ELKHART — U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, in a tough re-election fight, questions the motives of the sort of forces aligned to boot him from office.

“They’re interested in showing clout,” he said Monday, alluding to the so-called Super PACs, a new type of political action committee that faces fewer fundraising restrictions following a controversial 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The forces that create such bodies, he maintains, are interested in showing they have the sort of power that can destroy a political career.

Still, he takes the new political landscape in stride, just wishes his re-election bid weren’t such a seemingly singular focus of Super PAC attention.

“That’s life and the times,” he said at a gathering of the Elkhart Rotary Club. “I just wish I were not the only playground.”

Lugar, seeking his seventh term as senator, faces off against Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock in the Republican primary on May 8. Mourdock’s bid has received strong support of two conservative Washington D.C.-based PACs, FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth, and the incumbent, some political observers say, faces one of his toughest political fights ever.

Club for Growth President Chris Chocola used to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Indiana’s 2nd District, and a questioner at the Rotary gathering said he didn’t understand Chocola’s fierce opposition to Lugar.

“Well I don’t either,” Lugar answered, saying he thought he and Chocola had a good relationship when they served together in Congress. “For some reason, Chris has come to another view.”

Afterward, speaking to the media, Lugar was somewhat rueful when asked if his foes were being fair in their relentless attacks. Among other things, FreedomWorks has charged that Lugar is “for expansive government and against economic freedom” while the Club for Growth questions the incumbent’s Republican credentials, calling him a “R.I.N.O.” — a Republican in name only.

“I don’t think they’re making any attempt to be fair,” Lugar said.

Despite it all, Lugar remains upbeat about his prospects in next week’s vote. “It’s a pretty competitive campaign, but I think we have momentum on our side,” he said.

WEAPONS DISARMAMENT

During his formal presentation, Lugar focused his remarks on his involvement with the Rotary Club over the years — he’s a member — and his efforts as a senator spearheading global nuclear weapons disarmament. Most Indiana residents probably don’t focus on such things and, in fact, he acknowledged that the biggest concerns for most this election cycle are things like the sputtering economy, job creation and government spending.

Even so, disarmament is a serious issue and more weapons are still out there. There’s another world out there “and it’s not a happy place and there are potential dangers there,” said Lugar.

Lugar received two standing ovations, when Elkhart County Commissioner Terry Rodino introduced him and after the question-and-answer period following his remarks.

Mourdock has staked himself out as an arch conservative. His website cites his “conservative message of constitutionally limited government.” He’s scheduled to address the Elkhart Rotary Club on May 7.