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Indiana Senate Race Pits McCain Vs. Palin

By Shane Goldmacher // April 27, 2012 | 3:45 p.m.

Sarah Palin endorsed Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock for Senate on Friday - the same day that John McCain cut a radio ad for Mourdock's primary opponent, embattled Indiana GOP Sen. Richard Lugar.

On her Facebook page, Palin said that Mourdock "is the conservative choice for Indiana" and that the state deserves a senator who will "not just go along to get along with the vested interests of the permanent political class in D.C."

McCain -- who thrust Palin into the national spotlight four years ago, plucking her from the obscurity of the Alaska governorship to be his vice presidential pick -- strongly disagrees. He cut a radio ad for Lugar, also unveiled Friday, calling his colleague "a patriot and a hero."

"We need him in the United States Senate," McCain says in the ad.

Mourdock has shown increasing momentum in his bid to unseat Lugar after three decades in Washington, accusing him of being a dealmaker too closely aligned with Democrats. Lugar has been tripped up by residency questions, as well.

Mourdock's bid has been boosted by tea party and conservative forces, including the Club for Growth, which has paid for anti-Lugar ads. Palin, a tea party hero, joined the fray Friday, less than two weeks until the primary. "It's time for the torch to pass to conservative leadership," she wrote on her Facebook page.