Evan Bayh Will Not Seek Reelection

Evan Bayh will not seek reelection | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

Sen. Evan Bayh will not run for re-election, a decision that will shock Democrats and Republicans alike in Indiana.

In prepared remarks, Bayh, 54, cited excessive partisanship that makes progress on public policy difficult to achieve as the motivation for his decision.

“After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so in Congress has waned,” he said.

“My decision was not motivated by political concern,” he added. “Even in the current challenging environment, I am confident in my prospects for re-election.”

Bayh had never lost an election, from his first win in 1986 as secretary of state, his wins for governor in 1988 and 1992 and his election to the U.S. Senate in 1998 and 2004.

Only days ago, Bayh’s staff, close associates and Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker, who was manager of Bayh’s re-election campaign, had assured an Indianapolis Star reporter that he would definitely seek a third term in the U.S. Senate. And Democrats recently released a poll showing Bayh easily ahead of both former Sen. Dan Coats and former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, two of the four Republicans seeking the GOP nomination.

But in his statement, Bayh cited recent stalemates in Congress.

“Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a bipartisan commission to deal with one of the greatest threats facing our nation: our exploding deficits and debt. The measure would have passed, but seven members who had endorsed the idea instead voted ‘no’ for short-term political reasons,” he said. “Just last week, a major piece of legislation to create jobs — the public’s top priority — fell apart amid complaints from both the left and right. All of this and much more has led me to believe that there are better ways to serve my fellow citizens, my beloved state and our nation than continued service in Congress.”

The decision ends one of the brightest political careers by Indiana Democrat, at least for now.

Bayh, the son of former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, had been the nation’s youngest governor when he first won Indiana’s chief executive job at age 33 in 1988, and was frequently mentioned as a possibility for vice president, and was on President Barack Obama’s list of only three finalists before Obama settled on former Sen. Joe Biden. Bayh also considered running for president himself, launching an exploratory effort in 2006 for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination before dropping the effort only a couple weeks later.

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1. Oh, my!

2. Bayh was a rising superstar just a few years ago, solid presidential candidate, finalist for Obama's VP.

3. A centrist Dem from, after all, Dick Lugar's and Dan Quayle's Indiana.

4. The Hoosier State is as good as red.

5. After Ms Coakley turned over the KENNEDY SEAT, we need TEN more to take back Upper House.

6. Bayh and North Dakota's Byron Dorgan are TWO.

7. Benedict Arlen trails Teatotaler Toomey by NINE in Pennsylvania.

8. SPEAKER Reid is LOSING in double digits to little red upstarts in the Silver State.

9. Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas has NO CHANCE, she trails Republicans Baker, Hendren, Coleman, Cox and Boozman by NINETEEN, SIXTEEN, SIXTEEN, FOURTEEN and TWENTY THREE, respectively.

10. Five down, five to go.

11. When Beau Biden pulled a Bayh by backing away in the Blue Hen State, it opened the door wide for Rhino Mike Castle to take the sitting VP's seat---SIX.

12. In Colorado Michael Bennett, who was appointed to fill Salazar's spot when Obama tapped the latter for Interior, is looking up at a pair of Republicans by 4 and 14 points.

13. Illinois, Burris' seat, bought from Blago, Obama's seat---Dem Giannoulias is connected to a bankrupt bank with ties to the MOB, and Republican challenger Mark Kirk leads by half a dozen.

14. Patty Murray in Washington trails Dino Rossi by two.

15. Russ Feingold is behind Tommy Thompson by four.

16. Barbara Boxer, believe me, is in more trouble than Ms Murray and Mr Feingold, liberal Tom Campbell from San Jose is gonna clean her clock in November---remember where you heard it first.

17. And Ms Gillibrand in New York, yet another appointee, picked to fill Ms Hillary's seat, should former Governor Pataki declare he'd probably beat her.

18. The point---EVEN THE SENATE IS CERTAINLY WITHIN REACH.

19. And picking up half a dozen or so, for an opposition, is tantamount to taking control, anyway, tactically, institutionally (think about it).

