Lugar Tries to Make Peace with Tea Party

Republican Senator Richard Lugar, the longest-serving senator in Indiana history, is extending an olive branch to the Tea Party -- just as one of the larger Tea Party organizations has cast him as a prime 2012 target.

A senior adviser to the moderate Republican told CNN that Lugar has met with Tea Party leaders and corresponded with many Tea Party members in Indiana. "He will continue to do so with the hope that they will support his efforts to reduce spending and create a business climate that supports job growth," adviser Mark Helmke said.

The remarks come in the wake of an e-mail the Tea Party Express sent to its supporters Tuesday with the subject line, "time to punish Dick Lugar?"

The e-mail highlights Lugar's vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, his support for the state children's health insurence program known as SCHIP and his support for "amnesty" for illegal immgrants. Lugar is known for working across party lines; he's supported President Obama's Supreme Court nominations, for example, as well as the Dream Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for certain illegal immgrants brought to America as children.

"As we here at the Tea Party Express prepare to unveil our Target List for the 2012 elections, it is clear that someone like this needs to go - Dick Lugar has become the epitome of what is wrong in Washington, D.C.," the Tea Party Express e-mail said. It asked for donations to help defeat politicians like Lugar.

Just one day before the group's e-mail, Lugar had some choice words for Tea Partiers who were angered by his support for the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia.

"I've got to say 'Get real' [when] I hear Tea Party or other people talking about they were against START," Lugar told a local TV station.

Last week, his spokesperson told the New York Times the senator will not "kowtow" to the Tea Party.

The Tea Party Express proved its influence in the 2010 midterms when it backed some insurgent candidates who successfully ousted incumbents in the primaries, like Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller and Utah Senate candidate Mike Lee (who also won the general election).

Lugar already has one primary challenger, as National Journal notes-- State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.