Senator Obama is headed for Elkhart, Indiana, tomorrow, where he is scheduled to campaign with Senator Bayh, who is being described in some quarters as the "safe" choice for Mr. Obama as a running mate. As a former chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, Mr. Bayh might be seen as a centrist who can help make good on Mr. Obama's talk of working to bridge party differences and unite America.But the NY Sun says Bayh "has lurched to the left in an effort to make himself palatable to the party's base of hard-left activists and special interest groups":
He voted against the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts....Hmmm. I realize I have no opinion on Evan Bayh. I can't even picture him. I've never progressed beyond the stage of making an effort not to call him Birch Bayh. Okay, I just looked at a picture of him. I still can't picture him.
Mr. Bayh has also lost his bearings in pursued of the left wing of organized labor...
He has pandered on the Constitution, as one of just 14 Democrats in 2006 who backed an amendment giving Congress the power to ban flag-burning. On January 22, 2004, he voted against school vouchers in Washington, D.C., a bill that more reasonable Democrats such as Senators Feinstein and Schumer supported. He filibustered to block a vote on confirming John Bolton as the Bush administration's ambassador at the United Nations....
ADDED: The reason I can't picture Bayh is that after I look at a photograph of him, my attempt to picture him calls up a picture of John Edwards. What is it with these candidates wanting their partner to be a bland pretty boy? I remember when George H.W. Bush picked the boyishly good-looking Dan Quayle, but Kerry and now, apparently, Obama are following the pattern. It's ironic that after all that talk about how he doesn't look like all those other Presidents "on the dollar bills," Obama is choosing a man for his looks. Is this supposed to appeal to women? What's notable is that he passed up Hillary Clinton, the person with the strongest claim to the position, and that's going to irritated a lot of her supporters.
AND: I vlog my objection to the Bayh choice.
IN THE COMMENTS: Tara van Brederode says:
I kind of like the sound of "Obama/Bayh" ... though I can't help turning it into the Hindi "Obama Bhai," which means "Obama [my] brother." Then again, there's "Obama Bai," for the "kthxsbai" LOL-cat crowd. And I suppose McCain can make hay with "Obama bye." Or the capitalists: "Obama buy."kthxsbai.
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All I know is Ruth Anne finds him to be some sort of a dreamboat. Grrr.
Who were Thomas Dewey's VP picks?
Hey, in '48 he ran with Earl Warren. I had forgotten that.
I don't foresee a career like Warren's for Evan Bayh.
Bayh is an unknown except among politicos who, like Ann, mostly know him for his revered father. What I want to know is when do the legacy memberships on the presidential tickets finally stop? We've had Gore thrice, both Bushes a grand total of five times, and now Bayh. The last presidential election involving mere mortals and no nepotism was in 1976 when it was Ford/Dole vs. Carter/Mondale.
And I thought Lindsey Graham would be an uninspiring choice for McCain.
They're just running this up the flagpole to see who yawns.
Is this more of the change Senator Obama has promised? Cause I think Evan Bayh and his family have been in DC for maybe 50 years or so.
"Obama-Bayh" is pleasing to say. Sort of rolls off the tongue.
I think it's the alliteration.
Also, sounds a little bit like a brand new CW show.
Beautiful, intelligent, ambitious teenagers coming of age on the shores of Obama Bay.
Hillary would not accept the VP slot if offered. If Obama wins, and she was the VP, she couldn't challenge him in the next primary. She will challenge him or anybody else in 2012.
AllenS said...
Hillary would not accept the VP slot if offered.
Hillary would accept the spot in a New York minute. I'd bet that she is kicking ole uncle Festus all over the place trying to get him to find a way to put her on the ticket. The worst thing for Hillary is to be a has been. Which she will be in January.
I kind of like the sound of "Obama/Bayh" too, though I can't help turning it into the Hindi "Obama Bhai," which means "Obama [my] brother." Then again, there's "Obama Bai," for the "kthxsbai" LOL-cat crowd. And I suppose McCain can make hay with "Obama bye." Or the capitalists: "Obama buy."
Shall I go on?
Tara from God, Politics, and Rock 'n' Roll
Okay, I just looked at a picture of him. I still can't picture him.
Well Evan is about as unassuming as you can get. Although the funny thing is that the really liberal Hoosiers can’t stomach the guy which I get a kick out of. I give credit where its due and as Governor he was a fiscal conservative. He only started taking his left turn when he was elected to the Senate and honestly, that isn’t fooling the lefties.
He’d probably be a good pick for the KWISATZ HADERACH since Evan is a young, decent looking guy from a red state with an attractive wife and will do EXACTLY what he’s told to do which is, don’t upstage The One.
Hillary would accept the spot in a New York minute.
Actually MCG, I don't think she would. Honestly, I think she chafed for 8 years being First Lady and despite being the smartest woman in the world, she was stuck dodging sniper fire in Bosnia rather than setting national policy and providng free health care for all US Americans.
To think that she would again settle for second place to the upstart junior senator from Illinos is simply too much to accept.
Then again, if she did take the VP slot I'm sure Garage Mahal would probably be walking around with a horsehair shirt and a Scarlet H on his chest.
