My Case For EVAN BAYH to be OBAMA's Vice-President

[Corey_Baker08]

I live on the border of Indiana and Ohio in a town that shares the same name across state lines. My news stations broadcast both the news for Dayton,Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. As I watch the news pretty regularly and from a lifetime of experience I know that Indiana and Ohio are two of the same states as far as economic success. My parents have been laid off from manufacturing jobs on both sides of the state line.
The Democratic presidential candidate has carried Indiana only twice in the last 72 years 1936 and 1964.

Polling seems to suggest that Obama is running competitively with John McCain in the Indiana and likely to have a chance to win Indiana. In my opinion a win in Indiana would almost guarantee an Obama victory in Ohio.

The simplest way to tip the scales is for Obama to name Bayh as his running mate. Even Bayh's is extremely popular in the Hoosier State, having served as the state's governor from 1988 to 1996 and as Indiana's Junior Senator since 1996.

I believe he would be a good choice for Obama because he is from a blue-collar state that has the same geographics as the must win state of Ohio. This will reflect to the so cold 'conservative democrats'

[napi21]

1. I don't have anything against Bayh, but IMO he's too whimpy for

Obama right now. I still believe Barack needs a junk yard dog as his VP. Someone who is not afraid to hurt feelings, or give a good swift kick in the teeth to McNut and whoever he picks for his VP!

[snowbear]

10. He had Tim Pawlenty pretty tongue-tied this past Sunday on one of the shows..

.
.


I didn't catch the show and don't even recall which one it is.. but someone posted a clip of Bayh reminding Pawlenty that he supported some bill or issue or something that Pawlenty was just dissing seconds before.

Boy, I'm real good with the details, huh?

The thing is.. I only saw the clip where Evan Bayh happened to catch Pawlenty screwing up, and when Bayh called him out on it.. he had Pawlenty embarrassed and stuttering as he attempted his comeback.

I didn't see the whole interview though..

I would think on Evan's pro list, it would be that he's not just a senator.. but was a popular two-term governor. On his negative side, it appears a lot of DU'ers are deadset against him.

As for me.. I don't know enough about him to make a determination.

[endthewar]

16. I thought it was a wash between the two

Bayh was stymied by Pawlenty bringing up Bayh's support for the Iraq War.

[saltpoint]

2. The Obama team is putting some serious money and muscle and mind

into Ohio and Indiana.

More than any Democrat in a long time.

I don't know if Bayh's presence on the national ticket alone will carry Indiana for Obama, but it will certainly make it closer than it might be without him. His mother, Marvella, remains extremely popular and his dad, former Senator Birch Bayh, nearly as popular as Marvella.

Bayh would go down pretty good in Ohio, too, I think.

Good post, Corey Baker.

[movonne]

5. Yes it might bring Indiana but he is just plain bornig..I'm hoping

for biden...he will be Obama's attack dog...

[saltpoint]

6. If Obama just can't decide and he calls me, I'm going to say "Bill Bradley."

I can handle any of the other possibilities for the ticket, although if it's Sam Nunn I may have to be drugged and driven to the polls. Nunn doesn't motivate me much.

Everybody else, I'll fight hard for if it's Obama's pick.

[Cosmocat]

19. People just don't get it ....

1) From a resume standpoint, Bayh might be the strongest VP pick of any being mentioned on either side ... For his age, there might not be a more accomplished elected official in the country ... He is a VERY strong VP pick ...

2) He is NOT the heretic that many here make him out to be ... He is a SOLID democrat in a red state ...

3) Is he "boring" ... Maybe, but he is perhaps the best STRATEGIC pick of any VP candidate, both sides ... I will say this again, IF BO holds all the Kerry states and wins Iowa and Indiana, the election is over ... AND, as the original post notes, Bayh probably can help in Ohio more than any other strong BO option ... I spent yesterday gaming out how BO can win without Ohio and Florida, and the clearest path is Iowa/Indiana ... Take Indiana out of the mix, and I think it makes his odds greater ... And, again, as the OP noted, Bayh might be able to help bring Ohio, and IF he gets Ohio, THAT is a game ender ...

