Buh-Bayh
In an interesting and timely follow-up to my Jan. 26 blog post on a broken partisan U.S. political system, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh (D) not only announced Monday he will not run for re-election or any other political office http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/evan-bayh-presidential-ru_n_463525.html?just_reloaded=1, but volunteered why: because Congress is a broken and ineffective machine. In the interview by MSNBC, which the dull interviewers myopically focused on juicy politics (which side is winning) and not the real message (Congress is a partisan mess), Bayh provided some honest insider views of Capitol Hill. Interestingly, he has nothing to gain politically from his decision and slandered no one, other than to say what is going on in the House and Senate is not working. He spoke of supporting “practical progress” instead of the “tactical advantage” fellow Congressmen fight over. He touched on campaign reform, which is required to allow more time for legislation, the real job, and less worry about raising money to run for office in two or even four years. As an aside, MSNBC tried to bait him to dish on something sensational, but he did not bite (kudos), and the interviewers were too fogged over in an orgy of media hype over aggressive bloggers and not “win[ning]” by staying in politics, to hear his message.
Bayh also gracefully stuck Congress with a dagger while also defending the affront to his competitive side. He said just because he is leaving politics, he is not quitting life and plans to do something productive with his time which will give back to the American people—starting a business that creates jobs, teaching at a university, working for a charity—which is far more than Congress is doing for us Americans. Wow.
Many times people leave or are forced out of a situation, bitter and disheartened. Bayh is clearly none of the above. He leaves at the top of his game, in good health and ready to do something. I can tell he is an idealist. Fellow idealists do not want to be part of something that is wasteful and subpar when it can be meaningful and effective. Yet he acknoledged politics is about compromise for something rather than posturing for nothing. Bayh acknoledged the system needs an overhaul and serious housecleaning of incumbents.
This is not the last time you will hear a political insider get disenchanted with not only their job, but the whole ugly system. This is only the first chapter in a long struggle to wrest back control of the democratic process in our country. Americans (and voters), we know, are unhappy. When the talking heads and flesh-pressers get fed up, watch out. Stay tuned, folks; things are getting interesting.
