From abcNEWS:
Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh announced today that will not seek a third term — a huge blow to Democrats and an opportunity for Republicans to pick up another Senate seat in 2010.
“There are better ways to serve my fellow citizens,” Bayh said at a news conference this afternoon. “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.”
Bayh, who served two terms as governor of Indiana, said he was concerned about the excessive partisanship in national politics.
…snip…
Bayh gave glaring examples of where things have fallen apart — the failure of the deficit reduction commission after seven co-sponsors of the bill voted No [more on this below], and the failure of the bipartisan job creation bill that had Republican support but was torpedoed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Bayh, 54, said Congress is in “need of significant reform,” but he praised some of his colleagues, including his fellow senator from Indiana, Republican Dick Lugar.
…snip…
President Obama released a statement this afternoon saying he looks forward to working with Bayh for the rest of the year and thanking him for “serving his fellow Hoosiers.”
From POLITICO (January 26, 2010):
Who would co-sponsor a bill, and then vote against it?
Six Republican senators would — almost the exact margin of defeat Tuesday for a plan endorsed by President Barack Obama that would have formed a task force on the deficit to try to force tough choices on Congress.
The idea, long championed by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), needed 60 votes to advance but got only 53.
Among those voting against it: Republicans Sam Brownback of Kansas, Mike Crapo of Idaho, John Ensign of Nevada, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and John McCain of Arizona.
A spokesperson for McCain, who supports the partial spending freeze Obama plans to announce in his State of the Union address, said the senator became convinced the commission would be “kind of a back door” to a tax increase, which he thinks would be “the worst thing that can happen now.”
…snip…
A Brownback spokesperson said: “He removed his co-sponsorship last week over concerns that the commission will be able to raise taxes.”
…snip…
A Crapo spokesperson said: “He removed his co-sponsorship several days ago after further review and consideration of the measure.:
A Hutchison spokesperson said: “She is no longer a co-sponsor, due to concerns that it would allow for tax increases, not focused on spending cuts.”
A seventh Republican, Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah, said through a spokesperson that he “supported the goal of the task force,” but “had concerns with the process and potential tax increases.”
Now back to Evy-poo. From TALKING POINTS MEMO:
Sen. Evan Bayh had already collected the 4,500 ballot-petition signatures needed to run in this year’s Indiana Democratic primary, and his last-minute decision not to run leaves the Indiana Democratic Party in the position of having to select its candidate itself. There probably isn’t a realistic way for anyone to gather the signatures needed by this week’s deadline.
A Democratic source told TPMDC that Bayh’s campaign did polling last week and found the senator was ahead of Republican Dan Coats, a candidate who just jumped in the race. Bayh had completed all the petitions for the race, which are due this week, the source said.
…snip…
The petitions must be filed with the county clerk’s office by Tuesday. Then candidates have until Friday to file with the Secretary of State for the primary ballot. The lack of another Democrat will mean there is a vacancy, leaving it to the state party’s State Central Committee to choose a candidate at its June 30 meeting.
…snip…
This means the Indiana Democrats would avoid holding a primary to choose who will be their nominee in the fall.
The Democratic source speculated Bayh’s choice seems like a personal decision that must have come at the last minute given all the legwork that had been done.
Bayh talked to President Obama this morning about his decision not to seek reelection, a source close to Obama told TPMDC.
The source says Obama and Bayh have had “several conversations” about 2010 and the senator made his personal decision this weekend.
“It is personal not at all political – he is by nature a Governor not a Senator,” the source said.
Sounds to me like he is by nature a selfish asswipe. Evy-poo, tell us the truth, Hoosier real daddy, because you can’t possibly be related to this guy?
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
I’m stuck on the name “Crapo”! 😆
he pronounces it KRAY-poe, but every time i hear rethugs say democrat party instead of democratic party, i want someone to publicly call him crap-oh and call boohoo boehner boner. if they want to be disrespectful, then dems should return the favor.
