Balkinization: Bayh bites the dust

Comments:

I do hope that Evan Bayh's wife continues to remain on all those big time boards collecting her $100,000's of bribes.

Maybe he can get himself a top line lobby job.

# posted by

Unknown : 5:02 PM

Actually, people who actually care about things stick things out. They at the very least don't wait so long, making it harder for the Dems to find a good replacement. Who promised this moron a rose garden, anyway?

Bayh repeatedly has been shown to be a tool. Glenn Greenwald is right to ridicule the "Broder" faction, and I'd be glad he's gone, but that would be somewhat overly optimistic given the learning curve of the Democrats these days.*

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* To paraphrase Atrios, the Dems don't do enough to help solve the problems they were given a majority to solve. They lose seats. The "problem" for some then is not the inaction but that the Dems were too "partisan" and needs to work with the Republicans.

Lucy Van Pelt is smiling somewhere.

# posted by

Joe : 5:32 PM

I suspect that Bayh may be in equal parts thinking about 2010 and 2012.

Some of you may recall that Hillary actually won more Dem votes in 2008 and the Indis who gave Obama the nomination are deserting him in droves after the train wreck of the past year. A charismatic centrist Dem can be forgiven for sensing an opportunity in 2012. However, losing a Senate race in a swing state during the coming tsunami election in 2010 is not exactly the most propitious way of kicking off a campaign for president. Thus, the exit stage right.

Maybe Bayh can pull a Palin and get a gig with CNN as a commentator-at-large.

# posted by

Bart DePalma : 6:17 PM

Given the timing of his announcement, with filing deadlines imminent, it appears that he has sabotaged the Democrats' chances for the 2010 election.

# posted by

M. Sean Fosmire : 8:58 PM

It may just be possible that Harry Reid pushed him over the line by pulling the Baucus-Grassley jobs bill, right after obama's call for bipartisanship. I can see that being the last straw for a former governor who is oriented to actually getting things done. The senate today may not be what he signed up for, so he may not be interested in 6 more years as Sysiphus.

This is not to endorse the bipartisan jobs bill or any of Bayh's positions: he is well to the right of me. It is to suggest an interpretation that does not leap to suspicion of/assumed evil motives.

As to sabotaging Democratic chances, it appears that the only individual gathering petitions is too disorganized to get petitions filed in time, and the party leaders will be able to pick a Democratic nominee. Whether they will be able to find a viable candidate willing to risk a run is an open question.

# posted by

John Tanner : 11:13 PM

Jackson. Obama has been pushing for "bipartisanship" for awhile now. He called for it last year too. "The Senate" is not somehow changed the last few days.

So, why did he wait to the last minute? Of course, some longshot bid had a hard time of it. It was expected he would run again, and likely win the primary easily. If it was known he would not, wouldn't someone with a better chance have collected those signatures?

As to getting things "done," what does that even mean? The "last straw" is the refusal to pass something, anything, supported by the same conservative Democrat that delayed health care for precious months trying to get Republican support that never came?

Seriously? Heck, now that Sen. Brown is here and Dems alone can't break a filibuster, wouldn't there be BIGGER opening for bipartanship? And, after November, there might even be a few less Dems. More bipartisanship!

And, what's the rush with the jobs bill? Didn't we just start seriously to talk about it? Cf. the time on health care.

So, it just might be possible that you are just roaming for some way to defend him without much to go on. No sale, yet.

# posted by

Joe : 11:24 PM

What got me about his little speech was his castigation of "both the left and right" for Congress' inaction. Please show me one bill that was killed by left-wing Democrats. He even referred to "members" who sabotaged the deficit commission -- they are Republicans, but he wouldn't say that word! He really dislikes Congress but will miss each and every one of his colleagues -- give me a break.

# posted by

karlG : 1:14 AM

I think it's wiser to interpret Bayh's actions as an indication of where he thinks the better opportunities are.

I doubt that Bayh is looking at a presidential run, especially after the way he screwed the people of Indiana by resigning in such a manner as to preclude a primary. Given the business ties of his immediate family, I suspect that he simply wants to cash in and take up a lucrative position as a lobbyist or head of a business group. There's an opening with PHRMA, isn't there? And although the Democratic party may lose a few seats they will still be in the driver's seat for the next several years, so an influential ex-senator will be in an ideal situation to milk his influence.

Through long experience I've found that taking politician's words at face value is seldom a guide to truth, so I entirely discount his stated reasons.

# posted by

C2H50H : 9:40 AM

It may be amusing to return to this thread in July 2012 if Bayh wins the Dem nomination against Obama. All of you will be enthusiastically supporting him against anyone the GOP nominates.

# posted by

Bart DePalma : 10:01 AM

Bart,

If the GOP gives us a brain-dead nitwit chosen by the tea-baggers, there won't be much choice.

Enthusiastic? Sorry to dampen your theory, but I'll never enthusiastically support a hereditary member of the political aristocracy.

# posted by

C2H50H : 10:07 AM

It may be amusing to return to this thread in July 2012 if Bayh wins the Dem nomination against Obama. All of you will be enthusiastically supporting him against anyone the GOP nominates.

