# Buh Bye Bayh **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 15, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110 "2010-02-15T20:17:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/21 "2010-02-15T23:11:33Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And then Something Happened. My two bits says that whatever that something is, its a doozy. Quite suddenly, a pretty good shot with a hefty campaign chest went totally South. Dead hooker, live hamster, something. > > We’ll know in the next few days, if I’m right, it won’t be kept out of the public eye for long. Hmm. My personal theories are we’ll hear one of the following things over the next three months: 1. He’s changing parties OR 2. He’s planning to run against Obama in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/22 "2010-02-15T23:16:12Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > 1. He’s changing parties But you can change parties and stay in the Senate. If he changed parties now he’d just be an out of work Republican. > [@](#): > > 1. He’s planning to run against Obama in 2012. As a what? The Dems aren’t wild about him, he’s not going to beat Obama in a primary. And he voted for the Stimulus and Health Care, he’s not going to win a GOP nomination. He’s going to find some cushy job as a consultant or lobbiest and not be seen in public office again. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/23 "2010-02-15T23:18:10Z")
Any chance that he’s thinking of mounting a primary challenge against Obama? The calculus may be that he thinks the Democrats are going to get shellacked in the midterms, and he doesn’t want to be on the losing side. I could see him leaving, then watching which way the wind blows. If Obama continues to lose popularity, then he can come at him from the right. I’d watch carefully to see how he handles the ‘tea parties’. Some Democrats are trying to embrace them now, knowing a groundswell when they see it. If Bayh suddenly becomes a tea party speaker and starts talking about nothing but fiscal responsibility, then I’d expect him to either flip parties, or mount a primary campaign against Obama from the Democratic side, but on the right wing of the Democratic party. But my best guess is that he thinks he’ll lose the next election anyway, so he’s bailing. That seems to be going around right now. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/24 "2010-02-15T23:20:35Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > This is juicy debate fodder. > > Yep. > [@Hamlet](#): > > Sure is. Yessirreebob. Contrary to these snarky predictions, I’d say we have a number of good debate topics – **elucidator** ’s just added an option I hadn’t thought of. > [@elucidator](#): > > Something is afoot, to be sure, but we don’t know quite what yet. . . . Dead hooker, live hamster, something. Really? It’s not enough that “his side” goes viciously after his wife? It has to be some hidden scandal? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/25 "2010-02-15T23:25:01Z")
Evan Bayh isn’t half the Democrat his father was. Good riddance. And those “attacks” on his wife? You don’t smell a teeny, tiny rat when one of the Senate Democrats working to undermine HCR happens to have a wife who works for the insurance industry? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/26 "2010-02-15T23:31:19Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > But my best guess is that he thinks he’ll lose the next election anyway, so he’s bailing. That seems to be going around right now. He was favored to win, so that doesn’t make much sense. The rest of your post is pure political fantasy. Calling pointing out that his wife receives millions from health companies a “vicious attack” is a stretch. It’s not particularly vicious, certainly not out of bounds and while it may be an attack, suggesting that Bayh is changing his votes to help his wifes career is an accusation of misconduct on the Senator, not his wife. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/27 "2010-02-15T23:42:34Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > About the attacks on his wife? There’s this, for instance: > > [http://www.americablog.com/2009/07/evan-bayhs-wife-hauls-in-millions.html](http://www.americablog.com/2009/07/evan-bayhs-wife-hauls-in-millions.html) A report that his wife works for health related companies is an _attack_? Seriously? What Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake did with Hadassah Lieberman a couple of months ago (working pressure to get the Susan G. Komen foundation to fire her) was an attack. (A warranted attack, to some folks, but an attack nonetheless, and I don’t think Hamsher would deny it.) The AmericaBlog post was not an attack. Susan Bayh is a director for a number of companies that have an interest in the direction of healthcare reform efforts. This is actually reasonable information to disseminate. Bayh leaving the Senate is a blow to the Dems in only a numbers sense. There was never a guarantee that he was going to vote with the party on important issues, that he’d break a filibuster or anything else. But at the same time, he wasn’t a consensus builder, he didn’t try to broker deals, he just was sort of… there. It would be nice if the seat went to a good progressive Dem but it’s Indiana. That’s not in the cards. (Unless John Mellencamp really runs.) There’s something to be said for having a Republican in the seat rather than running into obstruction within the Democratic party. Far less work, far less frustration. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/28 "2010-02-15T23:43:46Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > ,Some Democrats are trying to embrace them now, knowing a groundswell when they see it… Name a few. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/29 "2010-02-15T23:47:06Z")
