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If he can wink, he might be a match for Palin
For example,Charles Lane, on Evan Bayh’s departure from the Senate:
Quitting the Senate was a no-lose move for the presidentially ambitious Bayh, since he can now crawl away from the political wreckage for a couple of years, plausibly alleging that he tried to steer the party in a different direction — and then be perfectly positioned to mount a centrist primary challenge to Obama in 2012, depending on circumstances.
Yeah, right Charles, a Democratic primary challenge to Obama from “the right” — “depending on the circumstances” — probably the same kind of “circumstances” that could deliver you a Pulitzer Prize.
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As an Indiana resident I am positively giddy that we’re getting rid of this jackass. He doesn’t have a democrat bone in his body. If I am going to be represented by a Republican, I want him to have the cajones to call himself one.
Bayh’s wife sits on the board of directors at Wellpoint. Look for Evan to become a well paid lobbyist for them. I guarantee his new job will be self-serving and make him an extremely wealthy man. Or maybe he’ll make his comeback as a Republican.
“and then be perfectly positioned to mount a centrist primary challenge to Obama in 2012,”
Captain Zero has claimed the center. That must make Bayh a wingnut.
cojones (cajones are boxes; cojones are testicles) —although I prefer the irony of the Mexican nickname for testicles: huevos (eggs).
Yup. It’s time to git while the gittin’s good. Besides, who’d vote for him?
fuck Bayh
I’m pretty sure there’s no one to the right of Obama, except Dick Cheney.
The ring of “I Quit” just doesn’t sound presidential to me. Guess I’m tone deaf to that centrist Merka the WaPo transcribers hear.
OT – dyslexia can be fun category.
Teh title: Please excuse me, but I’m just paid to white crap.
a drive by…..
Bayhby has done all he can for his employers, InsurPharma, now he is free to take their money openly unencumbered by the “strict” rules of the Senate and will do so to the tune of $millions a year. Yes he will be a well paid candidate running against Oh Bummah! and yes he could probably beat him….hell only Bush couldn’t… unless of course the present occupant of the WH finally shows some huevos and lives up to his campaign promises. And, frankly, Oh Bummah! cannot yet claim to be an honest Democrat so what the hell.
Good morning, pups. It’s Brooks and Herbert this morning. Bobo is addressing “The Lean Years,” and says the economic response to the crisis is everywhere debated, but a desperately needed social response remains unformed. It’s classic Bobo, except for the creation of a new class of victims. ‘Nuf said. Mr. Herbert asks “What’s Wrong With Us?” He says ignoring the nation’s infrastructure problems imperils public safety, diminishes our competitiveness and results in missed opportunities to create jobs. No shit.
Here they are.
The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got a selection of bagels with your favorite jam. The Nice Polite Republicans are ‘splainin me all about that asshole Bayh. They’re wringing their hands over how he had to bail because nobody in the Senate will cooperate… If I had a gun I might have shot the radio. Have a great day.
Uh, yes I’m not one who claims that Obama is evil or a failure (yet) and he has his points, but given where he’s staked his claim since taking office, I do think it would be pretty hard to find a substantial stretch of real estate between President Obama and “the right” and still remain in the Democratic party.
A challenge from the left is far more plausible, even if unlikely to succeed.
Now that he has decided to bow to the wishes of the nuclear power industry, Westinghouse and GE, the real estate has become a sliver of land….not even that maybe. Yes, as someone that became a Democrat because of Kennedy and has been driven out of the party by Oh Bummah!, I do think a real Democrat from the “left” could easily beat him. Frankly I do not think he will run again as he is more likely to take the pay day from his employers and moon the rest of us.
thanks, Marion, and happy Fat Tuesday.
Sorry, but from the folks I talk to out here, the right wing has made big inroads on independents with the ‘too much spending, too much big government, too much we don’t understnad and don’t expect us to inform ourselves when we can just listen to the wingnuts spew’ talking points. depressing as anything.
I’m afraid you’re right. It’s depressing as hell. I’m just glad that I’m old enough that I may check out before the country goes completely down the drain.
Little boxes
made of ticky tacky
and they all look just the same
Ruth, the other night you mentioned Kerry’s “post-Vietnam” speech. The speech you were talking about was not “post” it was April, 1971.