Look, I get that Biden will help on a national level, and I am warming up to him ... But, Bayh is maybe the most qualified AND IS the best strategic pick ...

IMO, Bayh and Biden are the top two ... Bayh gives a very targeted and strong positive impact from a WINNING standpoint ... Biden gives a more general and less tangible boost to the ticket ...

Kaine, again, I don't see the appeal ...

[saltpoint]

23. I think you and the OP are on a similar page with Bayh.

I grew up with his dad. If Obama chooses Bayh, I'm ready to take on the first Puke who speaks against him. It's a blood-neighbor thing, I guess.

Things don't have to be my way to be good, and Bayh's selection might be a prime example.

Also I think there is world-ranging greatness waiting to be discovered in a lot of our red state senators. Bayh could surprise.

[Stand and Fight]

3. Here's to hoping you don't get your way! n/t

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. To put it politely, Evan Bayh is an extremist foreign policy neoconservative KOOK!!

Evan Bayh is such a wacko foreign policy extremist that one of his biggest problems with the current Iraq War seems to be that he worries that in might prevent a war with Iran.

http://washingtonindependent.com/view/stop-obama-bayh-08

---

"This is a hallmark of Evan Bayh. A former chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council and a past recipient Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson Award for Distinguished Service from the neoconservative security think tank JINSA."

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/03/evan_bayh_tough_but_smart.php

---

Evan Bayh was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic cheerleaders along with Sen. McCain and Sen. Lieberman and the whole crew of neocon nuts for the War in Iraq.

"The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) is pleased to welcome Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) as an Honorary Co-Chairman. Bayh becomes the third U.S. Senator to join the committee after Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced their participation on January 28.

The Committee is a neo-con group that was formed to propagandize the country into war. It boasted such illustrious neocon members as Bill Kristol, former CIA director James Woolsey, and even McCain senior foreign policy and Chalabi-bamboozler Randy Scheunemann, whom Josh has been blogging about."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/bayh_as_veep_he_cochaired_wing.php

[countmyvote4real]

7. 4 me - Bayh=GOP Lite - 4 me

His voting record in Congress does not reflect that of his father's. It would not be a deal breaker for my vote when you consider the options. (Does anybody still do that for themselves or is it all managed by the media?)

Most of all, I wonder why the Obama campaign will leak/announce/whatever the VP nominee under cover of the Olympics. Is it going to be that bad? Are we expected to despise the VP nominee's policies so much that it is revealed before the convention, while we are distracted by the gold gold gold blah blah blah?

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. If it's Bayh or Clinton,

yeah.

[TheKentuckian]

9. Not a fan of of Bayh

but the OP is on point. I can live with him, I do truly believe Indiana is close enough to the point that it can be tipped. He clearly knows how to communicate and connect with the sound-bite long thought process, rockskulls that most of us cannot relate to.


Bayh is a decent Democrat domestically (especially considering where he has to run) but he's a neocon on foreign policy. However, I think little can be done about that in almost any event. Make no mistake Obama is not a dove himself, he's just a common sense neocon-lite. He'll dispatch troops to protect Pax-Americana. The genie is way out of the bottle, our last chance to choose a totally different path was thrown away with the election of Reagan. Obama's way is the most favorable we can cobble out now short of a full on revolt. I think Obama would be able to move Bayh in his direction because most of his world view is just situational pragmatism that doesn't allow government to lose track that it's responsible to it's people.

[Douglas Carpenter]

12. they are all hawks, that is true!! they all hold an imperial world view, that is true!

They will all dispatch forces to defend Pax Americana that is true!

None of them are doves, much less anti-imperialist, that is true!

And frankly anyone who challenged those assumptions and who was an out and out dove, much less an anti-imperialist would be quickly marginalized by the media and the party elites and will undoubtedly be soundly labeled "far-left" and unpatriotic.

