Showing posts with label Evan Bayh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evan Bayh. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Is Evan Bayh's real goal higher office?

Democrat Senator Evan Bayh's shocked the political establishment when he announced he wouldn't seek re-election. Many saw it as a commentary on the dismal prospects for incumbents in November. Bayh said he was getting out because the Senate was not a fun place to be. The place was broken and too partisan.

I heard one of his TV interviews and he sounded very much like a man who was looking at higher office. He hammered the political extremists on both ends of the political spectrum and sounded like an outsider even though he's been in DC for quite a while. With $13 million in the bank, it sounded like he was trying to position himself as a middle of the road candidate who should be considered for higher office.

Gary Bauer noted that his record is anything but moderate.
This morning, many pundits are singing Bayh’s praises and bemoaning his retirement. I feel compelled to devote some space in this report to debunking the myth of “Evan Bayh, the bi-partisan moderate.” While Bayh occasionally threw a bone to his conservative Hoosier constituency, his rating with Citizens Against Government Waste is 25%, and 19% with the National Taxpayers Union. Bayh’s lifetime pro-family score with Campaign for Working Families is just 18%. That’s pathetic for someone who purportedly represents the “moderate center” of American politics. Here’s a sample of Bayh’s voting record:
  • FOR socialized medicine.
  • FOR hate crimes legislation.
  • FOR Obama’s pork-barrel spending stimulus bill.
  • FOR taxpayer-funding of groups that promote abortion.
  • FOR card-check legislation.
  • AGAINST English as our national language.
  • AGAINST efforts to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
  • AGAINST the confirmation of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
  • AGAINST domestic oil exploration.