# posted by Bart DePalma : 10:01 AM

As someone who enthusiastically supported RINO McCain in the last election, I'm not sure why you'd be amused by that.

# posted by

Bartbuster : 10:09 AM

Is our intrepid former backpacker looking forward to sense of humor transplant with this:

"It may be amusing to return to this thread in July 2012 ...."

It's more amusing to look back at threads of our yodeler's predictions going back to the Bush/Cheney days and especially during the 2008 campaign.

# posted by

Shag from Brookline : 11:24 AM

And 2006 campaign...

# posted by

PMS_CC : 11:31 AM

Isn't the most logical conclusion that he realizes he no longer has any shot at higher office? He is too right to win the dems, and the republicans are too batsh*t crazy for him to go over to. So, let's go make some money in the private sector while the gettin's good, right? Maybe Obama let him know that he will not be replacing Biden on the ticket in '12, so he's out. Plus, with Brown in, and a net loss likely, his clout is gone. He can't do anything, because bills will pass by reconciliation or not at all. so he's not one of the kingmakers any more. And that's what being in the Senate is all about - feeling important. If he can't have that anymore, might as well get out.

Or could he be gearing up for Bloomburg/Bayh '12?

# posted by

nerpzillicus : 12:18 PM

Nerp:

You have joined Fred Barnes in opining that the Dems have shifted too far left to nominate a centrist like Bayh. I am unsure about that given that Clinton earned more Dem votes than Obama in 2008, but let's go with that thought.

Given that Bloomberg is nearly as far left as Obama and barely electable in NYC nevertheless the United States, I doubt Bayh even considers an Indi ticket with him.

However, since we are fantasizing, what would happen if Palin won the GOP nomination, chose Bayh as her VP and Bayh accepted?

Would the GOP base accept Bayh?

Would the Tea Party voters?

Ideologically, Bayh is center right. He generated a surplus by limiting spending, cut taxes and reformed welfare as governor. The only opposition would be partisan.

A Palin/Bayh ticket would be a damn bold outreach to the Dem and Indi center.

Whatchya think?

# posted by

Bart DePalma : 2:25 PM

Anyone who thinks Palin has any support outside the lunatic fringe of the GOP is batshit fucking crazy.

# posted by

Bartbuster : 2:30 PM

Mr. DePalma,

I certainly think if the republican base would accept him, Bayh would be an interesting cross-over candidate. However, the problem with your hypothetical ticket is not the bottom, but the top. I don't know if anyone short of Jesus Christ himself can make Palin electable in a general election. (maybe Reagan's Ghost). Plus, I don't think VP's are useful for garnering outside support, instead they are better for revving up the base (as Palin very successfully did). In the end, if the person at the top of the ticket is an affront to all that is good and pure in the world to a dem, a Jefferson-FDR-every Kennedy-Clinton gene spliced VP wouldn't be sufficient to get any cross-over support. Bayh has a much better chance as an independent.

# posted by

nerpzillicus : 5:09 PM

nerp:

I agree that VP candidates do not win elections. I am more interested in the what a Bayh selection would say about Palin to voters than whether Bayh himself brings any additional voting block on board.

The idea of bringing on a VP candidate from the other party to form a "bipartisan ticket" as been around for a number of years. No one had the guts.

However, Palin is branding herself as the rogue candidate who operates outside of party machines and acts on principle. Of course, Palin knows she cannot operate completely outside the party system and is acting like the faithful member in raising money and campaigning for GOP candidates and as a friend supporting McCain for the favor of placing her on the national stage. However, the choice of someone like Bayh because he is a conservative rather than a Republican would arguably reinforce her rogue street cred.

# posted by

Bart DePalma : 6:08 PM

Bart, she needs more than rogue street cred. She needs what she'll likely never have: the confidence of the public.

To her deficits you can add learning, judgement and maturity.

# posted by

mattski : 6:47 PM

mattski:

May the Obama folks be as dismissive as you.

CNN has 52% of registered voters saying that Obama does not deserve reelection.

Meanwhile, Palin is mobbed everywhere she goes - most recently at the Daytona 500, where she received a standing ovation from the drivers and the crews when she walked in to do a meet and greet on the way to a nearby political event.

Even if Palin is as incompetent as you hope, that does not mean she could not win in 2012. See Obama 2008.

# posted by

Bart DePalma : 6:58 PM

Mr. DePalma,

Let's see if I can do this too...

May the Palin folks be as dismissive as you.

WashPo/ABC has Palin's favorable/unfavorable at 37%/55% with 38% strongly unfavorable and only 18%.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_021010.html?sid=ST2010021100035

Meanwhile, Obama is mobbed everywhere he goes.

Easy as Pie!

# posted by

nerpzillicus : 7:51 PM

Even if Palin is as incompetent as you hope, that does not mean she could not win in 2012. See Obama 2008.

I think you meant to say, "see 1980." But you're right, even persons of very modest ability can get elected president in the US. See also 2000 & 2004.

Rave on, Bart, it's a crazy feeling!

# posted by

mattski : 10:17 PM