Linkmeister

Senator Bayh abruptly retires

Evan Bayh, two-term moderate (Blue Dog) Democratic Senator from Indiana, announced today that he won't seek re-election this fall. Why?

In his remarks, Mr. Bayh expressed frustration at what he described as an increasingly polarized atmosphere in Washington that made it impossible to get anything done.

Well, that sounds very high-minded. On the other hand, it sounds almost, um, Palin-esque:

She said leaving office is in the best interest of the state . . .

Bayh leaves doing maximum collateral damage to the Democrats, too:

Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker said that if no one met Friday’s deadline to file to be on the May 4 primary ballot — and that’s a steep hurdle, requiring someone to collect 4,500 signatures of registered voters, 500 from each congressional district, and get them certified in each county by noon tomorrow — the state central committee would choose a nominee.

So the Republicans will get to say that the Democratic nominee was chosen in back rooms rather than by the will of the voters, and they'll be absolutely right.

Thanks, Senator Bayh. You're a true public servant and a good party man. Not.

Posted by Linkmeister at February 15, 2010 11:05 AM | TrackBack