Sometimes, the Apple Falls VERY Far From the Tree
James Fallows writes that the differences between Evan Bayh and his more liberal dad are as much about character as they are about political philosophy:
Evan Bayh’s very-last-minute decision not to run for the Senate is graceless by most normal measures. He didn’t talk with the President or the leader of his party in the Senate, both of whom obviously had a stake in his decision. He caught his state’s party organization so much by surprise that they may not be able to get a substitute on the ballot under the normal rules.
The puzzlement to me is how this fits with the previous 25 years of his political life — rather, what retrospective light it sheds on that time. Bayh has held elective office since he was 30. He became Indiana’s governor at 33 and U.S. senator at 43.
If he really cared about his Indiana constituents and their problems through that time, great! But if so, how can he walk away with this kind of careless disregard about whether, in the style of his departure, he is smashing up things that had said were important to him. If, on the other hand, these issues and people never really mattered that much, and public life had been a kind of popularity contest — well, that may be true of a lot of politicians, but they don’t like to reveal it quite this bluntly.
By contrast, Fallows continues, Evan Bayh’s father, Birch Bayh,
became a senator even younger. He was 34 when he took office, and 52 when defeated by Dan Quayle. In between — through three Senate terms, 18 years — he acted as if he was using his office for something, rather than just occupying it. That is part of the reason he eventually became vulnerable, as someone too “liberal” for his base. His punishment was to leave the Senate involuntarily, something you’re now doing by choice. What he tried to do, at some risk to himself, you can now do risk free. His reward is his reputation. Yours could be the same.
Via Ezra Klein, who found Bayh to be pretty unimpressive, apart from his “ability to formulate platitudes on the sly“:
Take Bayh’s dramatic exit. “I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should,” he says. “There is too much partisanship and not enough progress — too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving.” All true enough. You’d expect that he’d then diagnose the problem and explain how he’ll help fix it. But nope. Instead, he simply laments it and then says he’d like a job “helping grow a business, helping guide an institution of higher learning or helping run a worthy charitable endeavor.”
Respectable goals all, but small ball for a senator who has concluded that the American legislative system is so crippled that he can no longer bear to participate in it. Even in this, his most dramatic hour, Bayh was unable to be more than a perfectly typical politician, seeking praise for raising his voice while doing nothing to solve the problem.
26 Responses to “Sometimes, the Apple Falls VERY Far From the Tree”
Everything I've read or heard about Evan Bayh paints a picture of a rather unimpressive figure. It doesn't surprise me that his Dad was a person of greater conviction and higher standards.
We'll find out more, later, about why he's leaving his seat, and if it involves his wife's connections to the health care “industry.” (It may be due to failure with the health care “reform” effort recently, and a desire to grab one of the prized private spots that pays well, involving the insurers while they still have a substantial role in health care.) If he's leaving for more general reasons, others have described it well, though. And it certainly would do you well, Kathy, to realize that Bayh's departure, while unusual for reasons of its own, is not a political anomaly, given what we have seen the Dems do this past year, and the mainstream's reaction to it.
“The real story, of which Mr. Bayh's frustration is merely the latest sign, is the failure once again of liberal governance. …
The real source of this mess is the agenda that Democrats have tried to ram through the political system. Far from offering new ideas to reform the welfare state or compete better against rising global powers, Democrats have with rare exception tried to impose the same spending, tax and regulatory agenda that failed in the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s. Mr. Obama was a new face promising new hope, but his ideas are as old as the average Congressional Chairman. …
Americans have already sent one rebuke to Democrats in the form of Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts. Now Mr. Bayh, a senior Member of their own party, has sent another by skipping town and putting another Senate seat in play. Our guess is that it will take one more repudiation in November before Democrats relearn that you can't govern America successfully from the political left.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487…
“Before Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh suddenly announced he will not seek re-election in November he had issued several warnings to fellow Democrats. … [T]is party's liberals were 'tone deaf' to the fact that they'd “overreached” in their agenda. 'For those people,' he said, 'it may take a political catastrophe of biblical proportions before they get it.' …
'Every 14 or 16 years we seem to have to relearn this lesson,' Mr. Bayh said. 'I do have a sense of deja vu, and the movie doesn't have a happy ending.' …
So far, Democrats show no signs of thinking the U.S. is a country whose 'default mechanism' in politics is to the center-right. They retain faith that Barack Obama can work some magic and make things better. But should he continue to slide in polls and the horror movie Mr. Bayh refers to is replayed this fall, they may want to rethink matters. …
Should Democrats ever be open to a Tony Blair message, no doubt Mr. Bayh could be persuaded to return to the arena. He's won five times in a red state while compiling a voting record significantly more liberal than Arlen Specter's or Olympia Snowe's. Yet today he's viewed by many Democrats with disdain as a conservative collaborator.
