Hasty Departure

As a native of Indiana, and a former official with the Bayh administration between 1989-1995, I am not at all shocked that Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) has decided he's had his fill of Washington politics and won't stand for reelection.  I admire his candor and his integrity in rejecting the politics of hyper-partisanship that has consumed Washington of late.  He stated in his remarks that he is "an executive at heart" and values his independence.  That "my decision should not be interpreted for more than it is."  But when Mr. Bayh says his bombshell resignation isn't about Barack Obama, you can bet your bottom dollar that it is.

Senator Bayh says he wishes to continue his service to Indiana by either creating jobs in the private sector, leading an institution of higher learning, or running a philanthropic enterprise.  One of these might suffice his need for income in the coming months, but make no mistake about it, he will be back in elective politics.  Whether it's a return to his former job as governor, or as I suspect, a run against President Obama in 2012.  Even though he seemed to flatly reject that notion this morning on MSNBC, believe me, he would like nothing better than to recapture the Democrat party from the ruinous policies of the far left and the Obama administration.

Evan Bayh has always been a conservative Democrat.  This has been his appeal to voters in an historically red state since he began his political career in 1986 when he ran for Indiana's Secretary of State.  As a two term governor, he successfully managed the state with a combination of tax cuts, fiscal discipline and good old common sense.  So much so, that he was succeeded by two more Democrat governors for another eight years.  Despite his kind words in departure for President Barack Obama, the progressives who have highjacked his party, including Mr. Obama, are an anathema to him.  I suppose, and he himself has said as much, that he simply cannot stomach the continued charade of trying to support them with his vote in the U. S. Senate.

Ever since Evan Bayh, along with his parents Birch and Marvella, visited the retired President Harry Truman at his home in Independence, Missouri, where the former president offered to show an impatient young man the way to the restroom, Evan has had his eye on the White House.  Later, meetings with President John Kennedy, while his father was a Senator from Indiana like he himself is today, further interested him in presidential politics.  So mark my words.  Evan Bayh believes in destiny and he believe his destiny will lead him to 1600 Pennsylvania and to a particular office that is oval.  Perhaps not in 2012 but someday.  And if he ever does find himself a candidate for the presidency of the United States, I'll likely vote for him.

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