Dick Lugar: Hoosier Statesman

I am consistently impressed, but never surprised, by the wisdom and leadership exhibited by Indiana’s senior senator, Dick Lugar. According to restore-habeas.org, he supports the Leahy-Specter-Dodd Amendment to restore habeas corpus. Between this stance and his recent “outside the party line” take on Iraq, it is a wonder the rest of the Republican senate even lets this guy in the clubhouse anymore.

Revered for his foreign policy acumen, Lugar should be commended for having the courage to step out of line and take on his own party, and put nation above partisanship on the real issues of the day.

At another level, though, Lugar is reflecting a state that is only solidly red in the eyes of national commentators on presidential election nights. Casual observers note Indiana’s track record of supporting Republicans in presidential races (LBJ was the last Democrat to collect our electoral college votes), but fail to note the generally-functional two party system that prevails in most of our other races.

• Hoosiers routinely split the statehouse, abhorring the leadership vacuum that a one-party system inevitably creates.
• After a pair of Democrats, our current Republican governor is thought to be in jeopardy in his bid for re-election.
• Between Lugar and Evan Bayh, we’ve elected two senators who are moderates in the positive sense of the word, building consensus in Indiana and in Washington instead of exploiting easy class, social and political divisions.

Coming at the call of a moderate populace, the actions of Dick Lugar should be a source of pride for all of Indiana.