One day before the filing deadline for the Democratic primary, Evan Bayh surprised Indiana voters by announcing that he would not seek reelection to another term representing them in the Senate. Bayh is one of the most respected figures in the Senate who also served as Indiana's governor and was a presidential contender in 2008.
Bayh has held his seat for only two terms, a seat which his father also held for three terms. In that time he made a significant mark in the Senate, taking the lead on important legislation in education and environmental regulation and playing an key role as a moderate on the Armed Services Committee.
In announcing his decision, Bayh complained of frustration with partisan gridlock in Washington. Bayh may also have been motivated by the prospect of a very challenging and contentious race for reelection in a state where Republicans have become increasingly ascendant. Bayh's personal popularity and moderate views might have won the day, but with him gone any other Democrat may have little chance against likely Republican nominee Dan Coats who held the office before Bayh won it in 1998.
Some have speculated that Bayh's goal has always been the presidency and that he realized that being associated with the increasingly unpopular Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration would work against him and that it would be smarter to run as a seasoned outsider in the 2012 or 2016 presidential election.
Bayh's future plans remain unclear, but at today's announcement he commented:
"There are better ways to serve my fellow citizens...I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress."
An understandable view from a moderate increasingly at odds with the polarized politics of both left and right.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - John Lake
//Some have speculated that Bayh's goal has always been the presidency and that he realized that being associated with the increasingly unpopular Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration would work against him//
Some others might speculate that the number of congressional people pulling out of congressional seats may indicate they can't function in that corrupt, un-American environment.
Beyond special interest and lobby-ist involvement, we now have congressional representitives with clandestine ties to specific unmentioned groups, their instructions coming from these groups, with no thought for more traditional American values.
2 - jeannie danna
Let's see,
A third of the former Bush administration's employees now work on K Street as lobbyists, the Supreme Court ruled that money has the same rights as citizens, and the whole system is now collapsing in on itself, as the two parties are locked in a no-win-tug-of-war.
My guess, is that he was paid to walk-away
:] Hi John, nice to see you here.
3 - Baronius
I remember a bunch of House Democrats retiring or switching parties after 1994. It seemed a little spineless to me, but I could understand not enjoying minority status. What I don't understand is retiring now. You've got to be confident about a 10-seat loss, or unwilling to serve in a non-super majority. I don't see more than 7 pickups for the Republicans.
4 - jeannie danna
Baronius,
Spineless, that's the word that should have been attached to Palin.
Oh what money will buy...
:]hi there.
5 - Dr Dreadful
What I don't understand is retiring now. You've got to be confident about a 10-seat loss, or unwilling to serve in a non-super majority.
Or it could just be the reason he gave, Baronius. He doesn't enjoy his job any more.
6 - Dr Dreadful
"Some have speculated that Bayh's goal has always been the presidency..."
Oh no. Not a chance. Ever since Eisenhower, Americans have resolutely and consistently insisted on electing presidents whose names they could spell (although it was touch and go with Regan... Reagan... Ragan... Rayg... the Gipper for a while).
Nevertheless, I look forward with interest to following wealthy California farmer Sivasubramanian Rajasinghganeshkumarshiva-Garcia's quixotic bid for the White House in 2012.
:-D
7 - Silas Kain
That's not entirely fair, Jeannie: A third of the former Bush administration's employees now work on K Street as lobbyists...
Lobbyists on K Street are not limited to former Bush Administration employees. Classic example: Carville and Matalin. They play both sides of the aisle, collect money from the same and have made a prosperous living pitting one side against the other. It's pathetic.
...the Supreme Court ruled that money has the same rights as citizens...
The SCOTUS 5 didn't say corporations have the same rights as citizens. What they've done is insured the right to free speech. They have laid a foundation upon which the legislative branch of government needs to build. I'm not happy about their decision, but if you read it in its entirety you learn very quickly that their decision was well thought out fortified by a cogent history of case law. On the surface the decision looks favorable to corporate interests; however, the Congress in its infinite lack of wisdom can create a level playing field. The problem is that they are paid off by the very interests they are morally bound to regulate.
