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Ex-GOP senator: ‘Very little substance’ in Republican debate

by David McCabe - 10/31/15 8:30 PM ET

Former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) says he saw “very little substance” on display at Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate.

“I felt that the entire portion that I watched, maybe the first hour and 20 minutes, once again was a good bit of showmanship. Very little substance in terms of what candidates are prepared to do for this country,” he told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970.

{mosads}“I’m hopeful that we can say that we’re just in the early stages of all of this,” Lugar added. “That various personalities are creating at least some impressions and that later on they will come forward with ideas about our foreign policy, for example.”

Lugar was a longtime member of the upper chamber who lost a primary battle against the more conservative Richard Mourdock in 2012. His loss was seen by many as indicative of the troubles plaguing moderates in Congress; his opponent’s campaign was bolstered by money from independent conservative groups.

Mourdock ultimately lost to Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) in part because of comments he made implying that a pregnancy that occurred as a result of rape was something that “God intended to happen.”

Lugar now leads the Lugar Center, a nonprofit focusing on foreign affairs issues and bipartisanship. It was the former issue that he said he wished the candidates had spoken more about during the debate.

“We have a very in a dangerous world out there and very complex problems, whether it be with Syria and Iraq, or whether it be the problems of China and the South China Sea or problems that are left over from previous wars,” he said, also mentioning challenges posed by Russia and the growing refugee crisis in Europe.

“I just hear very little discussion from the candidates about these things which are vital really to our longevity as Americans.”

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