I am not so sure that the message from the “right” is the reason for the Independent voters turning away from the Rahm administration. However the lack of a clear message and decisive action from the DLC has disappointed many a voter that was taken in by the Oh Bummah! campaign of lies.
I live in NH where there are more Independents (unaligned we call ‘em) than goopers or dems and I can assure you that the dems are fighting a losing battle by following the dictates of Big Business, an anathema even worse than Big Government to independent thinkers here.
Got link? I think you have me mixed up with some one else, unless it was in a news article I used for something else.
just what we need, I “democrat” even more to the right then obama
I think it would be hard to find an electable republican more to the right then obama
‘electable republican’
with the wingnuts in full cry, I believe that qualifies as an oxymoron.
(or is it oxymoran)
He takes money from corporate America to protect the interests of Corporate America. Meanwhile the rape of Lady Liberty and the American people is exacted while brain-shredding truth averting corporate garbage is spewed by men and woman, “…in little black boxes!”
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00003762&cycle=2010
Like they say….. follow the money, the greed the corruption the sodomization of America by corporations, enabled by politicians and law, undermining Life and Liberty!
What the hell is this?
May have been the good Rev Bev, I’ll look. Yup, my bad.
RevBev February 14th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
15
In response to laborite57 @ 14 (show text)
He has his moments…something Ive been reading including his post-VietNam “how many die for a mistake” speech. It certainly is still a stand-up speech….
Bayhby’s top contributor.
my pleasure to be mixed up with RevBev. It was indeed a momentous speech, whenever he made it, as you said.
ActBlue ≠ BlueAmerica
Wow, I am so glad we have an eternal Editor. I believe my intent was, indeed, that the speech was post-Vietnam for him. That’s part of why it caused such rage.
And, thanks, Ruth. After all, we’re Paris sisters…nice, I think
Good morning.
Seems like Bayh sold his charisma to Sarah Palin. Probably helped balance the family budget, as his wife’s Wellpoint connection probably couldn’t keep them in bread & milk.
No wonder we got mixed up! The mockery of Kerry’s purple heart was probably as cynical a campaign bit of nastiness ever seen, the rightwing showed it has no shame when using the troops, ever.
Swim is up…
I just happen to have been there so it sticks in my mind!
Act Blue, a tax exempt corporate entity! Like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Kaiser’s Mid Atlantic health plan! A corporate entity? That is what Act Blue is, granted exempt tax status by the IRS!! WTF nomolas ??? Do you Get it???
Anybody can fund raise on ActBlue. It’s the political equivalent of PayPal.
Perhaps Team Obama has risen to the bait of the changing landscape with an even more preemptive scheme.
Instead of running for office on a fairly regular basis they are ramping up for the next election by taking it to the next level.
Once the “hyperpartisans”, one can assume anyone not on the team, are out of the way everything will be fine and they can return to non-poll driven governance.
Yes, that Wellpoint connection. The “for profit” version of Blue Cross Blue Shield depending on the health politics of the state, like segregationist!!!
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/report_bayhs_wife_made_millions_as_board_member_fo.php
“Whatever happened to the mere appearance of impropriety?”
SO? Maybe that’s why you misread my comment…or, maybe you don’t like the Kerry speech either. Or, think Ruth and I look alike.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/report_bayhs_wife_made_millions_as_board_member_fo.php
“Susan Bayh’s affiliation with Indianapolis-based WellPoint isn’t news. But a new report on TheStreet digs into the details. It also finds that last year, Susan Bayh sat on four other corporate boards, in addition to WellPoint’s. She received over $656,0000 in cash and stock for all her board work, around half of which came from WellPoint.”
Legalized influence peddling?
Evan Bayh is just the first domino to fall in the house of ConserverDem.
Obama and Rahm do not understand the concept of a permanent underclass in the USA.
Once people realize that they and their kids have a dim to horrid future in the USA, they will strike out against the powers that created this new USA.
Obama and Rahm can hate FDR all they want, but FDR understood the need to give the american people hope, real jobs, some humanity, etc. FDR knew that corporate america is worthless in a nation with a furious populace.
