Last week the Senate and the Democratic Party were shaken up by the announcement that Evan Bayh, Democratic Senator from Indiana, would retire at the end of his term instead of running for re-election this fall despite $13 million in his campaign warchest and a 20 point lead in the polls. He cited the failure of the Senate to function as his main reason for leaving – ignoring the fact that his brand of centrism helped create the deadlock. Bayh, a “centrist” in name but seemingly a simple political animal in action, had an uncanny ability to annoy the living hell out of the more liberal wing of the Democratic party, his departure was met with something other than anger or dismay from both sides of the political spectrum. I personally couldn’t have been happier to show him the door, despite the chances of his seat turning red in November increasing with his departure.
Because the Washington media loves those like Bayh who position themselves as bipartisan or centrist (especially when it comes to the issue of the deficit), progressives derided his so-called “centrism” as mere political positioning that helped Republicans obstruct Democratic initiatives, and met his exit with a flurry of blog posts with titles like “Bye, Bayh” or “Bayh Low” (“Bayh” is pronounced “Bye” or “Buy” – thus explaining my overly complicated attempt at a joke in my blog title). Ezra Klein called him an “ordinary politician” and a “minor deficit hypocrite”. Jonathan Chait goes farther, and notes that “If Bayh’s loss is a “brain drain,” then the Senate is in even worse shape than I thought.”
