Miller backs Mourdock

Longtime Jay County Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. is among 68 county Republican Party chairmen in Indiana who are supporting a primary challenge of U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar.
Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who announced his candidacy Tuesday, claims support among leaders of the GOP in rural counties.
A release from Mourdock’s campaign Tuesday detailed a list of 68 Republican county chairpersons from across the state who “are publicly supporting (Mourdock’s) campaign.”
“I think (Mourdock’s) done a good job as far as running the treasury of Indiana. He knows what the problems are and how to go about solving those problems,” Miller said this morning. “I think he’d be a good man for Indiana and it’d be good (to have) new blood.
“I think there’s support for (both Lugar and Mourdock), but I think there’s more support for (Mourdock) right now. I’m thinking (some Republicans) are more or less saying it’s time for Lugar to retire,” Miller added.
The county GOP chairmen in Adams, Wells, Randolph and Delaware counties were also on the list released Tuesday by Mourdock’s campaign.
Miller said that although he believes Mourdock is a better candidate, he didn’t feel as though he was being asked for an endorsement in discussions with Mourdock’s campaign.
 “Like I told his press secretary, he’s a good guy and if he wanted to run, more power to him,” said Miller.
Mourdock campaign aide Christopher Conner said this morning that “We appreciate (Miller) publicly supporting us.”
Conner declined to comment on whether there is a difference between an endorsement and “publicly supporting” a candidate.
Mourdock, an Evansville resident, is hoping to gain the support of Tea Party faithful — some of whom have vowed to oust Lugar, who has served longer than any other U.S. Senator from Indiana.
Tea Partiers and Mourdock have said that Lugar is now more closely tied to Washington than to the Hoosier state and that he has forgotten his conservative roots.
In a campaign press release, Mourdock says that Lugar’s support of several initiatives of President Barack Obama — including the DREAM Act, the START treaty and opposition to earmark reform — convinced him to challenge Lugar.
“Hoosiers want more than a globe-trotting Senator,” Mourdock said in the release. “They want a Senator who routinely holds town hall meetings — not to talk, but to listen. They want a senator who will walk the parade routes, visit the county fairs and festivals … they told me over and over again that they want a Senator who comes back home.”[[In-content Ad]]