Mourdock Said Pregnancies From Rapes Were “Something That God Intended To Happen.”

According to CBS News, “Mourdock, a Tea Party-backed candidate who beat longtime moderate Senator Richard Lugar in the state’s Republican nominating contest earlier this year, expressed his view that ‘life begins at conception’ and that he would only allow abortions in circumstances in which the mother’s life was in danger. ‘I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God,’ Mourdock said. ‘And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.’” [CBS News, 10/23/12]

Romney Disagreed With Mourdock’s Rape Comment. According to the Washington Post, “Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul emails: Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr. Mourdock’s comments do not reflect Gov. Romney’s views. We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him.” [Washington Post, 10/24/12]

Senator Ayotte Canceled Plans To Campaign With Mourdock After Rape Comment. According to the Washington Post, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) canceled plans to campaign with Mourdock. Indiana gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence urged his fellow Republican to apologize. A spokeswoman for Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) emphasized that the senator is pro-choice and “does not agree with the views expressed by Richard Mourdock.” [Washington Post, 10/24/12]

Scott Brown Campaign Said Brown “Does Not Agree With The Views Expressed By Richard Mourdock.” According to the Washington Post, “A spokeswoman for Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) emphasized that the senator is pro-choice and “does not agree with the views expressed by Richard Mourdock.” [Washington Post, 10/24/12]

Pence Urged Mourdock To Apologize For Rape Comment. According to the Columbus Indiana Republic, “On Wednesday morning, Pence – a conservative, anti-abortion Republican – called for an apology, although Mourdock said that did not prompt his decision to talk to the media. ‘I strongly disagree with the statement made by Richard Mourdock during last night’s Senate debate,’ Pence said in a statement released Wednesday morning. ‘I urge him to apologize.’” [Columbus Republic, 10/24/12]

Mourdock Suggested Cutting A Branch Of The Armed Services

Mourdock Question The Necessity Of All The Branches Of The Armed Services. According to the National Review, “‘here’s always going to be a lot of duplication,’ Mourdock said. ‘We look today at the historical setup of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard. There’s a lot of duplication and bureaucracy right there. In the 21st century is that necessary? I’m not sure that it is.’” [National Review, 4/30/12]

Mourdock’s Plan Would Cut Defense Spending To 2010 Levels, Would Only Grow At 0.5% A Year. According to the Indianapolis Star, “Mourdock said he would cut the 2013 budgets for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and defense to 2010 levels, with modest increases after that. Defense, he said, would get a 1 percent increase every other year.” [Indianapolis Star, 11/16/11]

Mourdock Wanted To Freeze Budget And Slash Oversees Troop Levels. According to Chicago Tribune, “Mourdock, 41, a geologist, has been likened to Perot by the local press. He wants to cut the deficit, institute a budget freeze and slash U.S. troop levels overseas. He is hammering McCloskey for 65 overdrafts drawn on the House bank, and for his vote not to release information about the affair.” [Chicago Tribune, 11/3/92]

Mourdock Would Cut 4 Federal Agencies, Including The Department Of Education

Video: Mourdock Called for $7.6 Trillion in Cuts to Start, Elimination of At Least Four Cabinet Agencies Including Education. According to Mourdock, “To reduce $7.6 trillion dollars in spending over the next ten years would be an 18% reduction in the size of the government over the current budget plans. I call for the total elimination of the Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Commerce and Housing and Urban Development and that’s just the start.” NBC 2, 11/21/11]

Mourdock Wanted To Eliminate The Departments Of Commerce, Education, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development. According to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, “Mourdock said he would eliminate the commerce, education, energy departments and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reduce the $15 trillion national debt.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 11/18/11]

Mourdock said He Wanted Repeal of Direct Election Of Senators. “Repealing the 17thamendment. Do I think it will ever happen? No. Is it something that I would like to see? Yes it is. And I’ll tell you the trackers in the room, my Democrat tracker friends who are here as they always are probably seeing something that you’ll see in a tv commercial not too far from now. You know the issue of the 17th amendment is so troubling to me, our founding fathers, again those geniuses, made the point that the House of Representatives was there to represent the people. The Senate was there to represent the states. In other words the government of the states. I will tell you as someone who spends a lot of time in the statehouse obviously, and a lot of time in local government, one of the most frustrating things state government and local government deals with are called unfunded mandates. It’s where the federal government will say you must do this, and we’re not going to pay for it. You got to figure out a way to go get the money and you must do this. How many unfunded mandates do you think would be coming from the United States  Congress, if those same Senators had to come back every two years to help those people get reelected so they would elect them. You know I think most senators if they had to come back every two years and by the way that would solve another problem. It would solve the idea that Senators move out of their state and never return. But it would cause those senators to have much greater contact with their states. You know just think of this. In today’s you see millions and millions of dollars spent on Senate campaigns. Two years ago, in 2010, Sharon Angle out in Nevada spent 31 million dollars, just herself. How much money would be spent in federal senate races if the state legislators were electing those people. You just took the money out of politics. Is that a bad thing?” [AB 21 Tracking Footage, 2/4/12]

