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The tea party Republican candidate who defeated Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar (R) after six terms in Tuesday's GOP primary says that his definition of "compromise" means that Democrats will have to come around the the right's way of thinking.

"What I've said about compromise and bipartisanship is I hope to build a conservative majority in the United States Senate so that bipartisanship becomes Democrats joining Republicans to roll back the size of government, reduce the bureaucracy, lower taxes and get American moving again," Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock told CNN on Tuesday.

"What I hear you say is you are not going to compromise," CNN host Soledad O'Brien observed. "In fact, the only compromise you'll do is really getting other people on the other side of the aisle to your side of the aisle, which I guess is the definition against compromise."

"It is the definition of political effectiveness," Mourdock replied.

"Political effectiveness, you're saying, is not possible with compromise," O'Brien noted. "Some people would say political effectiveness in the Senate requires compromise. There are many issues that cannot be done if you do not get bipartisan support. You're not going to work towards bipartisan support?"

"The fact is you never compromise on principles," Mourdock explained. "If people on the far left have a principle they want to stand by, they should never compromise. Those of us on the right should not either. Compromise may come in the finer details of a plan or a budget."

"We are at the point where one side of the other will win this argument," he added. "One side or the other will dominate."

(h/t: National Journal)

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Indiana Republican Sen. Dick Lugar and his 77 percent conservative voting record was not good enough to prevent him from having a "tea party" primary challenger, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock. Complete and total obstruction rather than an iota of compromise to make sure the government actually functions seems to be the new standard of what it means to be a "conservative" these days.

The panel on ABC's This Week weighed in on Lugar's primary challenge and pundits Bay Buchanan and George Will think it's just wonderful that Lugar is facing a primary challenge, despite the fact that he's got a lot better chance of defeating his Democratic challenger, Joe Donnelly. They might want to be careful what they wish for.

Nate Silver has more on that: Lugar Loss Could Provide Pickup Opportunity for Democrats:

The latest veteran lawmaker to be the subject of a vigorous primary challenge is the 80-year-old Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, who is being challenged for the Republican nomination by State Treasurer Richard Mourdock. [...]

If Mr. Lugar loses, it should increase Democrats’ odds of picking up the Senate seat in November. Democrats have a fairly good candidate in Indiana in the form of United States Representative Joe Donnelly, who represents the Second Congressional District and who narrowly retained his seat in a very tough environment for Democrats nationally in 2010. The Second District, which includes South Bend and Michigan City, is slightly Republican-leaning relative to the country as a whole but slightly Democratic-leaning relative to the rest of Indiana.

I'm not getting my hopes up on this one, but it would be nice to see Republicans lose a seat in the Senate because of their purity tests. This AstroTurf so-called "tea party" of theirs, which is nothing but a rebranding effort by the far right wing of the party which wants to push them continually to the right has done some damage in previous elections already. Maybe we get lucky here and they do it again.

Transcript of the panel discussion below the fold.

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Here's to hoping they do it again. From TPM -- Lugar: Tea Party In 2010 ‘Killed Off’ Chance For Republican Senate:

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) appeared Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, with an important message for Republicans on Christmas: Don’t let the Tea Partiers — like the one challenging Lugar in his primary — cost the GOP in 2012.

Lugar, who was first elected to the Senate in 1976, is being challenged from the right in the Republican primary, by state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

Notably, Lugar slammed Tea Party activists and candidates from the last cycle — for costing the Republicans the chance to win the majority in 2010.

“They were people who claimed that they wanted somebody who was more of their tea party aspect, but in doing so, they killed off the Republican chances for a majority,” said Lugar. “This is one of the reasons why we have a minority in the Senate right now.”

No mention of course from Candy Crowley or Lugar about the fact that the so-called "tea party" is nothing more than the far right, TeaBircher, Koch brother funded arm of the Republican Party and that there's nothing "grass roots" about them.

Transcript via CNN below the fold.

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Rachel Maddow asks why during the week that Osama bin Laden was killed, the Sunday morning show producers decided to bring on one Bushie after another to sit at the grown-up table and give their opinion on the matter.

If that question sounds familiar for our readers here it's because just like this past Sunday, our own Nicole Belle asks that same question pretty much every week when we cover the Sunday morning bobblehead shows here at C&L. I wonder if David Gregory's producer was watching? It would be nice to get him or her to answer Rachel's question.

I'd love to see Rachel get Meet the Press, but she probably couldn't get any Republicans to come on with her, or not very many of them anyway. Unlike David Gregory, she actually asks follow up questions to people who come on the air and try to lie to her.

Transcript below the fold:

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Despite the fact that we're being urged by the Europeans and the Russians to ratify the the START treaty, Republicans have decided that it's a good idea to play politics rather than to allow President Obama look like he's been successful at doing anything. This is a sad and sorry example of the type of obstruction we're going to get to look forward to for the next two years with Republicans gaining back control of the House and making gains in the Senate.

When even Dick Lugar has finally had enough of this nonsense and is speaking out about it there might be some hope to see something done during the lame duck session on this.

Europeans, Russia Urge US Senate to Ratify START Treaty:

Europeans urged early ratification of a new nuclear defense treaty between the United States and Russia during a NATO summit in Lisbon amid announcements that Moscow would begin working with NATO on missile defense.

After receiving strong support from NATO partners for the START treaty, along with endorsement from top military figures and former administration officials, President Barack Obama told reporters in Lisbon there was no good reason why the U.S. Senate should not now ratify the treaty. "And my hope is we will do so. There's no other reason not to do it other than the fact that Washington has become a very partisan place and this is a classic area where we have to rise above partisanship," he said.

Republican senators have been reluctant to endorse the deal, with a key Republican lawmaker saying they needed more time. But a number of European countries, along with Russia, say it is critical the treaty is ratified in a timely manner. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned that European security was at stake.

President Obama called out the Republicans for their obstruction to the START treaty during this week's Weekly Address.

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