It didn’t take long for the first volleys to be fired in the US Senate race for Indiana.
 
 Former Sen. Dan Coats won the GOP nomination. He will face Democrat Brad Ellsworth in November. (Ellsworth posted this statement on YouTube tonight.)
 
 Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Hari Sevugan released the following statement:
 
“In Dan Coats, national Republicans got who they wanted, and who they got is an establishment Republican steeped in the culture of Washington; a super-lobbyist beholden to special interests for his fortune.  From Wall Street to big oil, Dan Coats has acquired $2.5 million in assets and an income of more than $800,000 by marketing his services to the highest bidder and securing bailouts for Wall Street.  Dan Coats may represent national Republicans to a tee, but he doesn’t represent the values of Hoosiers anymore.”

In excerpts released by Coats’ campaign, he attacked President Obama as well as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
 
“In light of the damage that President Obama’s policies already have done to the United States of America, as Hoosiers we cannot afford to be any part of it. We cannot and we will not stand idly by and watch as our personal liberties are diluted, our national security diminished, and our fiscal health destroyed. And we absolutely cannot afford to elect someone to the United States Senate who will enable this radical move to the left. Folks, anyone who has voted to reappoint Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House cannot be trusted to protect Indiana’s interests.”

The Democrats pushed the Coats-as-lobbyist angle.

“The real tragedy for national Republicans is that in nominating such a deeply flawed candidate they also alienated their own base.  Though fueled by his Washington lobbyist friends and a $200,000 loan he made to himself with only days remaining in the race, Dan Coats could not muster the votes to crack 50 percent in the Republican primary. Now, Republicans find themselves with a battered candidate and a fractured base headed into the general election,” Sevugan wrote.

But Coats promised his supporters a big fight in November.

“We are going to confront Congressman Ellsworth and his liberal Washington allies because all Hoosiers, including those who may have voted for him in the past, deserve to have a clear choice in November. In fact, tomorrow morning we will start in Evansville – taking our case straight to the people of Southwest Indiana and the rest of the state! This is going to be a pivotal election and a healthy exercise in democracy because the choice will be clear – the differences between the two philosophies are dramatic. Congressman Brad Ellsworth and I are going to offer Hoosiers two very different views of the direction our country should be taking.  You and I stand for limited government, less spending and lower taxes. Congressman Ellsworth and his party are for binge spending with blank checks.”
 
Suvegan, meantime, reiterated Democrat’s support for Ellsworth, who is currently serving in the US House.
 
“While Republicans prepare to go into the general election divided and with a nominee in Dan Coats that is a seasoned Washington lobbyist temporarily deferring a retirement in North Carolina, Democrats are united behind Brad Ellsworth, a man who has stood up to Wall Street, fought against the special interests and who is working everyday to turn our economy around and lay a firm foundation for long term economic growth and prosperity.  That’s an easy choice for Hoosiers.”