Monday, February 15, 2010

Evan Bayh will not seek re-election

According to an alert from WIBC, Evan Bayh will not seek a third term. Press conference at 2:00 this afternoon.

Any Democrat interested in getting all those signatures from around the State by noon Tuesday? If so, step up now.

[edited at 1:08 pm to add: Do you think this is why Joe Hogsett took his name off the Indy Mayoral candidate list?]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My first thought when I heard that Bayh was not running again was that he is not running for the same reasons we cannot get people to run for school board, thankless job and no communication within the ranks. American people are no longer interested in being part of the process due to the repercussions, ie teachers will not speak out due to retaliation. Whistleblowers always lose their job. The democracy of America is in danger.

Anonymous said...

from Bayh's web site....only part of statement

After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned. For some time, I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is too much partisanship and not enough progress -- too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving. Even at a time of enormous challenge, the peoples’ business is not being done.

Examples of this are legion, but two recent ones will suffice.

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. The measure would have passed, but seven members who had endorsed the idea instead voted “no” for short-term political reasons.

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.

All of this and much more has led me to believe that there are better ways to serve my fellow citizens, my beloved state, and our nation than continued service in Congress.
bayh.senate.gov

Had Enough Indy? said...

Come on Senator, couldn't you have decided this well before now? If only so that all Hoosier Democrats get a say in who will run to replace you?

Paul K. Ogden said...

Anon 2:27,

I'm not buying it. All those reasons you cite - are things that Bayh knew about and could have resulted in his making an early decision instead of one just hours before the signature deadline.