AP: Bayh rules out White House bid in 2008

[Eugene]

Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006

Bayh rules out White House bid in 2008
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana will not seek the presidency in 2008,
saying he believes the odds of a successful run were too great to overcome.

"At the end of the day, I concluded that due to circumstances beyond our control the odds
were longer than I felt I could responsibly pursue," Bayh told the Indianapolis Star.
"This path - and these long odds - would have required me to be essentially absent from the
Senate for the next year instead of working to help the people of my state and the nation."

The announcement comes just three weeks after Bayh, in an appearance on a Sunday talk
show, announced that he would take a first step toward a 2008 presidential campaign,
forming an exploratory committee. His decision narrows a field dominated by Whites House
hopefuls, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

Just last weekend, Bayh traveled to New Hampshire, the early presidential primary state,
but his appearance was barely noticed as Obama delivered two speeches to sold-out crowds
and drew hordes of media.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/16255753.htm

[Sherman A1]

1. Well that's too bad....

not that I know much about Bayh, we need a field full of ideas for which to choose. The issues need lots of people debating them and offering solutions.

[GOPBasher]

2. He's a bit far to the right for my taste. He's good for Indiana, b/c

we can't do much better in that state. But nationwide we can.

[IndyOp]

18. We did actually do a lot better than Evan Bayh in Indiana once upon a time...

Birch Bayh - Evan's father - was a true populist Democrat. Evan is still riding his coat-tails.

Indiana contributed Kurt Vonnegut and Eugene V. Debs to the national conversation.

The Democratic Party in Indiana is just being reborn -- it's been dead as a doornail for a long, long time in most areas in the state. We can do better than Evan Bayh in future.

:kick: :kick: :kick:

And as for Bayh *not* running in 2008 -> :D

[elocs]

3. We need a field of ideas, but not everyone who has the ideas has to run for the nomination.

Do we really need 8 to 10 candidates in the primaries, splitting the vote every which way? The pie can only be sliced so many ways and a great number of candidates would seem to assure that one of the front runner, big names gets the nomination. Bayh is smart enough and pragmatic enough to realize that he would be a long shot for the nomination. I think my own Senator Feingold came to that same conclusion. Good ideas are good ideas, whether somebody is running or not.

[TomClash]

4. Translation

No money comes in after the transfer account runs out.

[Clark2008]

6. Exactly. The DLC has already picked it's candidate.

[wyldwolf]

8. really? Who?

[flpoljunkie]

10. DLC's Al From's "Candidates" now down to Clinton, Vilsack. Original 4-Clinton, Vilsack, Warner, Bayh

--in that order. This was from Al From in an October 25th, 2005, appearance on C-Span's Morning Journal, rather the Washington Journal.

I would say, in answer to your question, Hillary Clinton and not Vilsack.

[wyldwolf]

12. now wait a minute. The poster before said "candidate" singular...

..now you claim to have some special insight into who the DLC's candidate(s) are, plural?

And what of Michael Bloomberg? Just last week someone claimed HE was From's chosen one.

You DLC conspiracy theorists need to get on the same page.

[flpoljunkie]

20. It is not I, Wylfwolf. It was Al From, CEO of the DLC on 11/25/05 on C-Span's Washington Journal.

[flpoljunkie]

21. As I mentioned, the preferred "candidate" of the DLC is very likely Hillary Clinton.

[The Count]

5. War supporting candidates cannot make war an issue. Good riddance!

[lillilbigone]

14. You nailed it.

[progressoid]

17. Yep - that's one of the reasons I avoided him when he came here to stump for one of our locals

I don't think he had anything to say that I wanted to hear.

[suziedemocrat]

19. Yeah, and he was in bed with the credit cards companies too.

Since I'm from Indiana, I couldn't help rooting for him. Still, look at this...

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w061204&s=judis120606

What to think? One gauge of Bayh's conviction and character might be what he did on March 13, 2001. That day, the Senate was debating so-called "Bankruptcy Reform," a bill promoted by the credit card companies that made it much harder for consumers to escape debt by declaring bankruptcy. Congress had passed a version of the bill in 2000, but Bill Clinton had vetoed it. Now, with George W. Bush backing the bill and Republicans in control of both houses, it was heading toward a vote.

...

Feinstein offered a very mild amendment to the bankruptcy bill. It capped the debt limit on credit cards for minors at $2,500 unless they could obtain parental consent or proof of financial independence. Dodd's amendment was somewhat tougher. Companies could only sign up minors if their parents co-signed the credit card agreement or if the minors could prove financial independence or agreed to take a financial management course. Both amendments lost--Feinstein's by 55 to 42 and Dodd's by 58 to 41. The great majority of Democrats voted for these amendments, but not Bayh. He joined the credit card companies and the Republicans in opposing both.

...

Why did he do it? Bayh didn't say during the debate, and he didn't issue a statement afterwards. The fact is that they were minor votes and probably ones that Bayh expected the greater public (but not the credit companies) to ignore. And there is an obvious explanation for why Bayh would take the credit card companies' side. In states like Indiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Nebraska, Florida, and Montana, where there is not a powerful labor movement or a plethora of pro-Democratic organizations, and in Delaware, where many of the credit companies are based, Democrats often look to the credit card companies for campaign contributions. And the companies and their executives often oblige.

The bankruptcy bill was their payoff. It was not surprising, therefore, to see Delaware's Joe Biden and Thomas Carper, Nebraska's Ben Nelson, or Montana's Max Baucus voting "yea." And Bayh was also a recipient of credit card money. He was tenth among all Senators in 2001-2002 for the receipt of money from finance/credit companies, the year of the vote, and he was tenth in the 2005-2006 session, when the bill finally passed both houses and was signed. So he was paying the companies back for their support.

... more...

[kentuck]

7. Wow! He really had the fire in the belly for a fight!

Must have done it on a whim? Just the type of fighter the Democratic Party needs.. :sarcasm:

[1932]

9. His wife has been telling everyone she knows that he was definitely going

run as recently as about a month ago. I can't believe that he chose not to run based only on one appearance in NH.

I wonder what the real story is.

[Eurobabe]

11. Buh-Bayh: needed M2M because of lack of oxygen

Hillary and Obama sucked it outta the room!

[nickshepDEM]

13. He didnt have the juice to make it out of the primary.

I still believe he would be a decent general election candidate.

[Pithy Cherub]

15. It has to be kinda

sad for you, that's two in less than a month. Bayh in a general election would have failed to keep the base and the small contributors. Look on the bright side, many highly paid pundits held your views too and the CW is taking hits with a few more shoes left to drop.

:toast:

[Tom Joad]

16. He would have been a better President than Karl Rove.

[jcrew2001]

22. Bayh

Yeah, I agree that this was his best decision. Campaigns are about money and the less a Dem nominee spends in the primary, the more he/she can use to win the election.

He'll be a good candidate for VP or for 2016. I think he can win the heartland, but this was not his year against Edwards/Clinton/Obama.