Evan Bayh Grilled on "The View"

Politics Daily reported earlier on the grilling Evan Bayh took during his appearance on "The View." Joy Behar starts the ball rolling when she compares Bayh's retirement to Sarah Palin.

"I hate to say it, but you sound like Sarah Palin right now," Joy Behar said, accusing the senator of quitting his job before his work was done.

"Do you want to look at my hand?" he joked, referring to the talking points Palin wrote on the palm of her hand when she appeared before the National Tea Party Convention earlier this month.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck, the conservative in the group, pounced on Bayh's remark about Palin. "You sit here and say, 'I'm sick of the partisanship,' yet you throw a cheap Sarah Palin joke in, so I don't really understand or believe you," Hasselbeck said. "I just think if you're going to participate in that, you can't be saying the other things. So I want to hold you accountable."

Of course, as you will see in the video Behar can't stand to pass up the opportunity to join in on a good Palin joke:



Barbara Walters didn't seem to buy Bayh's fed up with politics routine and ended the interview with the following:

"Come back and see us, especially when you run again in 2016."

Democratic Shennanigans in Indiana - UPDATE

When news broke yesterday of Evan Bayh's retirement from the Senate my initial impression was Bayh was leaving his party in the lurch by making his announcement the day before the deadline for candidates to register for the race.  Dan Riehl, however, made an excellent point that the move cleared the way for the Democrats to do a little king making by appointing a candidate.  Ed Morrissey thought this would lead to the appointment of a liberal  ideologue, not a winner in Indiana, which it would if the state Democrats were left to their own devices.

Enter Tamyra d'Ippolito, a political newbie and hapless cafe owner who was 500 signatures short of getting her name on the ballot leaving the Dems stuck with her as their candidate.   A rallying cry went out to the right to help d'Ippolito meet her goal.  A little chaos amongst the Dems is a good thing.  Today d'Ippolito is claiming the White House and Rahm Emmanuel have been working secretly to put Baron Hill, an Indiana Blue Dog on the ballot:

However, d’Ippolito said she was informed Monday that Hill, a blue dog who represents Indiana’s 9th District in the House, already has the necessary signatures and is sitting on them until the deadline. She accused White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel of colluding with Hill and the Democratic party county chairs to secretly supplant her as the nominee.

“I can’t confirm so I’m working feverishly to find out if this is the deal. If it is, there’s something unethical going on in Indiana politics,” d’Ippolito said. She then referenced Emanuel’s  at a fundraiser for Hill in Bloomington and accused the president’s top political aide of playing kingmaker during that visit.

“Don’t you find that strange, Rahm Emanuel coming to Indiana?” she asked, adding that Emanuel was sent by the White House to “find a blue dog to put into power.”

Would anyone put it past this group of Democrats to have conspired against other Dems if they thought it would give them a leg up in a race?  Nothing would surprise me from this crew.  Personally, I hope d'Ippolito gets her signatures whether Baron Hill, the 9th Congressional Dist. Blue Dog, gets his in on time or not.  If d'Ippolito runs a campaign anything like she runs her restaurant we've got nothing to fear from her.

If the White House has conspired with Bayh to keep others off the ballot hoping to put Baron Hill on the ballot, they might have done a little better by picking someone who hasn't voted for the health care bill that has put the Democratic majority in such peril.  Opposition to health care has a strong correlation to voting behavior and nothing makes that case like Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts.  While d'Ippolito's progressive ideology makes her a bad choice for the Dems, do they seriously think anyone believes there are moderate Democrats anymore?  When push came to shove they all voted with Pelosi or Reid, though some demanded a higher price tag for their vote than others.

Ed Morrissey reports d'Ippolito has the signatures and it appears the Democrats are buying themselves a whole lot of scrutiny in the process.
Via Memeorandum

UPDATE:   She missed the deadline according to an official in a key district.  Does this surprise anyone?

Reid Didn't Know About Bayh's Retirement

Interesting tidbit MSDNC is reporting on the Bayh retirement. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not know about Bayh's plans to retire but Obama spoke with him this morning. Was there some pressure on Bayh to step aside so Democrats could avoid the anti-incumbent fevah? Does Bayh blame Reid for bungling the Senate health care vote? It's possible Bayh felt some need to let Obama know his decision before it broke in the news and Obama was just as stunned as Reid. Interesting.