I suspect America will follow the same pattern as other empires throughout history and this will only change when it becomes apparent even to the political and economic elites that the cost of sustaining an unsustainable military empire is far greater than the cost of change.

But there is still a fundamental difference between what one may call the foreign policy "realist" who are inherently cautious and pragmatic about the use of military destruction as an instrument of foreign policy and recognize its limitations and grave unplanned consequences; and the neoconservatives, including those within the Democratic Party who have been ideologically deluded into believing that military destruction is almost limitless in its ability to create their desired new reality. Ironically, they sound a lot like Mao Tse-Tung's old slogan, "anything can grow out of the end of a gun barrel." I don't want any of these lunatics anywhere near the corridors of power.

If it is not politically possible at this juncture in history to create a united front of doves and anti-imperialist against hawks, and I have to agree that this is not a current option, yet. At the very least there is room to create a united front which supports and aligns with the foreign policy realist and pragmatist against the insanity of neoconservatism. In the big picture of things, I cannot imagine a more important issue. In fact, in the big picture of things, I am convinced that blocking the neoconservatives is more important than all other issues put together.

The nomination of a brazen neoconservative like Evan Bayh would not only empower this destructive click of ideological extremist and create dangerous conditions that could lead to neoconservative dominance of both political parties - it would in affect remove from the Democratic ticket any real ability to refute the Bush doctrine on the basis of principle even if the only principle left is crude Machiavellian pragmatism and realism. The nomination of Evan Bayh would have many wondering what on earth have we been fighting for over the past several years - if not to reverse directions. This is not change and I cannot and I will not believe in it.

[DarthDem]

11. Appreciate the Perspective

. . . and if it *is* Bayh, I hope you'll hope us learn more about his effect on the race. I personally tend to see him as another Edwards - - insubstantial, inoffensive, and adding absolutely nothing. I'm having visions of Edwards sitting through that debate with the preposterous Evil Dick looking like he was waiting for a train.

[Eurobabe]

15. Well if it was a Bayh vs. Ridge snoozefest....

that's all I am sayin'

[eridani]

13. He's a bore and a wimp

Why not let McSame be the only boring candidate in the race?

[saltpoint]

24. Now and again, Evan Bayh 's claws come out. He ripped Don Rumsfeld a

new one on the status post Abu Ghraib disclosures, pressuring him about the duty of high-ranking policy-making public officials to resign if atrocities are committed on their watch.

It was a reminder that while Evan is always on tiptoes in Indiana he remains his father's son.

[eridani]

25. A rare exception. Clark and Biden aggressively go after Repubs all the time n/t

[saltpoint]

27. I hear ya, but Clark holds no office from any red state as Bayh must, and

Biden is from solidly blue Delaware.

On a level playing field, Bayh's sturdiness against the Secretary of Defense for "Our War President" was pretty gutsy stuff, IMO.

[Alexander]

14. Bayh was the biggest ever cheerleader for the Iraq War...

There are many VP candidates to choose from who did not vote for that fiasco.

[saltpoint]

17. CB, a blog connected with TIME magazine is on the same page:

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/08/obamas_vp_the_candidate_drops.html

[rucky]

18. I'm a stone's throw away from you...

:hi:

and I agree from that perspective. It would wake up the deceptively large small-town population in these areas. But personally, he's the least desirable of the top-3 for my taste.

[JTFrog]

20. He cosponsored the IWR.

Not to mention he was the co-chair of the neocon pro-war Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. Along with Bill Kristol, Joe Lieberman, James Woolsey and.... John McCain.


Exactly how would putting Bayh on the ticket show that Obama has the superior judgment that has been the platform of his campaign?


:eyes:

[WinkyDink]

21. Bayh is bland, blah, uninspiring.

[nickn777]

22. That's why I think he will get the job...

Obama is the main show. Obama does not want someone who overshadows him, or who will be "more of a story" than the candidate himself.

Bayh fits this role nicely.

[musicblind]

26. Bayh Is Anti Civil Unions And Said He Would Supporter A Constitutional Amendment To Define Marriage

as being between a man and a woman if need be ... :(