Harry Reid actions last week also woke up the white house, throwing the Max Baucus Job Bill in the garbage showed the white house that Dems in congress are positioning themselves to run against the Obama White House.
Obama and Rahm goal of maintaining the status quo for the elite is starting to fall a part, some Dems are waking up and now know that Obama really does not care about a Democratic Control Congress.
Obama long term goal and plan was to run against a Republican Control congress in 2012, this means he has to get rid of some Dems. A lot of Dems now realize this plan and are furious at the white house.
Evan Bayh read the tea leaves and saw the cleansing of ConserverDems out of the Dem Party coming.
I liked it very much, that’s why I camped out in the mud for a week to protest the war.
The real question is what’s up with the timing? Did he really mean to let the info come out yesterday — one day before the filing deadline? And why is everyone talking about a party appointment when there is a candidate (GASP! — a woman) who has announced she was running against Bayh and was still trying to get signatures so she could file by noon today?
There’s no doubt Bayh wants to run for president. But my question is this — what does his father, Birch Bayh have to say about all this? The politics of the father and son aren’t exactly on the same wavelength. Birch Bayh was a lot more progressive in his day –would he vote for his son or someone closer to his beliefs?
Joanne Bamberger aka PunditMom
I totally agree with you. Harry Reid and a lot of other Dems might lose their seat this November because they carried the water for President Obama for the last year. This guy (Obama) has totally screwed the Democrats and he doesn’t seem to be doing anything to fix it. He had a chance when he first got elected to neuter talk radio and faux news yet instead he was going around showing all his teeth. Well Mr. President you had better get your act together or else you will be on your own and the American people will be the one’s to suffer because we believed in you.
David Corn was on Countdown last night and told Kieth Olbermann that one of the things that induced Evan Bayh to drop out was his hatred of liberal bloggers like us. I’m honored for the mention and thrilled to have been a very small part of it.
They DO pay attention to us.
Actually, they’re in trouble because they’ve spilled the water.
Dont worry there are few democrats to the right of Obama. Bayh shld hve switched parties and ran against Obama in 2012 bcz he prbly cld beat him. Bayh wont win the primaries as a democrat but as a republican he wld give Obambi a run for his money.
This diatribe sounds almost as bad as David Gergen last evening on CNN. In talking to Anderson Cooper, Gergen all but said that the Dems had made a huge mistake letting Bayh retire. That the dems should have listened to Bayh and pursued his dramatic, right-wing agenda. That Bayh was the ‘future’ of the democratic party and was one of it’s brightest leaders….
Has Gergen been living on Mars?? At least in South Florida…geeesh.. I have never heard such a NeoNut screed coming from someone that pitches himself as ‘moderate’… If he is still pitching that line – IT’S A LIE !
Gergen turned out, from his wolf in sheep’s clothing perch, to be one of the worst NeoNuts I’ve heard in a while!! I was worried I was listening to a beck clone but NO. Having looked twice, Gergen’s true colors came flowing thru – a true NUTBAG !!!…
The defections and losses of the Senate Democrats highlights both the weakness of the party and of Obama. Both simply have no adherents because their favoratism for the wealthy elite turns off the vast majority of the country while it does nothing to allay the determined opposition from the right. They are rightfully despised from all sides and stuck in a limbo of their own making.
That is what underlies the inertia in the Senate. They can neither move to the right or the left because although their inclination is to continue to favor the well off who fund them they will in the process lose the support of the large majority of the country.
The question for the left is how to take advantage of the shedding of the dead weight from the Democrats. How to best fill that void. Candidates from the left advocating for meaningful socially driven government initiatives for jobs, health care, education and overhaul of the banking system could win running away but who out there can fill that void.
We have been handed an opening the question is how can we exploit that. What group of candidates are there that we can support financially and otherwise.
Unfortunately for the Democrats they are a party of individuals, opinions and ideas. The Repubs don’t have to deal with these type issues they just care about power and money. I listened to a Republican who once stated that the reasons Democrats can’t get anything accomplished is because all the different groups want something different (examples) gays, immigration, minorities, civil liberties, labor unions, education, wherein all the Republicans have to do is say no to all these things and call for tax cuts. Unbelievable but unfortunately true.