I'm going to miss Evan Bayh

[mr715]

What separates the Democratic party from the Republican party is the willingness of our party to accept differences of opinion and build consensus. The Democratic party is, fundamentally, a party of consensus between disparate opinions. We are not homogenous. And THAT is a good thing.

I read these boards and see many people calling for the outster of Harry Reid or Ben Nelson, or even Dianne Feinstein in favor of more hard line candidates. We have lost Evan Bayh from a solidly and deeply red state that Obama won on the coattails of a massively anti-GOP year and an incredibly weak GOP opposition. This is the reality - the GOP will take back the majority if we try to purge all those that do not agree with an arbitrary and capricious standard of purity.

What constitutes ideological purity? Is it something we, the Democratic party, should strive for?


I liked Evan Bayh. Yes, he was a contrarian and yes, he was not a hard line progressive. But he came home. He voted with us when we needed it, and we may lose that vote.

ANY democrat is better than ANY republican.

You want Harry Reid gone? Replace him with Susan Collins. That make you happy?


Oh, and PS - Nancy Pelosi will go down as one of the strongest Speakers in the modern era. You want more liberal than Speaker Pelosi and you live in a dream world.


MR

[Raven]

1. Evan Bayh is a shithead. He screwed his party. Period. n/t

[mr715]

2. He was hated before he quit.

It seems like we're working backwards.

Evan Bayh did something bad - quit when the cards were bad, buuuuut he never really had the support of DU anyway.

[invictus]

22. +1

[Jennicut]

3. He crapped on the Dem party and Dem voters by leaving at the last minute.

I will miss having a Dem in the Senate if we lose the seat but not Bayh. Ever. Thankfully that jerk was not picked as VP.

[mr715]

5. Thats fair

I just have a hard time understanding why he is SO hated, so viscerally and deeply hated, when he was a Democrat and did vote with us most of the time.

I don't think he was a jerk. I think he was a Representative of a state.

[Jennicut]

7. I don't have any great love for conservadems but I am pissed at Bayh

right now for leaving us high and dry like this. I was not angry like this before he just decided to drop out at the last minute. I disliked Baucus and Ben Nelson much more. He was probably the best we can do in Indiana. But to quit like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[mr715]

9. The way that he left sucked, I agree

But he was never viewed positively here.

Its a little unfair that for months people moan and want him to leave, then he leaves and its like the worst thing ever.

Just today I read a post calling for Harry Reid to resign. And Harry Reid is to the left of Bayh.

Why do the Democrats need to eat their own?

[Jennicut]

17. Sometimes people post stuff (including me) when they are angry.

Obviously having a Dem is better then a Repub even if they are a conservative Dem.

[mr715]

18. Like me!

I'm angry. Whats weird is I am almost always MORE angry with the Democratic party than the Republican party.

[trumad]

4. Voted against late term abortions..

That say's it all for me.

[mr715]

6. Isn't Kucinich pro-life?

[provis99]

30. No. He's pro-choice.

And the anti-Kucinich kooks on DU will constantly remind you that he used to be pro-life, but frankly, they're as relevant to me as the freepers who constantly bring up Sen. Byrd's association with the Klan 70 years ago.

[asdjrocky]

8. You've been smoking Yes We Cannabis again, haven't you? nt

[SunsetDreams]

16. It's better than smoking No We Canntabis like the Republicans do, anyday

[asdjrocky]

20. That is so funny.

You just changed one word, you are killing me here. I can not stop laughing. I am serious.

[SunsetDreams]

21. I'm glad you find it so funny,

I air on the side of making fun of the No We Canntabis, than the Yes We Cannabis.

[asdjrocky]

24. I've always thought it was best to, er, err on the side of truth.

But that's just me. :hi:

[SunsetDreams]

25. Your right about that, it just depends on what your truth is..

But that's just me. :hi: back at ya.

[LeftishBrit]

34. That post should get a DUZY!

And it's true.

[Tony_FLADEM]

10. I tend to agree with you

He voted for the stimulus plan and health care legislation.

He wasn't one of the Democrats holding up health care because he was against the public option or was trying to get money for his state.

He did vote for the Bush tax cuts but so did several other Democrats.

I hope they can get Tim Roemer to run for that seat.

[mr715]

11. I'll take anyone

I hope we can hold the Senate.

What a bitter pill to swallow to have Al Franken in the Senate in the minority party.