Hillary isn't a has been, she's a senator, and will remain senator of NY forever. Also, she has been co-president. She's not looking to be playing second fiddle again.
Old Eskimo saying: If you're not the lead dog, the view is pretty much the same.
To follow up on my earlier comment: While Obama/Bayh rolls nicely off the tongue, Obama/Kaine doesn't work at all. Say it aloud. It can't be good campaign strategy to bury your opponent's name in your own bumper stickers and signs.
Since Obama has chosen to run basically as Republican, I think he's going with Romney. And no doubt Mittens would oblige. I kind of miss Mitt, Matt, Tagg, and Josh and the gang anyway.
My first choice is Barney Frank, but somehow I don't think that combo is happening.
I think Tagg and the other Romney kids are still "serving their country" by driving an RV somewhere in northwest Iowa, stumping for Dad.
Oh, Obama-Kaine sounds awful. Sort of something they would use in Singapore.
Though, it would fit the earlier campaign quote: "Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."
Obama-Kaine, hard discipline we can believe in.
I read somewhere he will name his VP this week because everything else he is saying goes flat. (Sorry, another tire inflation pun.)
BTW how does one "lurch to the left"? Doesn't that really mean a politician who starts lying about his opinions in order to get elected?
While perhaps 'alienating' some of Hillary's core supporters, picking her as Veep would alientate just as many other potential Obama voters, I think. Plus there would be the spectre of Bill Clinton hovering about the campaign.
If Bayh is the pick (and I'm pretty sure he'd have been Hillary's pick as well), Obama has the chance to put Indiana in play. He'll do well in a debate with whomever McCain winds up choosing.
Obama with Barney Frank? Oh, please let that happen. No way that ticket wins more than 10 states.
What is it with these candidates wanting their partner to be a bland pretty boy?
Please!... Bayh was the keynoter at the 1996 Dem convention, has been a governor, and chaired the DLC, in addition to having been in the Senate since 1998 - longer than Obama or Hillary. I think "pretty boy" is more applicable to the nominee than the prospective veep (and unfair to both).
Bayh is probably the best choice for a move to the center with some national security experience (Armed Services Committee). Who are the alternatives? Kaine? Webb? Sebelius? Hillary? Bayh has got more actual governing experience than any of those.
I'd prefer he had Michelle Obama as his VP.
He'll [Bayh] do well in a debate with whomever McCain winds up choosing.
Heh...now that's funny.
There is only one correct choice. A well know conservative who has done extremely well when working in tandem with an African American. For your considerations as Vice President:
Mel Gibson.
(I only thought about it because they like to hang out together on the boardwalk).
Oh, Obama-Kaine sounds awful. Sort of something they would use in Singapore.
ROFL!
Wasn't Obama-Kaine that grasshopper dude in Kung Fu?
Wasn't Obama-Kaine that grasshopper dude in Kung Fu?
Nah, not the one in the original starring David Carridine. You're thinking of the short lived spin off starring Steve James.
Obama made a serious blunder by picking Bayh. They won't be able to appear in commercials together! Bayh's white, and putting white people in a Barack Obama commercial is, we've been told, extremely racist.
Maybe they could film separate but equal commercials. That might keep the base happy.
John Stodder: I'm surprised to read you alleging Bayh is nothing more than the son of a revered former Senator. Did you forget his revered father was trounced in his last election, six years before the son first sought office?
This is a dumb statement:
"has lurched to the left in an effort to make himself palatable to the party's base of hard-left activists and special interest groups"
Beyond the fact that voting against Roberts is no "lurch," why does anyone believe the NY Sun has the first clue what Bayh's motivations are?
Just. plain. stupid.
I undercounted. We've had a "legacy" on the ballot one more time than I calculated.
1980 - Bush
1984 - Bush
1988 - Bush
1992 - Bush, Gore
1996 - Gore
2000 - Gore, Bush
2004 - Bush (plus John "Do You Know Who I Am? Kerry was sort of an honorary legacy. but I won't count him.)
So, from 1980 - 2004, there were 28 possible slots to stand for national election. The son of a senator or president occupied nine of them, or 32 percent. If Bayh and Mitt Romney are the VP nominees this time around, the percentage will have jumped to 37 percent over the course of eight elections.
Not added to the total are primary campaigns by the likes of Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Dole, each of whom was rated as a favorite or co-favorite at the outset.
Maybe it seems like just a coincidence, but maybe it's not. Maybe we're approaching a tipping point toward political oligarchy in which certain wealthy, connected families retain a skilled and expensive team of political advisers, supporters and technicians that are passed off to the next family member in the succession. It's a pretty serious advantage for otherwise undistinguished would-be leaders.
The nominations of Bayh and/or Romney won't by themselves turn us into a banana republic, but it's a step down that road.
Bayh watch?
Bayh? Buh-bye!
Honestly, I think she chafed for 8 years being First Lady and despite being the smartest woman in the world, she was stuck dodging sniper fire in Bosnia rather than setting national policy and providng free health care for all US Americans.
When I read the "smartest woman in the world, stuck dodging sniper fire" part of the above, all I could think of was Marvin the Paranoid Android from the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy: "Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to take you to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction, 'cause I don't."
(Quote here, scroll about 3/4 down.)
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