Sen. Evan Bayh Announces Retirement
JoAnn Hunter, Broadway gypsy. / CBS
Updated 6:27 p.m. EST
Sen. Evan Bayh, a centrist Democrat from Indiana, announced Monday that he won't seek a third term in Congress, giving Republicans a chance to pick up a Senate seat.
Speaking to staff members and reporters in Indianapolis Monday afternoon, Bayh called the decision "very difficult, deeply personal one" but said he felt it is time for him to "contribute to society in another way," either by creating jobs with a business, leading a college or university, or running a charity.
The senator criticized the partisan atmosphere in Washington but took pains to make clear that his departure was not a reflection on his Senate colleagues or the president.
Analysis: Bayh Lost Faith in Congress
"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned," Bayh said. "To put it in the words I think most people can understand: 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."
The departure of Bayh, who was on Barack Obama's short list of vice presidential candidate prospects in 2008, continues a recent exodus from Congress among both Democrats and Republicans, including veteran Democrats Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.
The announcements have sprung up in rapid-fire fashion amid polls showing a rising anti-incumbent fervor and voter anger over Washington partisanship, high unemployment, federal deficits and lucrative banking industry bonuses.
Bayh said he believed he would have been re-elected this November, despite "the current challenging environment."
His retirement from a Senate seat from Republican-leaning Indiana adds to the struggle Democrats will face this fall to prevent an erosion of the 59 votes they have in the chamber.
The Washington Post and Indianapolis Star first reported on Bayh's decision Monday morning.
Bayh informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., of his plans in a telephone conversation Monday morning, according to one Democrat.
Democrats will have to scramble to find a replacement candidate for Bayh's seat. Friday is the filing deadline for the May primary, although the party would have until June 30 to select a replacement candidate.
Bayh briefly considered running for president in 2008 but instead endorsed then Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Bayh's name was among a handful of well-known Democrats prominently mentioned as possible vice presidential candidates in both Sen. John Kerry's 2004 run for the presidency and President Barack Obama's campaign last year. He was believed to have been on Obama's final list. Obama settled on then-Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware.
Less than two weeks ago, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, a Republican, announced that he would try to reclaim his old seat from Bayh. The move by Coats came as the GOP was still celebrating Republican Scott Brown's January upset to take Edward Kennedy's former seat in Massachusetts.
Bayh had a $13 million war chest and 20 point lead over Coats, so his retirement decision caught Democratic leaders completely off guard, reports CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Nancy Cordes.
North Dakota's Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan also is retiring, and his party doesn't have anyone to challenge the Republican, Gov. John Hoeven. Democrats also failed to recruit their top candidate in Delaware. Biden's son, Beau Biden, eschewed a run against Republican Mike Castle.
Bayh - following Dorgan - is the party's second senator from a right-leaning state - following to announce he's leaving at the end of this term. And at least four other Democratic incumbents in the Senate - Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Harry Reid of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado - face uphill battles, Cordes reports.
"Nine months ago it appeared that the Democrats were going to gain Senate seats," political analyst Stuart Rothenberg told Cordes. "Now we're talking about the Republicans gaining four, six, seven, maybe eight Senate seats."
Bayh is serving his second six-year term in the Senate, and is a centrist Democrat from a Republican-leaning state.
Bayh served two terms as Indiana's governor before winning the first of his two Senate terms in 1998. He had until recent weeks been regarded as a near certainty for re-election, having raised nearly $13 million for his campaign and facing little-known Republican opposition until national Republicans recruited Coats to enter the race.
Bayh's name was already well known when he first ran for political office in 1986, winning the race for Indiana secretary of state that year. His father, Birch, won the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate in 1962 and was an unabashed Great Society liberal.
The younger Bayh ran for governor in 1988 on a platform of fiscal responsibility, reducing what he considered to be a bloated government bureaucracy and opposing tax increases.
Bayh served two terms as Indiana's governor before winning the first of his two Senate terms in 1998.
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Sen. Evan Bayh, a centrist Democrat from Indiana, announced Monday that he won't seek a third term in Congress, giving Republicans a chance to pick up a Senate seat.