20. THAT's how BAD it's gotten for the blues---under Obama.

21. Mr Bayh cited in detail his frustration with the games playing, specifically calling out Reid's manipulations concerning this "jobs bill," the Leader's tearing up Baucus-Grassley's bipartisan production and replacing it with so meagerly trimmed down a measure.

22. Reid's bill is only 15 billion, so small it might as well not even be done, compared to Pelosi's and the president's perspectives

23. The party in power is ripping apart.

24. As predictable as physics.

25. Obama's incompetence is the prime mover.

The Prof

Beat'cha to it, prof!!

However, mods just delete my thread since he's already posted in his, too.

What should we call this? "Surrender with honor"?

Erod said:

Beat'cha to it, prof!!

However, mods just delete my thread since he's already posted in his, too.

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damn!

LOL!

i even checked before my final proofread

you're fast

i'm really sorry, dude

but you and me, friend---keep kicking his skinny ass

you know i'll do the same

cliff

Just to let you know Prof, Gillibrand has her own internal battle with a liberal and populist Democrats.

this is terrible news
one of the few good guys in congress
i don't like his motivations but i do understand them

The guy was way over rated anyway as a senator. I'm from Indiana and I should know.

The main thing that ticks me off is he doesn't respond to emails well from his constituents. (Of course it's not really him it's his aides.) The few I've had responded to were basically form letters and insulted my intelligence.

I thought Bayh was far more qualified to be president than that empty suit who currently clutters up the white house. Other than Bayh's disgraceful vote against the brilliant CJ Roberts, he has pretty much been a common sense moderate

chevydriver1123 said:

Just to let you know Prof, Gillibrand has her own internal battle with a liberal and populist Democrats.

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thanks

harold ford?

i know that all three of their APPOINTEES, gillibrand, burris and bennett in colorado...

y'know, they never won an election, even a primary, they're selectees of governors

i read an la times article about WESTERN dems' disaffection with the national movement these days and the story centered on colorado

it appears michael bennett was supt of denver schools and a pretty liberal guy

he was pulled up by governor ritter, leapfrogging all kindsa colorado dems who'd invested their lives, y'know, in the party

this bennett's a little too san francisco, a little too obamite, for the party statewide, according to the times

bill ritter, interestingly, announced HE won't seek a second term

colorado's a bit like virginia in that newcomers elected in those two key states become instant national figures

that is, ritter was a star

but he too has to quit

it is what it is

no spin

obama's "leadership" is killing the party of jackson

kinda sad (to someone, i spose)

party on, progressives

proudly over that steep precipice we plummet

TurtleDude said:

I thought Bayh was far more qualified to be president than that empty suit who currently clutters up the white house. Other than Bayh's disgraceful vote against the brilliant CJ Roberts, he has pretty much been a common sense moderate

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He's another empty suit. Good riddance.

apdst said:

What should we call this? "Surrender with honor"?

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So it doesn't look like you're leaving with your pants around your ankles.:lol:

The Prof said:

thanks

harold ford?

i know that all three of their APPOINTEES, gillibrand, burris and bennett in colorado...

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Ford is still in the maybe column. Her two current opponents are uber liberal Jonathan Tasini and Populist Dr. Scott Noren. Gillibrand was elected as a congresswoman back in 2006 as a Blue Dog.

EnigmaO01 said:

The guy was way over rated anyway as a senator. I'm from Indiana and I should know.

The main thing that ticks me off is he doesn't respond to emails well from his constituents. (Of course it's not really him it's his aides.) The few I've had responded to were basically form letters and insulted my intelligence.

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Bush never responded to mine, either, other than the canned: "The President thanks you for sending him e-mail, but he is too busy to respond to all of his e-mails." Something like that?

justabubba said:

this is terrible news
one of the few good guys in congress
i don't like his motivations but i do understand them

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Evan Bayh was a Conservative Democrat, which means that his replacement will most likely be a Republican.

Keep the filibusters going. As long as Congress can gum up the works, and nothing gets done, America cannot be mucked with. :mrgreen:

chevydriver1123 said:

Ford is still in the maybe column. Her two current opponents are uber liberal Jonathan Tasini and Populist Dr. Scott Noren. Gillibrand was elected as a congresswoman back in 2006 as a Blue Dog.