...and the whole system is now collapsing in on itself, as the two parties are locked in a no-win-tug-of-war...
We can't blame the political parties on this one. We are a society that is somehow convinced that things are black or white, i.e. Republican or Democrat. We don't have the collective intelligence to think outside the box and realize life is but a cornucopia of hues which encompass the entire spectrum of colors.
Baronius: I remember a bunch of House Democrats retiring or switching parties after 1994. It seemed a little spineless to me, but I could understand not enjoying minority status.
Very true! And many of those cowards went on to work for an office on K Street. While it seems a little spineless one must conclude that when a member of Congress realizes that he/she is in danger of losing their seat they simply shift their office from the Capitol to a cozy enclave on K Street. Today's member of Congress is tomorrow's corporate board member - scratch that - corporate whore.
Jannie: Spineless, that's the word that should have been attached to Palin.
Carpe diem! Sarah Palin is seizing her day in the limelight. She's squeezing every bloody penny she can from her manufactured fame. And the MSM LOVES Sarah Palin because she drives their ratings. Regardless of her politics, she's a compelling figure. She's shrewd. She may come across as some air-headed aging bathing beauty but she's the poster child for media whore -- and having a baby with Down's Syndrome makes her ever more a champion. I could throw up at how simple Americans have become.
Bayh complained of frustration with partisan gridlock in Washington.
Evan Bayh is an opportunistic coward. He wants off the Obama gravy train because he sees the writing on the wall. Donny Deutsch has opined several times that Wall Street interests are scared of Obama and his policies and will stop at nothing to get him out. What he fails to say is that Barack Obama is perceived as a lame duck President and they're working overtime to break the Democrat majority in Congress. We're headed for two years of even worse gridlock. By the time it is over Wall Street is going to make Americans feel like it is OK to elect white men again and dump the Black guy.
In my humble opinion a devastating loss for Barack Obama in November will hasten a movement toward drafting Hillary in 2012. This is Jimmy Carter all over again.
8 - Baronius
Doc, as much as I try to believe what people say, there's no greater occasion of falsity than when a politician gives his reason for retiring.
Anyway, who likes their job?
Jeannie, I agree that Palin shouldn't have quit.
9 - roger nowosielski
I happen to take Sen. Bayh at his word. In an interview earlier today on NPR, he stated that he would like to be able more helpful to the people of his state, to be able to do something about their situation, but he came to the realization he cannot do so while in Congress; in fact, he stated he did not like the Congress.
This is an interesting comment, especially in light of great many politicians from both houses who declared similar intentions - not to run again. No doubt that some of them may be motivated by political reasons - facing difficult reelection campaigns - but we must also assume that in a great many cases we may be talking about honorable women and men and that perhaps, just perhaps, it's a statement about the demoralizing conditions of present-day politics.
10 - jeannie danna
Silas,
A third of them.
Also, this fact was reported by MSNBC, this morning, and, they are a lot more conservative and right-leaning during the day over there. Morning Joe and Buchanan.
:] hello.
11 - Baronius
Silas - Ah yes, the Draft Hillary movement. What I've been calling the "I regret that I can no longer support..." speech, because she needs an exit strategy from this administration. I wonder if Bayh - 1996 Democratic Convention keynote speaker and 2008 Hillary supporter - is positioning himself to be VP on her ticket.
12 - jeannie danna
Silas,
Read SCOTUS again? Big business is, money.
And, there are only two parties. Now, since they cannot give in an inch towards solving the most basic of problems, then what do you call it?
:] You know what I call it, sorry for the bold.
13 - Silas Kain
Jeannie, have you ever listened to Joe Scarborough? I religiously watch Morning Joe. He's a good, decent man with a lot of common sense. I don't agree with a lot of his positions but I would be comfortable with him as President. Pat Buchanan is like my old, dried up Irish Catholic aunt with a chip on the shoulder. He's harmless and comical in a perverse sort of way.