Nothing better sums up the Democrats' self-inflicted problem.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487…
ho hum…
Well, it isn't that hard to understand; it takes no real effort. At least, it shouldn't…
Well, here come the attack dogs. It looks like Dems have learned a lot from Rove.
Are you dim or a troll?
Rove's attacks were insubstantial by nature, to appeal to the lower strata of Americans. These sort of attacks are built on substance, of analysis of past acts, not rumor-mongering.
Lazy thinking. Such incredibly lazy thinking.
“. Far from offering new ideas to reform the welfare state or compete better against rising global powers”
Lies. The reform was a decent, centrist offer and greening the economy and redoing infrastructure is important. This is just code language for “They don' want to cut them taxus moar.”
” Democrats have with rare exception tried to impose the same spending, tax and regulatory agenda that failed in the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s.”
Failed in the 90s? Lol.
“Our guess is that it will take one more repudiation in November before Democrats relearn that you can't govern America successfully from the political left.”
Democrats will realize this the same day that republicans realize that it was their fault that America is now in dire straits. I.e., never.
Or maybe you should pull your head out of your…you know what…and thank him for his service? Bayh has a plan. He isn't retiring from politics, just the Senate. When he comes back you'll be singing his praises again…or at least not attacking him. I have yet to read anything from you on TMV attacking Bayh,…at least not until he announced his retirement.
“Or maybe you should pull your head out of your…you know what…and thank him for his service?”
I'd rather actually accomplish that anatomical miracle than call Bayh's time in office servicing.
“When he comes back you'll be singing his praises again…”
lol wut.
“I have yet to read anything from you on TMV attacking Bayh,…at least not until he announced his retirement.”
Retiring is the best thing he's ever done for anybody. I suspect very much that if a republican had been in his seat, no one in America or the rest of the world would be any worse or better off.
lol, only at T”M”V can you see 'moderates' dissing and hatin' on Evan Bayh and being proud of it.
Where's my camera? This is a Kodak moment indeed
KOS ain't got nuthin on us.
Just admit it…you are mad because you think Dems will lose the seat.
What? Who does Fallows think Bayh works for? His job is to represent the people of his state, not get permission from his party or the President. Fallows is another example of someone who thinks party loyalty should trump all else.
There is another body of thought that says that he has been planning this for some time, and this is all kabuki theater to allow the Democrats to hand-pick a candidate to run for his seat:
Challenger adds to post-Bayh chaos
Democrats Undermining Democracy In Indiana
This is reminiscent of the GOP sour grapes when Arlen Specter switched parties. I thought then, and still do, that the GOP was better off with Specter than without him. Driving away moderates led to the GOP having only 40 Senators, and it's a little surprising to see the Democrats following suit.
I don't know why anyone would get excited about Bayh regardless of what he does. He seems to set a pretty mediocre standard… which I suppose is a primary qualification for what passes for leadership anymore.
And it certainly would do you well, Kathy, to realize that Bayh's departure, while unusual for reasons of its own, is not a political anomaly, given what we have seen the Dems do this past year, and the mainstream's reaction to it.
And the Republicans who have announced their retirements from Congress? What would you say about those?
And how well is he representing the people of his state when he quits his job the day before the deadline for Democratic candidates to submit their petitions? How well is he representing the people of his state when he quits his job in the midst of an economic crisis and total gridlock in Congress, which he complains about right before he announces that he won't be staying to do anything to solve the problems he's griping about?
Evan Bayh is a Democrat, albeit a very conservative one. If he were trying to do harm to fellow Democrats and to the party whose values he supposedly believes in, he could not be doing a better job. But how does that help the people of Indiana whom it's his job to represent?