Bring back Bayh the Elder! As for Junior…
What a turd.
he’s definitely not his father’s son. he’s gutless. i cut him some slack. i know indiana is not the most liberal state in the union, so no one could expect him to be the bernie sanders of the heartland. howevah (not howevan), what a douchenozzley move to bow out when there’s not possibly enough time for any other dems to collect signatures before the deadline. he acts like he’s some kind of victim. the people who are paying insurance premiums out the ying-yang are the victims, and they don’t get fantastic coverage like he does. they don’t get a government pension. he’s not a victim, he’s one of the perpetrators. if he didn’t like what was going on in the senate, why didn’t he bring it to anyone’s attention before yesterday? why didn’t he call people out and try to change things rather than wringing his hanky as he walks away a quitter? he says he loves his constituents in indiana, yet he takes away their right to pick their own democratic candidate for senate, and he sandbags any potential candidates. now let’s see what he does with the 12 million bucks he has sitting in his campaign account. asswipe! (evy-poo, not you, melissa)
If more people knew this song,
I’d write a parody for Bayh.
oh my, my. i think they might have issues! 😯
i was actually thinking of a song parody myself. to the tune of sitting on the dock of the bay, here’s the chorus:
You just sat there and dicked around, Bayh,
Until the Rethuglicans all got their way,
And then you said you’re not gonna stay,
Oh, how you whine…
Another one bites the dust. I read an article saying the Town hall meetings were harsh & intense.
Well boo effing hoo!
When the going gets tough he bails?
He just wanted to make the big bucks on easy street, if he actually had to do something & make hard decisions…. well, he’s out.
We should keep an eye on him– how much you want to bet he winds up in a lucrative lobbyist position.
Bought & sold.
everyone keeps saying he’ll wind up in a lobbyist job. i’m not so sure. he’s got plenty of bucks already, because his wife has a seat on the board of wellpoint. i think he plans on running for something sometime in the near future, and he’s savvy enough to know that taking a job as a lobbyist won’t endear him to anyone. hey! maybe harold ford can get him a job on wall street! 😉
When McCain sponsored an immigration reform bill he tells reporters he won’t vote for it. Then these above mentioned seven pulling the same crap. It reminds me of Munich in 1938 when the Brits and French agree to give in to all the demands of the Chancellor and are rebuffed with the explanation “the deal has changed”! TX bagger update…Medina ask “why is it that no NYC police were killed in the attack on 9/11? It took me less than two minutes to read this on Oh, For Goodness Sake: FDNY 341, Paramedics 2, NYPD 23, Port Authority 37, EMT 8. These were dedicated public servants who are no longer with us. How can people be so goddamn stupid and think they can get elected to run a large state like Texas.
but…but…but capt underpants is a maverick, isn’t he? 🙄
😯 medina said that? i saw some raging jackass defending her on hardball tonight. he refused to answer the question about the government being involved in the 9/11 attack. tweety pointed out to him that he sounded just like the politicians the teabaggers are protesting again. i knew medina was one of the raving horde, but she’s certifiably insane to say anything so ignorant and so hurtful. get the margarine, she’s toast. if she’s not toast, she just gave ammo to every dem who’s up for reelection. they can ask their constituents if they want to vote for someone who’s in a party that embraces that type of rhetoric. like it or not, the rethugs are stuck with the teabaggers, even if they try to say that they are a completely separate entity.
24 hours later, and I still can’t find anything funny to say. Time to go back to bed!
i didn’t mean to cause you any despair, neon vincent. 😦
Nah, more like a recognition that I was too tired to think.
As for the post itself, it figures the GOP would place not raising taxes ahead of reducing the deficit. That’s how they governed from Reagan on, so at least they’re being consistent.
most voters run a household and know how budgets work. they should know damned well that the deficit can’t be paid down by spending less now. they also have to know that you have to do upkeep on a house or a car in order to keep it running, or it will cost you far more in the future to fix damage that’s done by ignoring the problems for so long.
While I can understand why any decent person would want to quit politics, I wish these fleeing Democrats would adopt a scorched Earth policy and write tell-alls about some of their slimier colleagues across the aisle.
Libel, after all, must be proven to be untrue.
bayh is a wuss. he always was, and he always will be. if he had any balls at all, he’d sign onto putting the public option back in the senate bill. he says he’s not running for anything in the near future, so do the right thing. there’s no risk for him.