negative advertising this spring that some now believe has tarnished his image as a statesman — it’s that he waited far too long.
“You need to be prepared to decapitate someone as soon as possible. Follow the John McCain model, not the Bob Bennett model,” said the Senate race strategist.
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