Mourdock: My Budget Plan Would Cause Pain

Video: Mourdock Admitted Plan Included “Painful” Cuts. According to Mourdock, “So that would be an 18.9% reduction from the planned spending over that 10-year period. It is meaningful, serious cuts, painful perhaps.” [News 8, 11/11/11]

Mourdock Planned To Cut $7.6 Trillion, Going Beyond The $6 Million Ryan Plan

Mourdock’s Deficit Reduction Plan Cut $7.6 Trillion Over 10 Years. According to the Indianapolis Star, “Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock is calling for the elimination of four federal agencies and cuts in entitlement spending to slash $7.6 trillion in spending over 10 years.” [Indianapolis Star, 11/16/11]

Paul Ryan’s Budget Cut $6 Trillion Over 10 Years. According to Politico, “Ryan will roll out a blueprint Tuesday that could slash up to $6 trillion in the next 10 years from spending, reforms and cuts entitlements, and overhauls sections of the tax code. Never mind that Ryan’s ambitious vision has no chance of passing the Democratic Senate — the 2012 budget is likely to provide Republicans with a measure of unity they’ve been lacking as they try to wrap up work on the stalled 2011 spending plan.” [Politico, 4/4/11]

Mourdock Suggested Ryan Budget Does Not Go Far Enough. According to ABC News, “Mourdock has suggested that Paul Ryan’s budget doesn’t go far enough, and he released his own rough plan last year to shrink spending by $7.6 trillion in 10 years (Ryan’s would reduce it by $5.5 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office). [ABC News, 5/7/12]

Mourdock is a Product of the Tea Party

“Thank God for Richard Mourdock. Thank God someone was willing to stand up to the GOP establishment, which we know is what the Tea Party movement has always been about.” [Michelle Malkin, FreedomWorks Rally for Mourdock, 5/5/12 - Minute 1:45]

Mourdock Said Tea Party Was Critical For His Success. According to WSBT, “People who think the tea party disappeared — reports of their death has been greatly exaggerated. They have been from the very beginning helping us, going door to door since last October every weekend,’ Mourdock said. ‘They’ve been critical to all this.’” [WSBT, 5/6/12]

Glenn Beck And Mourdock Shared Stage At Tea Party Event At Trine University. According to The Associated Press State & Local Wire, “Conservative commentator Glenn Beck told members of northern Indiana tea party group that the media is unfairly portraying their political movement. During a Saturday appearance at Trine University, Beck told more than 2,200 people that he’s ‘never seen such a hard-core campaign to smear a group of Americans like this.’ The Fox News Channel personality also called George Washington one of the greatest human beings ever, second only to Jesus Christ. Saturday’s tea party event was sponsored by the Michiana 9/12 Project and featured several political speakers, including 3rd District congressional candidate Marlin Stutzman. State Treasurer Richard Mourdock also addressed the gathering.” [The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 9/18/10]

Video: Mourdock Gave A Speech In Front Of A Tea Party Express Bus. Mourdock stood in front of a Tea Party Express Bus and called for “traditional American values and American Exceptionalism.” [AB 21 Tracking Footage]

Media Consistently Called Him The Tea Party Candidate

Lugar Criticized Mourdock For “Absenteeism” For Missing Close To Two-Thirds Of Board Meetings He Sits On. According to the Associated Press, “The “silly season” generally refers to the truth-stretching and poor sourcing that comes with campaign claims. Lugar political director David Willkie has used the term to deride allegations that the veteran senator is out of touch with Indiana because he hasn’t lived here since 1977. Lugar’s Democratic and tea party opponents have made hay out of the issue in frequent ads and press conferences. The Lugar camp has fired back with a stretch of its own, accusing Mourdock of “absenteeism” for missing close to two-thirds of board meetings the state treasurer sits on, even though he’s had representatives attend those meetings for the most part.” [Associated Press, 3/18/12]

