I wonder if this is more fallout from Obamacare or what? Byah is a moderate Dem and I figured he would be safe. But he's getting some pressure from the Rep candidate apparently. If Byah is at risk then things are worse than I thought for the Democrats. Byah at risk?
I am well aware that Mike Pence, a leading conservative member of the House is being encouraged to run against Bayh. Pence has a nice presence and would be a viable candidate, but if he should run, IMO his strong conservative agenda would play into Bayh's moderate positions and Bayh would win in the end. The other two names mentioned are non-factors. Bayh has a campaign chest of around $12,000,000, so he is well funded from day 1. Indiana historically is an independent-minded, moderate-leaning state with one conservative Republican senator (Lugar) and one moderate Democrat senator (Bayh). While abortion certainly would be a lightning rod issue in a Bayh-Pence race, I don't think it would be the determining factor in the outcome. Having said all this, and based on the Massachusetts outcome, I expect a historically hard push by the conservative element in the state to unseat Bayh. He (Bayh) is so well-known and popular in Indiana that if he would lose, it clearly would be an anti-Obama/Reid/Pelosi backlash, and IMO it would forebode a disastrous election for the Dems. EDIT: After writing this post, I saw the article linked below which says that Pence has opted not to run against Bayh. Mark my words: There is no other Republican candidate in Indiana who is capable of beating Bayh. I'm guessing that Pence would prefer not to risk his political future against Bayh and instead wait for Lugar to retire to run for the Senate. Pence Won't Run Against Bayh
Switching states, I saw that Bo Biden decided not to run for "The Biden Seat"... Which I had to chuckle at because in watching MSNBC a day or two after the Brown win in Mass, Chris Matthews had on 2 Congressmen one Dem and one Rep to talk about the implications. Matthews was still hangdog looking when talking about the Brown win, but towards the end the Rep Congressman made a comment something to the effect that Bo Biden might rethink the run for his Dad's seat....Matthews immediately got his fire back and shot him a dirty look with the comment " The Bidens don't back down from anything"....the Repub just smiled back. I wonder what Chris Matthews thinks now?
I'm not sure he really has the capacity to think. He just reacts and gets that warm tingly feeling down his leg.
Reports today that Bayh is to retire. With Dems in the majority in both houses and in the White House, why leave while the good times are rolling?
Actually, Terry, he was not in trouble at all. The most recent poll showed him with a 20 point lead over Coats, who by the way is an old acquaintance of mine (I know, I'm name dropping :lol: ). Bayh likely would have been a shoo-in for re-election to the Senate. Hoosiers love him. I just watched his retirement speech. In so many words, he said he is just plain tired of the faction-driven gridlock in Congress, which he said (paraphrasing) is short-changing the American people. He wants to serve, just not in Congress. I admire and respect him for his position. I hope he runs for Governor in 2012.
Did he mention that by not having to spend money in his bid at reelection he gets to walk off with the $13 million he has in his campaign fund? Another public servant with a meager public pension trudging off into a world of abject poverty.
Actually, Gip, I would expect that he will spend that money seeking election to some political office in the future. I wish he had retired a few years ago and run the little s***head Republican governor out of office. The guy is a real ideologue who hates public education, despite his spinning to the contrary. Contrary to what you may think, Bayh is an honorable man. He is one of the few people serving in Congress who I feel that way about. One of the others is Richard Lugar. Terry, I'm sure Obama will wait to see how Bayh votes in his remaining months as a senator before he decides whether or not to tax the $13 million. :wink:
Gip, is that true? In Ohio you have the option of giving that money to charity or you can dole it out to other politicians...but you can't just walk away with it.
Different states have different laws. I think that there may have been some changes in congressional rules with McCain-Feingold. Here's an example of what NY politicians do http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/nyregion/24retire.html How fortunate is Sid that the two honorable politicians serving in Congress are both senators from his home state?
Thought of a good analogy to what this guy seems to be about. The worst sales technique that you can employ is to run down the competition more than identifying and then providing a real solution to the client's needs. Bayh takes the high road......says he would like to address the customer's ( us ) needs. The Dems and GOP and all those groups far left and far right just want to base their strategy on burning the other guy....demeaning and discrediting the competition. Who would you buy from?
Given Sid's leverage, the next time I am in at the Butt Hutt shopping for cigarettes, I plan on doing some serious name dropping to get an extra discount..... Sorry to see Bayh leave. He was of the old school who actually worked with members of the opposition to secure legislation that left the fringe elements of both parties angry but reflected a consensus agreement that sometimes worked out well. Now, it seems as if most strident elements of both parties are in control and are too busy firebombing each other and purging their respective parties of those who fail the ideological purity test. Not a good way to run the country. I was trying to craft a metaphor comparing our present economic situation with the Georgian luger just as he started down the course but have to get back to work.