Scathing commentary on Bayh by David Sirota

The son of Sen. Birch Bayh, Evan has no discernible political skills (unless "skills" include being the cure for insomnia and having a famous last name). In the decade since this prince claimed his daddy's Senate seat, he has amassed not a single significant accomplishment — a miraculous achievement, even by Washington's do-nothing standards. If he is known at all, it is for heading a business front group called the Democratic Leadership Council, using that position to rake in corporate campaign contributions and then paying back the money with votes.

For instance, in his 2004 campaign, Bayh raised almost $1 million from the banking and financial industries, then voted in 2005 for a bankruptcy bill helping those industries intensify their usurious practices. Similarly, despite representing a manufacturing state crushed by trade-related job losses, Bayh has voted for a bevy of lobbyist-written trade pacts, including the monumentally destructive China deal in 2000.

On foreign policy, it's even worse. Bayh has been a shameless Bush parrot, infamously commending himself for being "tough and smart" after aggressively supporting the Iraq War — the same war that U.S. intelligence agencies have said is severely weakening America's national security.

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_10207583

Obama doesn't select him as the VP candidate. The DLC just isn't that important.

Included a landslide reelection to the US Senate in 2004, four years after the "monumentally destructive China deal in 2000." I guess that Indiana voters don't see thing the same way as Mr. Sirota.

Bayh's father found that out, as voters rejected him when he ran for reelction, replacing him with a young Congressman named Dan Quayle.

Far more interesting than his offspring - It was Evan Bayh who was Governor before running for Seante. Birch Bayh was never Governor.

and not a person I've talked to is happy with Evan Bayh. Everyone says "He's certainly not his father". But there is no one who runs against him - Republican or Democrat - for the Senate.

Sounds like he's a Republican insurgent inside the Democratic Party.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/b001233/

I'm sure that Republicans love the fact that he votes with them less than 17% of the time.

the statistic assumes that dems are voting progressively.

All votes are not equal.

Some profoundly effect economic fairness and life itself. Some don't. Bayh has a horrible record on the votes that counted most.

If voters were disatisfied with him, it would encourage a string challenger.

the late 90s. This useless man was elected and re-elected by the people "who knew him best". Yet there were tons of articles pointing out his lack of accomplishments and horrible legislation that he supported (of course that's just one example). I know this is your standard reply when people criticize politicians around here but there's not much of a point to your comment is there. People are elected to office all over the country and we get to criticize them and shine a light on things they say or do even if their constituents "know better".

No Republican has lost a state-wide election in Texas since 1994. Bayh, on the other hand, has been elected five times in a state where the other party is the majority. That is a much more difficult task.

Whether "Republican" or "Democratic" states everyone could say that they were elected by their constituents who certainly know them better. So what? That's still not much of an answer given that the decisions that many of these people make affect more than the people who elect them locally. If a US senator does stupid shit like backing this ridiculous war the will and should be criticized.

Do you have any evidence that he has changed significantly since the last time he was reelected?

elected and reelected 80 times does not change that fact that there are legitimate criticisms that can be made. Strom Thurman was reelected a million times. So again Captain Obvious we get that the guy was elected reelected and all that. Are there not legitimate criticisms that could be made about his record. And saying that his people elected, reelected, reeelected him just doesn't answer address those criticisms. Does it?

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:puke:

i never heard of the dude.

GOOD LORD!! Evan Bayh is such a foreign policy extremist that one of this biggest problems with the current Iraq War seems to be that he worries that in might prevent a war with Iran.

http://washingtonindependent.com/view/stop-obama-bayh-08

"This is a hallmark of Evan Bayh. A former chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council and a past recipient Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson Award for Distinguished Service from the neoconservative security think tank JINSA."

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/03/evan_bayh_tough_but_smart.php

Evan Bayh was one of the early cheerleaders along with Sen. McCain and Sen. Lieberman and the whole crew of neocon nuts.

"The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) is pleased to welcome Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) as an Honorary Co-Chairman. Bayh becomes the third U.S. Senator to join the committee after Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced their participation on January 28.

The Committee is a neo-con group that was formed to propagandize the country into war. It boasted such illustrious neocon members as Bill Kristol, former CIA director James Woolsey, and even McCain senior foreign policy adviser and Chalabi-bamboozler Randy Scheunemann, whom Josh has been blogging about."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/bayh_as_veep_he_cochaired_wing.php

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2

It would be dangerous to Obama-there's too much $ and power at stake.

For example, Obama is a centrist/moderate at best on the economy. He supports "free trade" at least as much as Bayh.

I hate the DLC "third way", but Bayh seems like a very good fit for Obama, if he is looking with politically similar views. :hi:

In searching for an updated DLC member list, I found out that Jim Webb is a DLCer too!

Wow. So sad.

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=103&subid=111&contentid=254630

holding the Kerry states, winning Iowa and Indiana and getting into the white house would be a massive disaster for BO ...

Bayh is not anywhere the heretic people here want to make him out to be ... EVERY single VP choice has some "negatives" attached to them ...

I will support whoever BO picks ...

But, Bayh is a really good pick for him ...

Obama selecting a DLCer is the fastest way to lose the progressive voters.

But maybe that is what he is trying to do. His reserval on FISA, off-shore drilling and religious programs sure make it seem that way.

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any way whatsoever.

Obama can do better.