UPDATE: Memeorandum has many links on this breaking news.
Ed Morrissey reports on the nomination process and the obstacles facing Dems getting a credible candidate on the ballot. It looks as though Bayh stuck it to the Democrats big time, the filing deadline is tomorrow. Yes, that's right tomorrow.

The most likely candidate to jump in the race is Brad Ellsworth. Ellsworth will face huge hurdles getting qualified by tomorrow especially since this is a legal holiday. If reports are correct that Bayh let his staff know on Friday and only notified Obama this morning and Reid long after the news broke, he was clearly very resentful and not at all concerned about leaving Democrats in a bind. While some on the left would like to think Bayh is complaining of partisanship on the Republican side his actions today benefit Republicans far more than Democrats though he directs his comments on excessive partisanship to both sides here:

“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,” he 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. 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.”

Seven Republicans voted against the bipartisan commission which was widely argued to be a toothless commission being proposed in place of those actually responsible for reducing the deficit, Congress, from doing the jobs they were voted into office to perform.  It was Harry Reid, however, who scrapped the jobs bill that had bipartisan support, in favor of a pared down bill he proposed.  Mmm, I think there was definitely resentment toward Reid shown in this move.  We'll know more, or at least have more to pick apart when Bayh makes his statement at 2 PM.

Evan Bayh Retiring UPDATED

Via Politico comes this huge blow to Senate Democrats.  They're dropping like flies folks:

“After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so in Congress has waned,” he said.

“My decision was not motivated by political concern,” he added. “Even in the current challenging environment, I am confident in my prospects for re-election.”

Bayh had never lost an election, from his first win in 1986 as secretary of state, his wins for governor in 1988 and 1992 and his election to the U.S. Senate in 1998 and 2004.

“But running for the sake of winning an election, just to remain in public office, is not good enough,” Bayh said. “And it has never been what motivates me. At this time I simply believe I can best contribute to society in another way: creating jobs by helping grow a business, helping guide an institution of higher learning or helping run a worthy charitable endeavor.”

Stacy McCain  wonders whether the National Enquirer has been snooping in Indiana lately.  Good question.  With Mike Pence taking a pass on running for the seat, Bayh might have faced a grueling election anyway but he had the benefit of incumbency.  His favorables  were under 50% in a recent Rasmussen poll which is a bad sign.  It seems more likely Bayh was facing repercussions for his health care vote:

As in many other states, there is a strong correlation between support for the congressional health care plan and voting behavior. Just 37% of Indiana voters favor the plan, while 60% oppose it. Those figures are similar to the national average and include 16% who Strongly Favor the plan and 48% who are Strongly Opposed.

Those who Strongly Favor the plan overwhelmingly prefer Bayh. Among those who are Strongly Opposed, 80% say they’d vote for Pence, 70% for Hostettler and 56% for Stutzman. In Stutzman’s case, 17% of those who Strongly Oppose the plan would vote for Bayh, and 26% are either not sure or would prefer a third option.

Bayh cited excessive partisanship according to television news reports.  There seems to be some resentment growing for the plank walking the leadership and Obama administration asked of their members.  I bet there are more than a few like Bayh who are increasingly resentful of the votes they were forced to take for seemingly naught but despair in the end.
Domino Effect? - Bayh another liberal mugged with reality, could be.

More Updates:  Reid Didn't Know About Bayh's Retirement
Memeorandum has more

Live Stream Senate Health Care Debate

Via Memeorandum The Hill reports Harry Reid can't understand why anyone would be opposed to a vote opening the debate, in fact he thinks that is positively Orwellian:

"Now he said, anyone who votes for this is going to have a lot of explaining to do," Reid said during his floor speech today. "Now that is really Orwellian. That is Orwellian. Have a lot of explaing to do if they allow a debate to continue?"

Reid urged senators to support the motion to proceed scheduled for 8 p.m., saying that is only a motion to continue debate, not a vote for the legislation itself.
"All were asking today is to have a debate on it. I mean, why would anyone be afraid in supposedly the greatest debating society in the world to debate healthcare," he said. "What are they afraid of?"

They're afraid of the shark infested waters after they walk the plank Harry.  The people to watch according to  Politico:

 things were looking good at daybreak, as Reid can be reasonably confident of 59 votes, with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) a yes vote and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) leaning yes. The holdout: Sen.Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who has been a fan of reform generally but faces a tough 2010 re-election fight.

We'll likely see a number of Republican television ads in the making as this vote will surely be fodder in the coming midterms.  Here is the live stream of the Senate debate for those who want to follow along:

Free TV : Ustream