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thank you, again

gillibrand was from ny20, i know you know

gillibrand won her upstate district by TWENTY FOUR on nov 4, 2008, the day obama was elected president

4 months later in march, 09, in the special election to replace ms gillibrand who was moved up to replace ms hillary, the district was no longer blue by two dozen

it was TIED

dem murphy won by 300 votes after a protracted recount

i put this info up, my knowledgable new york neighbor, for 2 reasons

to inform any who don't know

and to allow you to correct any errors

i bow to your better knowledge

thanks, always, cliff

indiana has long been a very reliably red state

what's changing there is lake county in the extreme northwest

lake is essentially a sprawling suburb of chicago

which, chicago, stretches south from the lake for miles and miles and miles

the south side of chicago geographically seems limitless

yet, apparently to the east, there's another sprawling expanse of what looks like oakland, california, forever

or something like that

if anyone knows more about the political geography of these regions, please let me know

lake county came to my attention in our last two national elections as i was kept up waiting literally for hours for indiana's last county to declare, determining the winner of the state

i very much got the impression that whatever indiana blues needed, lake was gonna deliver

just like chicago

anyway, that's the way it turned out

****** I'm not that hopeful . It probably is not for the best for the GOP to take control of either House. That's what just might have gotten Bill Clinton reelected in 1996. The MSM is set to pounce on any new GOP leadership.

*****Also I suspect Bayh though genuinly disgusted does KNOW that decisions on entitlement cuts must be coming soon and he isn't up to something that Hard.

TurtleDude said:

I thought Bayh was far more qualified to be president than that empty suit who currently clutters up the white house. Other than Bayh's disgraceful vote against the brilliant CJ Roberts, he has pretty much been a common sense moderate

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and Health care deform bill?

danarhea said:

Evan Bayh was a Conservative Democrat, which means that his replacement will most likely be a Republican.

Keep the filibusters going. As long as Congress can gum up the works, and nothing gets done, America cannot be mucked with. :mrgreen:

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I thought that was mucked up. :mrgreen:

DarkWizard12 said:

and Health care deform bill?

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I wrote him off after the ROberts vote and didn't pay much attention to him after that. The Roberts vote put him in the Moon bat cave permanently as far as I was concerned

it turns out that bayh picked the day before the filing deadline to make his little dart of a declaration, a particularly pointed shot at leader reid

gosh, you got reid going after obama by gutting the "jobs bill" down to a paltry 15B

(it's 157B in the house, for example)

(just how you gonna reconcile THAT?)

(and a "jobs bill," must be done pronto, no? by defintion)

(just like a "stimulus," a word democrats can never again utter)

so you got reid goin after the president from below, while a little deeper bayh's taking his parting shots at harry

by all accounts pelosi's supremely pissed, her delegation has gone a mile out on a skinny barack branch on health care, cap and trade, the stimu..., i mean, the recovery act...

and what's to show?

she's particularly pissed over the "jobs bill," everyone's saying

the upshot---the party in power is imploding over its comprehensively inept leadership

look at it, libs

your legacy

Prof, how do you think Nancy is going to handle giving that speaker seat up in a few months?

I'm growing more cyncical each year, but I have to admit, I'm impressed with the American public's ability to call bull**** on all this so quickly. It's encouraging.

I couldn't believe we elected a man with less experience than a paper clip a year ago, but how quickly the tide has turned.

I believe there will be more announcements made that sound just about the same as this one as Democrats realize they are in trouble.

None of them will tell the truth about why they are bailing, but it all comes down to them having a retirement plan second to none that includes a Health plan and they can go out on top and say anything they want about why.

After they have left they can always get a job with the Obamedia a pundit and defend Obama from afar with no personal political risk.

Rats are not brilliant but they know to leave a sinking ship and Obama's poll numbers are still dropping.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -17

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And this is really bad news in an election year, very few are going to want to seen with Obama on the campaign trail and they will have a hell of a time in debates as well.

Anyone notice the saying, "When the going gets tough the tough get going" doesn't apply to our congress critters? Of course that doesn't surprise me. If these critters really cared about their country and their convictions they'd stick it out, but apparently they won't.

I wonder how many will end up becoming lobbyists for the big bucks?