Speaking to staff members and reporters in Indianapolis Monday afternoon, Bayh called the decision "very difficult, deeply personal one" but said he felt it is time for him to "contribute to society in another way," either by creating jobs with a business, leading a college or university, or running a charity.
The senator criticized the partisan atmosphere in Washington but took pains to make clear that his departure was not a reflection on his Senate colleagues or the president.
Analysis: Bayh Lost Faith in Congress
"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned," Bayh said. "To put it in the words I think most people can understand: 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."
The departure of Bayh, who was on Barack Obama's short list of vice presidential candidate prospects in 2008, continues a recent exodus from Congress among both Democrats and Republicans, including veteran Democrats Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.
The announcements have sprung up in rapid-fire fashion amid polls showing a rising anti-incumbent fervor and voter anger over Washington partisanship, high unemployment, federal deficits and lucrative banking industry bonuses.
Bayh said he believed he would have been re-elected this November, despite "the current challenging environment."
His retirement from a Senate seat from Republican-leaning Indiana adds to the struggle Democrats will face this fall to prevent an erosion of the 59 votes they have in the chamber.
The Washington Post and Indianapolis Star first reported on Bayh's decision Monday morning.
Bayh informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., of his plans in a telephone conversation Monday morning, according to one Democrat.
Democrats will have to scramble to find a replacement candidate for Bayh's seat. Friday is the filing deadline for the May primary, although the party would have until June 30 to select a replacement candidate.
Bayh briefly considered running for president in 2008 but instead endorsed then Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Bayh's name was among a handful of well-known Democrats prominently mentioned as possible vice presidential candidates in both Sen. John Kerry's 2004 run for the presidency and President Barack Obama's campaign last year. He was believed to have been on Obama's final list. Obama settled on then-Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware.
Less than two weeks ago, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, a Republican, announced that he would try to reclaim his old seat from Bayh. The move by Coats came as the GOP was still celebrating Republican Scott Brown's January upset to take Edward Kennedy's former seat in Massachusetts.
Bayh had a $13 million war chest and 20 point lead over Coats, so his retirement decision caught Democratic leaders completely off guard, reports CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Nancy Cordes.
North Dakota's Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan also is retiring, and his party doesn't have anyone to challenge the Republican, Gov. John Hoeven. Democrats also failed to recruit their top candidate in Delaware. Biden's son, Beau Biden, eschewed a run against Republican Mike Castle.
Bayh - following Dorgan - is the party's second senator from a right-leaning state - following to announce he's leaving at the end of this term. And at least four other Democratic incumbents in the Senate - Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Harry Reid of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado - face uphill battles, Cordes reports.
"Nine months ago it appeared that the Democrats were going to gain Senate seats," political analyst Stuart Rothenberg told Cordes. "Now we're talking about the Republicans gaining four, six, seven, maybe eight Senate seats."
Bayh is serving his second six-year term in the Senate, and is a centrist Democrat from a Republican-leaning state.
Bayh served two terms as Indiana's governor before winning the first of his two Senate terms in 1998. He had until recent weeks been regarded as a near certainty for re-election, having raised nearly $13 million for his campaign and facing little-known Republican opposition until national Republicans recruited Coats to enter the race.
Bayh's name was already well known when he first ran for political office in 1986, winning the race for Indiana secretary of state that year. His father, Birch, won the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate in 1962 and was an unabashed Great Society liberal.
The younger Bayh ran for governor in 1988 on a platform of fiscal responsibility, reducing what he considered to be a bloated government bureaucracy and opposing tax increases.
Bayh served two terms as Indiana's governor before winning the first of his two Senate terms in 1998.
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Not so with Bayh, the Blue Dogs and the Democrats.
That's why I don't buy what Bayh is selling about Congress not working. He and the Blue Dogs are one of the main reasons that it didn't work. They never supported their Party after the Democrats caucused and made their decisions about what their positions would be. They always defied the will of the majority of their caucus and demanded that the Democratic Party reflect their individual political interests. Had they stood united with their Party and then Congress hadn't worked, then I would agree...but like a typical politician, he is trying to have it both ways...all the way to the end.
That's why I call them Yellow Dogs...because that is the color of the streak down their back sides. There are no Profiles in Courage among this bunch.