[Tony_FLADEM]

19. I posted on that Yesterday

Assuming they lose 8 seats: Arkansas, Nevada, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Delaware, Colorado, and North Dakota. This would give them a 51-49 majority.

I think they will win the race in Illinois. Kirk is a Washington insider and Illinois is a heavily Democratic state like New York and California.


4 races that could give the Republicans the Senate majority: Wisconsin, Washington State, New York and California.

This also assumes the Democrats don't win any Republican held seats. They should win at least one in either Missouri or New Hampshire if the Republicans don't nominate Ayotte.

[PassingFair]

33. Tim Roemer. Anti-choice, anti-regulation, pro-corporate. Dreamy!

It will be as if Bayh had never left!

[activa8tr]

12. I hear he has 13 million dollars in his campaign chest...who gets that money?

I hope he donates a few million to the Dem campaign. Then and only then will I forgive him for leaving when we need his seat.

[mr715]

15. Thats the tell

He better give it all.

[jenmito]

37. On MSNBC today, he said he will give the money to help the Dem. nominee get elected and

to help other Dems. get elected.

[me b zola]

13. No, Bayh was uncompromising

~when it came to him fighting for republican values, and undermining Obama.

Screw Evan Bayh.

[mr715]

14. Not true

He voted with the Democrats most of the time. Voted for health care and the stimulus, for two.

[brand404]

23. $5 says he works for a Lobbyist and gets paid $millions/year (I will bet ANYONE right now)

I give it 3 months tops to cash in after his retirement. That was the ONLY reason for this move. He had no interest in the people...just seeing it as a payday for his household...

I will SERIOUSLY bet you $5 (no real skin off our backs)....please PM me and we will do an Honest wager and we can do this via PayPal when we find the results.

Happy to bet anyone or everyone.

[mr715]

26. I agree with you

He might also be planning a run for Prez.

[elocs]

27. Here is Bayh's voting record:

http://www.issues2000.org/Senate/Evan_Bayh.htm

Perhaps it is possible to look at it as a whole, for better or worse, and not simply cherry-pick votes which are viewed as "wrong".

[mr715]

29. Ultimately he was a good Democrat

He came home at the end. Fought hard for triangulation and compromise, but towed the line.

He was 100X better than Lieberman because he was a centrist out of principle, not spite.

[IndianaGreen]

35. Bayh was not a Democrat. Bayh was a corporate whore, through and through

Bayh represented Big Pharma and Big Bad Insurance industry which lined his and his wife's pockets.

[Justitia]

28. His wife makes millions from health ins companies. She's on the board of Wellpoint. His ethics are

seriously compromised, as his personal livelihood is balancing on legislation he gets a vote on.

Although I DO agree with you ~ ANY Democrat is better than ANY republican.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

31. Harry Reid is a fine Senator just not an ideal leader. It's not about purity...

it's about even managing to get anything done. Reasonable differences are fine but holding the party to ransom or demeaning it's primary objectives are not. If purity means an honest functioning Congress, I say hell yeah. Pelosi is doing an outstanding job though. No-one hounded Bayh out his state is suffering and it was probably felt that he wasn't meeting their needs, but now h's gone well adios. I don't want a clean sweep just Reid to transfer leadership should he stay and enough seats to make lieberman irrelevant.

[IndianaGreen]

32. Evan Bayh voted against the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada

"He voted with us when we needed it, and we may lose that vote."

What part of "us" are you referring to, the investor class?

[mr715]

36. The Democratic Party

and Americans.

He voted for health care and the stimulus.

[depakid]

38. Bayh was a cancer in the locker room

Just as those who are ready and willing to sell out traditional Democratic values at the drop of the hat- under the auspices of "consensus building" or some other excuse, are cancers on the party AND on the country.

They're proven over time to be equally as corrupt (or naive) and more dysfunctional than Republicans themselves, who could easily be relegated back the the fringe where they belong were it not for their persistent enablers and legitimizers.

In short- I (and many others) blame attitudes like the ones expressed in this post for the nation's steady decline than I do Republicans- who, after all- are just doing what Republicans do.

[JI7]

39. BAYH decided to step down on his own. you are acting like we are getting rid of him

he was one of the worst Democratic Senators , probably THE worst. the only thing he added was giving us an easy seat in a very red state.

and now he quit like Palin