evan bayh would be one of the democrats best chances, in my opinion. the problem is they keep promoting far left, east coasters like kerry. if evan bayh sneaks through they have a real shot, if hillary gets it, its over, since evan bayh will surely win all the kerry states and have a shot at others where kerry couldnt compete. hillary would win the kerry states, and lose.

How does Bayh have such an easy time in a conservative-leaning state, Al?

Many thousands of people must have split their vote between him and Bush last year.

In any event, I think Bayh's problem will be in exciting Democrats, who are hungry for a Super Star to come along to save the day. That, among other reasons, will give Clinton a big advantage during this pre-primary period.

There are a lot of reasons for Evan's prominence. Certainly some of it is skillz. His daddy was probably the best politician (that's not really a compliment), and he learned from the best. He's good looking and has the name.

Significantly, though, he's got at least a modicum of good sense and self-control. His quiet public personnae legitimately appeals to the better side of our Midwestern sensibilities. He's mostly had stuff basically handed to him, but he's at least had enough sense not to do anything ridiculously stupid to damage himself.

Plus, the local Republicans long ago quit even trying to put up serious candidates against him.

In the truth of practice, Evan's basically a mainstream liberal based on his voting record. However, he ACTS like a nice modest conservative, and that gets him a long ways.

It seems as though he's been poised to take over the DLC mantel for years, though H Clinton is even now in the act of stealing it away from him.

"However, he ACTS like a nice modest conservative, and that gets him a long ways."

true, i heard him talk about the iraq war, and im not sure his position is different from many dems and most republicans, yet for some reason when he says it he sounds like someone who is tough. i guess approach means everything in the reality tv days.

In fairness to the senator, he's somewhat more hawkish than the silly end of his party. He's no Scoop Jackson, but he at least halfway acts like a responsible congressman regarding defense issues. That really is a fairly substantive difference from many of his Democrat colleagues.

He's mostly pretty much a protectionist liberal, but he does seem to take the job of defending the republic seriously.

That, and ACTING like just a responsible adult gets him a lot of leeway. Leave the word "conservative" out of it, but Evan's just not going to have some Lewinsky nonsense, or public meltdowns. He's sort of a Cary Grant in control kind of fella.

So, Al...would you vote for Bayh?

in a presidential race, that is

No. He's a liberal Democrat, I'm a staunch Libertarian. He doesn't represent my viewpoint. However, we could do a lot worse. I'd certainly prefer him to any other likely Democrat, and at least head to head with any Republican I'm seeing so far.

I went to high school with Evan Bayh. And all I can remember about him is that he was one of the seniors who didn't haze the freshmen mercilessly, so that gets him a few points in my book.

I suspect he's an honest, well-meaning fellow, but on the actual issues, Bayh is a disaster waiting to happen.

Check out some of his ratings from various interest groups.

National Taxpayers Union - 25%
Americans for Tax Reform - 30%
Small Bus. & Enterpreneur Council - 33%
Natl Federation of Independent Businesses - 0%
ACLU - 56% (up from a low 33% in 2000)
NAACP - 97%
John Birch Society - 70%
Republican Liberty Caucus - 31%
National Education Association - 91%
Friends Committe on National Legislation - 0%
Nuclear Age Peace foundation - 0%
Citizens Against Government Waste - 36%
National Rifle Association - 8%
Gun Owners of America - 10%
American Land Rights Assn - 11%
Americans for Immigration Reform - 0%
AFL-CIO - 100%

This is just a sampling of the most important ratings, but what you get a picture of is a big-taxing, big-spending, big-government liberal who favors globalism and big business, isn't big on small business, opposes most individual liberty initiatives and is strongly in favor of a generally interventionist foreign policy. Not to mention being totally behind failed programs like social security and the current school system disaster.

Sorry, he's a nice guy, but he's not what the country needs. Sort of like the worst of Bush and Gore mixed together.

Dave

I could live with a Bayh Presidency. Think of him as another BJ Clinton, without all the lies, sex scandals, and inept foreign policy.

We could do worse! :)

Anyone who gets a 70% from the John Birch Society of all things and 31% from the Republican Liberty Caucus cannot be pigeonholed as a classic liberal.