Insofar as 1/3 of them on K Street, I read that Washington Post article and it doesn't phase me. You need to step back a moment and realize that the K Street problem is not limited to the Conservatives. Did you ever hear of Tom Daschle?
There is a way to neutralize K Street. It's called rules changes in the House and Senate coupled with comprehensive campaign finance reform. We need peaceful protests in Washington where rank and file Americans populate the galleries while Congress is in session. The American voter has the power to facilitate change -- the problem is that the voter is too damned dumb to realize it.
14 - jeannie danna
morally bound to regulate.
no-one is moraly bound to do anything here, that's why I wish I could pack my family and our bags just like the super-rich.
Leaving on a jet-plane...don't know when I'll be back again...
15 - Silas Kain
Silas - Ah yes, the Draft Hillary movement.
Baronius, I've heard more Democrats in Massachusetts say that they will support a draft Hillary movement. There's no doubt in my mind that she is planning an exit strategy from the Obama Administration. If Obama suffers a loss in November, Hillary is out in January -- bank on it. That will guarantee that the Presidential nominees from the two major parties will be in the back pocket of Wall Street.
Lou Dobbs 2012 is looking better by the day.
16 - jeannie danna
I didn't say Joe was bad. Why do you assume that I don't have respect for all sides here?
I don't respect liars. (please don't read yourself into this word)
:0I think the world of you.
17 - jeannie danna
Ah yes!Tom Daschle! If he hadn't been drumbed out of town, when he was, then we might have had universal health care by now...a real sad day that was.
18 - Silas Kain
Jeannie, in the SCOTUS 5 decision, there was an insignificant passage which crystallized it for me:
Although the First Amendment provides that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech,” §441b’s prohibition on corporate independent expenditures is an outright ban on speech, backed by criminal sanctions. It is a ban notwithstanding the fact that a PAC created by a corporation can still speak, for a PAC is a separate association from the corporation. Because speech is an essential mechanism of democracy it is the means to hold officials accountable to the people political speech must prevail against laws that would suppress it by design or inadvertence.
PACs (political action committees) are the problem. We need to develop mechanisms which insure transparency and a level playing field so that all interests are heard in the political forum. What the SCOTUS 5 accomplished is insuring that freedom of speech thrives. The decision has been rendered -- it is now incumbent upon the people to entice Congress to lay down a framework which insures the transparency we demand.
19 - Silas Kain
Ah yes!Tom Daschle! If he hadn't been drumbed out of town, when he was, then we might have had universal health care by now...a real sad day that was.
Jeannie, do your homework. Poor Tom Daschle has made MILLIONS as a special public policy adviser at the law firm Alston & Bird. He's just another self serving politician -- talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing.
20 - Silas Kain
Roger: I happen to take Sen. Bayh at his word.
You're a better man than me, Roger. I take no incumbent at their word.
21 - roger nowosielski
Silas,
You can't proceed on the assumption that no one is honorable. What I believe we're witnessing right now - with respect to this rash of resignations and decisions not to run - is just another ominous sign testifying the the system's breakdown.
You keep on faulting the electorate as the main cause of the impasse in Washington. Well, I beg to disagree with you. My position is that the system has outlived its ability to respond to the electorate. The disenchantment with politics on the part of the American public is not the cause of the breakdown, only a symptom. And now what we see is that the politicians themselves - and yes, I must insist that at least some of them are honorable women and men - are beginning to share the same sentiment that the public at large does.
22 - jeannie danna
And you could have won that brand-new-set-of samsonite...;] bye Silas...
23 - Silas Kain
My position is that the system has outlived its ability to respond to the electorate.
Perhaps you're right and what we are experiencing are the throes of death.
And you could have won that brand-new-set-of samsonite...;]
ROFLMAO!
24 - jeannie danna
Silas,
Please read:
I found this one for you.
:] I do have to leave though, it was nice talking for a few moments. See ya in a while.
25 - jeannie danna
Silas,
What did I say? Sometimes I feel like I've been dropped down into-the-twilight-zone here!
:0 Help me!!! please, when I come back !