Lugar Attacked Mourdock In “Harsh Ad” Over Investing In Junk Bonds And Risking Jobs By Suing Chrysler. According to the Hill, “Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is out with one of his harshest attacks ads to date, saying Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R) ‘gambled Hoosier pensions on junk bonds’ and ‘risked thousands of Hoosier jobs suing to shut Chrysler down.’” The ad, which closes with the warning ‘don’t be fooled,’ comes just a week before the Indiana primary, as many signs point to Lugar slipping behind his Tea Party opponent in the race. It is unclear whether the attack ad can be effective at this point, as polls show many voters have already made up their minds about the race.” [The Hill, 5/1/12]

When Mourdock Announced His Bid For The Senate, He Had The Endorsement Of 68 County GOP Chairs, Which Was Three-Quarters Of The State. According to The Indianapolis Star, “The state treasurer distributed a list of the names of the state’s county Republican Party leaders supporting the tea party favorite, who’ll challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar for the 2012 Republican nomination. The list contained 68 names, nearly three-quarters of the total. The county chairs have ‘fired a shot across the bow of Lugar, warning him he’s in a real campaign,’ said Brian Vargus, a political scientist who has followed state politics for decades from his post at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.” [The Indianapolis Star, 2/23/11]

The Tea Party Helped Bankroll Mourdock’s Campaign

Special Interest PACs Spent At Least $3 Million On Behalf Of Mourdock. According to the Huffington Post, “Super PACs and other outside groups are on track to spend more on tea party favorite Richard Mourdock in his battle to unseat Sen. Richard Lugar in Indiana’s Tuesday Republican primary than Mourdock’s own campaign, records show. Lugar, a moderate known for his expertise in foreign affairs and national security, is in danger of seeing his 36-year run as a senator come to an end. Mourdock, the Indiana state treasurer, was leading Lugar by 10 points in a Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll released Friday. Through the most recent campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission, outside groups supportive of Mourdock have spent about $3 million, $1 million more than Mourdock’s own campaign.” [Huffington Post, 5/7/12]

FreedomWorks Actively Supported Mourdock’s Campaign; By Mid-March 2012, Spent Over $100,000 On His Behalf. According to a Center For Responsive Politics release, “FreedomWorks for America has endorsed Lugar’s rival in the state’s GOP primary, Richard Mourdock. On its website, FreedomWorks calls Lugar a “big-spending Republican,” and claims to have distributed tens of thousands of door hangers, bumper stickers, yard signs and the like on Mourdock’s behalf. The FreedomWorks super PAC has spent about $100,000 so far in the state, its treasurer, Ryan Hecker, told OpenSecrets Blog, but that ‘probably will go a lot higher’ as the primary approaches.” [Center For Responsive Politics, 3/16/12]

Mourdock Fundraiser Headlined By Sheriff Arpaio. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Arpaio, who bills himself as ‘America’s toughest sheriff,’ headlined a reception and dinner in Plainfield on Friday for state treasurer Richard Mourdock and two events Saturday in Corydon and Sullivan.” [The Indianapolis Star, 8/22/10] 

Mourdock Said He Was “Simpatico” With Sheriff Arpaio. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Mourdock said when the idea of having Arpaio at a fundraising event first came up, ‘My first question was, ‘Gee, will the guy sell tickets?’ And, secondly, is there any reason I would fundamentally disagree with this guy?’ The answers, in order, were yes and no. Arpaio’s name has helped Republicans sell tickets to all three events, and immigration is a top concern — second only to the economy, Mourdock said — with tea party activists who are among his strongest supporters. And, Mourdock said, he considers himself ‘simpatico’ with Arpaio. They both, he said, have stood up for the Constitution, Arpaio by fighting illegal immigration, he by opposing a Chrysler bailout that he felt violated the law. While critics argue that immigration enforcement isn’t among the duties of a state treasurer, Mourdock said that voters these days are ‘connecting the dots’ between issues. ‘Is there a cost to Indiana because of illegal immigration, and does that affect the state’s treasury? Well, of course it does,’ he said. Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic nominee for state treasurer, said this has nothing to do with the state treasury and everything to do with using a wedge issue to gin up publicity and political passions. ‘It reflects a pattern of wanting to talk about the most headline-grabbing thing, rather than the actual bread and butter of the office,’ Buttigieg said. ‘Part of how we got into this mess we’re in, with a lot of (state) money falling into junk bonds, is that the incumbent is more interested in the national story than in the job he’s actually in there to do.’” [The Indianapolis Star, 8/20/10]