One of the people in Profiles of Courage is Senator Daniel Webster. He was instrumental in helping form the Missouri Compromise. He said something like, "I want to speak to you today, not as a Mass. man, not as a Northern man, but as an American...I speak to preserve the Union."
The problem is that the Democrats are adopting policies that are too extreme, too Socialistic/Marxist-like, and too Left-Wing. They do not stand for the average U.S. Citizen. You are wrong! The Blue Dogs are the ones with Courage to stand for the incorrect direction the Democrats have gone in. Some of the most yellow people, or people that have no coverage are Vice President Biden, and Senate Majority Leader Reid. Those two are not that Left-Wing and refuse to stand-up to the Obama Administration and tell them the truth about how far Left they have gone.
You have it wrong, and if you have never read the book Profiles of Courage by President Kennedy I reccomend it to you.
After the Republicans caucus on a particular piece of legislation, they stand united...even when they don't all agree. I was actually paying the GOP a compliment. The individual GOP senators don't try to impose their individual political interests to frustrate the will of the majority of their caucus after the majority of their caucus has decided something. That was the main reason why health care (for example) got bogged down. You might say that that was a good thing...fine...but the point is that Congress cannot function as a body if the individual senators go off the reservation like Bayh and the other Blue Dogs did on a routine basis. That was how they operated and that is one of the main reasons why Congress doesn't work today.
In fact, party disloyalty was rewarded by Majority Leader Harry Reid. Think about it...those Democrats who abided by the decisions of their caucus got nothing in return...but the Blue Dogs who held out not only got the health car reform bill substantially changed, they also got things for their home states that the GOP denounced as bribes. By rewarding these Blue Dog senators for holding up their party, Harry Reid was also angering those Democrats who got on board early and who got nothing. In effect, party loyalty was punished and party disloyalty was rewarded. This is only one example why Harry Reid is such a terrible and ineffective Senate Majority Leader. A Majority Leader can't do that and expect to hold a party caucus together...not for long.
Bayh was one of the main ones who contributed to this dynamic and he is one of those who is primarily responsible for the Senate becoming dysfunctional.
While the fact that the GOP did nothing but obstruct things is another reason why the Senate doesn't work, that is an entirely different subject.
Oh, and by the way, I did read Profiles in Courage...and it certainly would NOT have included any of this bunch. Their votes were routinely bought and sold by special interest groups for pocket change. No courage in that.
you're getting my money wheher I like it or not. Believe me, I'd much rather have saved and invested for myself.
==============
You are a Social Darwinian.
The premise of Social Security is that it has the risk removed. That is why it was so popular with Main Street after the Depression. Main Street consists of many ideologies, but it is really hard to sell the idea of Natural Selection to people who are not in a Class that can remove them from selection of nature from the equation.
Are you so sure that in a true Social Darwinian "Utopia" you would be deemed "fit to survive".
It took Jimmy Carter about three years for America to get really sick of him.
Obama did it in one.
That's some Change.
========================
by curse914 February 15, 2010 9:40 PM EST
I would love for you to have your theocracy.
Lets split the Bible Belt off of from the Union.
Can you imagine the powerhouse that Washington State, California and Oregon would be as a Nation state?
====================
by HawkSpringsIsBack February 15, 2010 10:05 PM EST
We don't need a theocracy.
We just need to follow the US Constitution as written.
Liberals just can't seem to do that.
====================
Your pal Ashcroft wanted all judges to hand down the exact same sentences for the same "crimes". That is a Federal government out of control. So don't give me your strict Constitutionalist BS. You do need your own little Theocracy. I want to see how well that works out for you.
It's the numerous lousy Senators that are NOT quitting that makes the future even more frightening than it already is. If you think the political climate, discipline and legislation in D.C. is poor now, then just wait because we haven't seen anything yet.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting out of the states and heading for higher ground now before the mass implosion occurs across the U.S. Best wishes to all.
What he is trying to do is something that will benefit the American people, are you that lost in thought?
I'm sure you would have invested it, if you had it, but Madoff would have it now anyway, so SS is all you have to look forward to anyway.
Ha!