INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's Republican Senate candidate, Richard Mourdock, is backing away from the tea party rhetoric that helped him knock off veteran Sen. Richard Lugar in the GOP primary as he tries to woo moderate voters.
Mourdock once declared that bipartisanship means Democrats coming to Republicans' way of thinking. Now, he's voicing support for parts of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and has aired campaign ads touting his ability to compromise.
Indiana's treasurer, Mourdock is locked in a tight race with Democratic congressman Joe Donnelly for the Senate seat Lugar has held since 1976. Victory may depend on winning over moderate supporters of Lugar who were offended by Mourdock's criticism of Lugar as too old for another term and too willing to compromise with Democrats.