What high school was that, Dave? Was it in Indiana or some private boarding school?

Bayh's weakness will not be his susceptibility to being lumped in with the old-school Northeastern tax-and-spend social liberals. He seems to have a fairly decent mix of left and right leanings to be a viable candidate. I need to know more about his personality, positions, and style as a campaigner to know whether he has a chance in 2008, though.

That is all.

Yup, Senator Bayh definitely has pretty strong big government tendencies, and I personally particularly un-appreciate his love for gun control. Bargers have issues with Bayhs there.

Yet for all that, I'd probably STILL prefer him to most of the other major candidates. That's not saying much for the rest of the pack.

>>Anyone who gets a 70% from the John Birch Society of all things and 31% from the Republican Liberty Caucus cannot be pigeonholed as a classic liberal.<<

Not true, really. The Birchers generally give left-leaning liberals high marks if they are moderately anti-Israeli, which Bayh seems to be. And getting a number that low from the RLC basically requires you to have voted for Patriot I and II and to have voted pro-war and anti-freedom on several other issues, most likely Marijuana and Iraq. Remember, the RLC doesn't represent the GOP mainline, it's basically pure libertarian.

>>What high school was that, Dave? Was it in Indiana or some private boarding school?<<

Private boarding school. Bayh graduated 3 years ahead of me. Also attended by a slew of other current politicos, including Kerry (though he transferred in his senior year to look more folksy), Gore, two of Bush's brothers, some Kennedys, Jesse Jackson Jr, Harold Ford Jr., John Warner, various other politicians. Hard to track them all down since the democrats among them don't like it on their bios.

Dave

In the truth of practice, Evan's basically a mainstream liberal based on his voting record. However, he ACTS like a nice modest conservative, and that gets him a long ways>>>>>>>>
If this is true it could be the key to the W H...after all look what it did for Bush...He says he is a compassionate conservative but in truth he is just the opposite.

You went to St. Alban's, Dave?

Was your father involved in politics? What happened with your life and why haven't you accomplished more? Why are you and your silver spoon hanging out with blue-collar Texas rednecks? We certainly do appreciate your unique brand of reactionary vitriol, but you really should have lived up to your family and your classmates. Here I was not knowing you were frustrated, defeated blue-blood masquerading as frank-talking, infuriated blue-collar.

The John Birch society is so ridiculously Neanderthal that being moderately anti-Israel in Middle East peace issues wouldn't be nearly enough to get you a 70% rating. Bayh must have something else going on with social issues or domestic positions on things like immigration, abortion or minorities that makes them like him. That would concern me greatly.

That is all.

>>You went to St. Alban's, Dave?<<

Indeed.

>>Was your father involved in politics? <<

No, he was in the foreign service. I ended up at STA initially because they took boarders, so I did 2 years boarding and then 2 years as a day student when my family came back to the states.

>> becauseWhat happened with your life and why haven't you accomplished more? <<

IMO I've accomplished a lot. I have a successful company and have taught thousands of students and I have a couple of great kids. I worked in DC and in politics for several years, but got alienated from the political establishment and decided to go a different direction.

>>Why are you and your silver spoon hanging out with blue-collar Texas rednecks? <<

Because I like them? Because there's an honesty and forthrightness here which is lacking in Washington.

>>We certainly do appreciate your unique brand of reactionary vitriol, but you really should have lived up to your family and your classmates. Here I was not knowing you were frustrated, defeated blue-blood masquerading as frank-talking, infuriated blue-collar.<<

I've never pretended to be blue collar. I had exactly 1 blue collar job in my life and that was when I was 17. Have you noticed the name of my blog - it's not 'The Working Stiff", it's "The Elitist Pig". Truth in advertising.

>>The John Birch society is so ridiculously Neanderthal that being moderately anti-Israel in Middle East peace issues wouldn't be nearly enough to get you a 70% rating. Bayh must have something else going on with social issues or domestic positions on things like immigration, abortion or minorities that makes them like him. That would concern me greatly.<<

I know, but on all those issues you mention Bayh seems to be opposed to the Birchers. The only other possibility I can think of is that Bayh is anti-Catholic.

Dave