Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who defeated long-time Sen. Richard Lugar in the Republican primary Tuesday, has a new twist on bipartisanship.
Reacting to a statement from Lugar slamming his embrace of an "unrelenting partisan mindset," Mourdock said, "I have a mindset that says bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view," he said Wednesday on "Fox & Friends."
He continued, "I've said many times through this campaign that one of the things I hope to do is to help build a conservative majority in the United States Senate and continue to help the House build a Republican majority and have a Republican White House and then bipartisanship becomes having Democrats come our way. So that’s what we’re working towards and I think in the days ahead, Mr. Lugar will join our effort."
Mourdock, who trounced Lugar by over 20 points with the support of the Tea Party and conservative outside groups, echoed the point on CNN's "Starting Point."
Soledad O'Brien pressed him on his notion of compromise, saying, "In fact, the only compromise you'll do is really getting other people on the other side of the aisle to come to your side of the aisle, which I guess is the definition against compromise..."
"Well, it is the definition of political effectiveness," he replied.
Following his concession speech, Lugar released a stinging statement of warning to Mourdock. "If Mr. Mourdock is elected, I want him to be a good senator. But that will require him to revise his stated goal of bringing more partisanship to Washington," he said. "He and I share many positions, but his embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance and my experience of what brings results for Hoosiers in the Senate."
Mourdock's comment drew criticism from his Democratic opponent, Rep. Joe Donnelly.
"I've played a lot of baseball over the years," he said on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" Wednesday. "That's the epitome of a kid who comes to the park and says I'm going to take my ball and my bat and go home unless you do what I want."