I really don't think you can make an effective case, based not only on the fact that Bayh is retiring, but also the manner in which he has chosen to handle the fact of that retirement, that he is doing his job to represent the people of his state. He's representing the people of his state by telling them how terrible Congress is, and then quitting? What is that about?
Hey Kathy–
I wonder if you've seen this: Stimulating Hypocrisy: 111 Lawmakers Block Recovery While Taking Credit For Its Success. Plenty of links to sources there.
You are confusing the interests of the Democratic party with the interests of the people of Indiana.
He's retiring, not quitting and leaving an open seat. Are two terms in the Senate not sufficient? What obligation does he have to run for reelection again?
You're again confusing the interests of the Democratic party with the interests of the people of Indiana. Additionally, I think he's actually doing the party a favor here, but time will tell.
The case is plain to make as long as one is willing to recognize that the interests of Indianans are not in lock-step with the Democratic party, which is pretty apparent since Indiana is a purple state. As for telling them how bad Congress is, well, have you looked at polls on Congressional popularity for the last decade or so? Congress is one of the least-respected government institutions. So, at worst, all he's done is tell them what they already know.
I heard about it on Rachel Maddow, but haven't actually seen it yet. Thanks for the link!
You are confusing the interests of the Democratic party with the interests of the people of Indiana.
No, I'm not. I am operating on the assumption that it's in the interests of the people of Indiana to be represented in Congress. Now, if you're saying that Evan Bayh is not adequately doing that job, that's one thing (and I'd agree with you). But I doubt Bayh himself would share that view, so it's clearly not why he's leaving.
Do you know something that's not in the news? Because I thought that he only announced that he wasn't running. That is, Indiana will have two senators without interruption. I believe that's how it's supposed to work, and the fact that there are a fixed number of years in each term indicates that we weren't supposed to be electing them into the same office for life in the first place.
Which, if you've read the entire thread from beginning to end (which obviously you haven't) brings us full circle!
If you're talking about the petition requirement, you need to read some previous threads (there's been way too many). As long as no one makes the requirement, the deadline simply moves back a few months.
“The reform was a decent, centrist offer and greening the economy and redoing infrastructure is important.”
And you dare misuse “lies”? [shrug] You really could actually see and believe this happened, instead, I guess.
Too bad last year's antics (the subject of what you were responding to) didn't consist of that. It's the kind of real Hope [tm] that we had for the Dems, when we gave them control of Washington and control of the “stimulus” (something we wisely would have rejected ordinarily). They did not do what we expected.
In fact, we had hoped that the Dems had learned from their last episode, in 1994 (which you may have failed to recognize), as they did in the 1990s — all that Clinton and the Dems did (welfare reform, the far left might say being the “worst” example) could have been written by Republicans. They didn't learn. They actually chose to run wild (as well as too far left). They're hurting now, and even if you don't realize it, maybe some of them do now.
“And the Republicans who have announced their retirements from Congress? What would you say about those?”
Well, if you want to look at them, and at this subject, too,
They create more openings for Dems to exploit. As I've said before, the Dems are (or, if they really screw up, were) in an unimaginably strong position with nowhere to go but up, still, provided they don't screw up. This past year, they have screwed up. Not only are there other stories this year that will evolve depending on if or how the Dems recover from their bad current situation (that they have made for themselves) Also, prior to the Dems running amok, when earlier GOP retirements were announced, it was like we were wondering how much the GOP leadership had to be feeling like Albert Speer was feeling around 1944 and then into 1945, when all he was trying to build, then support, then retain, was being detroyed all around him. Meanwhile, we were wondering if the Dems were getting swelled heads at being in amazingly strong power and then being faced with GOP retirements(!). (Maybe getting swelled heads is why they overreached the way
they did.) These earlier retirements, too, are now depending on what the Dems choose to do between now and November.
2. Meanwhile, despite all the Dems have done wrong this past year, there's no guarantee that the GOP will retake those positions being vacated by the GOP politicians. I'm more cautious than most, but I continue to say this is not 1994. The last two elections, the GOP was punished for being bad (including being too much like the Dems). Where is the attractive alternative? Where is any defined alternative at all, to the Dems, that the GOP needs to offer? They can get either these emptying GOP seats, or the Dem seats, but some of it will just be a punishing of the Dems as of the GOP in 2006, is my cautious view.