I'm surprised no one has posted about this yet. Senator Bayh is a man I truly respected almost as much as Sherrod Brown. I disagreed with both on Health Care but Bayh is a stand up man with principles.
I met him a few times back in '94/95 when living in Indy and he was a very strong, charismatic presence, who seemed genuinely caring and well, nice. His leaving and the facts for which he is should say something to both sides. That they are being run by extremists.
I am deeply saddened to have this loss in the senate as I believe his voice was one that should have been listened to. He was on the path to what most say would have been a landslide victory, so he wasn't leaving because he was destined to lose.
Anyway, how do you feel? Should he have stayed and fought the good fight to get more moderates on both sides to take charge and speak out against their respective parties? Should he have just gone along with agendas that I believe he didn't agree with? Should he have just crossed the aisle?
I truly hope he changes his mind and eventually comes back into politics, hopefully, running for President in 12.
Select quotes from the article linked below:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100215/..._politics_bayh
Quote:
Bayh of Indiana said that "narrow ideology" was ruling lawmakers' decisions, thwarting useful work at a time when a bipartisan approach was urgently needed, and sapping his desire to remain in Congress.
Bayh's surprise decision underscored the Obama's and Democrats' problems in the often gridlocked Congress as well as the party's difficulty heading into November's election.
But he was clearly frustrated at the strong partisan streak in the Senate where most major votes are along party lines.
"Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a bipartisan commission to deal with one of the greatest threats facing our nation: our exploding deficits and debt," Bayh said. "Just last week, a major piece of legislation to create jobs -- the public's top priority -- fell apart amid complaints from both the left and right."
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