In the last few weeks, there's been a flurry of diaries about Evan Bayh's recent posturing as a worthwhile presidential candidate for 2008.
The diaries I've seen have had a 'ga-ga about our boy!' tone that raises my hackles and sets my teeth on edge. I've got better things to do with my time than debunk EB -- but I'll take a chunk out of the task, below the fold.
Having lived all my life in Indiana, I'm very familiar with Bayh's position on the political spectrum. If there were a white line down the middle of the Congressional aisle, Bayh would be standing with one foot on the line and the other foot on the GOP side. It's the one foot on the line that lets him label himself 'centrist' -- but most of his body weight is on the Right.
Except for one diary, the recent diaries on Bayh have all had a 'Gee whiz, folks, our guy is so cool and he's announced for president!' tone. That tone has led some commenters to wonder if these diarists are on the level -- or on the payroll. I've wondered about that myself, but my guess is that they're Hoosiers who are excited about One Of Their Own In The Race. Note to Hoosiers: This is a Presidential election, not the basketball runoffs. And the person elected in 2008 will have to guide this country through a monumental reconstruction in an attempt to remedy the damage that's been done these last six years. Bayh hasn't got the chops.
And in case you've forgotten that Bayh, who has close to $10.6 MILLION in his warchest, refused to donate to the DSCC to help Democrats win back Congress -- well, kos will remind you.
The one post I've seen that does not get all googly-eyed over Bayh is this one, in which
dole4pineapple rightly takes Bayh to task for 'trashing the Democratic Party again' by repeating GOP talking points -- which is exactly what Bayh did in the AP article dole4pineapple cites. Bayh's position was along the lines of: 'Mustn't get too ideological now, Dems, or nobody will vote for you! The People didn't really vote for Dems, they really just voted against Bush, and the new Congresspeople are really centrist, after all!'
There's another article online tonight about Bayh, which really tells you all you need to know if you want to consider Bayh's voting record. From the New York Times:
A former chairman of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, Bayh usually runs well under the average for Democratic senators on Congressional Quarterly’s "party unity" scores, which measure how often members vote with most senators of their own party against most members of the other party.
But the party’s more liberal activists undoubtedly will grill Bayh over some of his departures from the party line, especially on the war in Iraq. During the fall of 2002, Bayh pushed for adoption of the resolution authorizing President Bush to launch the Iraq War, even as others in his party were hoping to extract concessions from the White House.
Did you catch that, folks? The Congressional Quarterly's 'party unity' scores show that Bayh --
- Consistently votes with the GOP and against the Dem Position; and
- Voted for Bush's 'War Powers' while Dems were still trying to fight.
I hope that's enought to settle your hash, Bayhgroupies. I know you thought that it'd be real cool if you infiltrated the netroots for him, helped him create a buzz -- I mean, gee, you could even fundraise for him! But here's my opinion: You need to step back, and get a clear perspective on the importance of the 2008 election. Do you reallly want to help put a Republiclone in office?
And be forewarned: Very soon, people here at dKos (and elsewhere) will start to publish Bayh's voting record. And his funders. And his business connections. You might want to think twice about buying that bumpersticker.