It seems a little silly to focus on a one-sentence comment of some third party to explain Bayh’s departure instead of Bayh’s stated reasons. Is there some reason you reject Bayh’s own account of why he is resigning, **Bricker**? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/30 "2010-02-15T23:50:14Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Evan Bayh isn’t half the Democrat his father was. Good riddance. > > And those “attacks” on his wife? You don’t smell a teeny, tiny rat when one of the Senate Democrats working to undermine HCR happens to have a wife who works for the insurance industry? Really? That is a perfectly fair and reasonable attack on the merchantability of Bayh. Democrats like to clean that crap out of our party. It’s called conflict of interest. If Republicans don’t think that anything is wrong with such a conflict of interest, then Republicans can expect us to skewer them with that kind of corruption. I’m not in favor of widespread party cleansing, but Nelson, Bayh and Lieberman are welcome to join the Republicans as far as I am concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/31 "2010-02-15T23:53:04Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > There’s something to be said for having a Republican in the seat rather than running into obstruction within the Democratic party. Far less work, far less frustration. You sound like Jim DeMint. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/32 "2010-02-15T23:59:11Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Far less work, far less frustration. Far less ability to pass legislation. I mean, we could just not run any democrats, and there would be zero work and zero fustration. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/33 "2010-02-16T00:01:52Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > About the attacks on his wife? There’s this, for instance: > > [http://www.americablog.com/2009/07/evan-bayhs-wife-hauls-in-millions.html](http://www.americablog.com/2009/07/evan-bayhs-wife-hauls-in-millions.html) > > and some of the comments on here: > > [http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/report\_bayhs\_wife\_made\_millions\_as\_board\_member\_fo.php](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/report_bayhs_wife_made_millions_as_board_member_fo.php) > > Glenn Greenwald called Evan Bayh [“the pure expression of virtually every attribute that makes the Beltway so dysfunctional, deceitful and corrupt.”](http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/30-4) > > Matthew Yglesias accused Bayh of [“acting to entrench the culture of narcissism and hypocrisy that’s killing the United States Congress.”](http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/12/evan-bayhs-narcissism.php) If those are examples of the attacks on him that caused him to turn tail and run, then I’d say that **An Arky** nailed it. Besides, that’s not an attack on his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/34 "2010-02-16T00:12:09Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Besides, that’s not an attack on his wife. These aren’t attacks on his wife? > [@](#): > > I wish people would stop insulting whores by equating their honest work with the shameful, immoral practices of the Bayh family. Evan & Susan: giving whores a bad name. > [@](#): > > Here’s something Evan and Susan Bayh should be proud of: Indiana has fallen into the bottom third of state rankings on health of its citizens. But, Evan and Susan have great health care coverage – and lots and lots of money from the health care industry. They’re calling her worse than a whore and saying that she’s glad that the people of Indiana are unhealthy. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/35 "2010-02-16T00:16:19Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > These aren’t attacks on his wife? > > They’re calling her worse than a whore and saying that she’s glad that the people of Indiana are unhealthy. Can we make a rule or something against digging through comment sections of blogs to find the worst comments and making it out like you’ve proved anything except that anonymous commentators on the internet are dicks? Anyhoo, your theory is that Bayh went through the comments of that TPM article, saw that someone called he and his spouse “worse the whores” and decided that he was gonna give up on being a Senator? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/36 "2010-02-16T00:35:04Z")
No, my theory is that Bayh was upset that people were criticizing his wife for working for a health insurance company, and also upset that bipartisan stuff isn’t getting done. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/37 "2010-02-16T00:36:00Z")
It’s not much of a loss. What did the Democrats accomplish when they had their “Filibuster proof majority”? Nothing much. If health care reform is dead for the foreseeable future, and it very well may be, then I simply don’t give a shit anymore about Democrats controlling Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/38 "2010-02-16T01:06:22Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Far less ability to pass legislation. Not if the remaining Democrats have the balls to pass senate rules which allow effective governance by something less than a supermajority. They could straight out lose Bayh’s, Reid’s and Nelson’s seats, and still have plenty of votes to pass comprehensive health care reform, without sucking up to Lieberman. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/39 "2010-02-16T01:33:11Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > It seems a little silly to focus on a one-sentence comment of some third party to explain Bayh’s departure instead of Bayh’s stated reasons. Is there some reason you reject Bayh’s own account of why he is resigning, **Bricker**? There are several. First and foremost, it plays into my own preconceived notions about the world – confirmation bias writ large. But even setting that aside, as best I can, Bayh’s own words don’t ring true. He makes this decision days before the primary filing deadline, with a hefty campaign chest. **elucidator** isn’t the only observer to think that there must be some alternate meaning behind the action. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110/40 "2010-02-16T01:37:09Z")
Why does the theory that he left because of left-wing criticism fit the facts any better than the theory that he left because he was sick of the extreme partisanship in the Senate and nothing getting done? Neither really explains the timing better than the other, IMHO. I think there’s a certain amount of discounting of the official explanation that is fair, but that usually makes sense when the real explanation is scandal, or a perceived inability to win. In this case, it seems like Bayh could have easily publicly blamed division in his party or criticism of his family instead of criticizing the Senate if those were the real reasons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buh-bye-bayh/529110.md?page=3)