The 2012 battle for control of the Senate, once considered a foregone conclusion, has turned into a cliffhanger.
The probable defeat of six-term Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) Tuesday is being cheered by Democrats, who think it will boost their chances of taking the seat and holding onto a slim majority in 2013.
They have watched with pleasure as primary challenger Richard Mourdock has edged out to a double-digit lead over centrist Lugar, whom conservatives deride as a RINO (Republican in name only).
Mourdock may be no Christine O’Donnell (the GOP nominee whose hapless 2010 campaign in Delaware included the need to assert she was not a witch), but Democrats hope he will prove a weaker general election foe than Lugar. They think Lugar’s ouster may give them a chance.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Early in the 2012 election cycle, no one gave the Democrats a chance, given that they were defending 23 seats, the Republicans only 10.
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