Tell Obama to Just Say No to Evan Bayh
Posted By: Stonecipher
August 14, 2008
Anyone who follows U.S. politics knows Barack Obama's shortlist for Vice Presidential contenders by now: Evan Bayh, Tim Kaine and Joe Biden...and they're usually listed in that order. There have been quiet rumblings about other potential candidates as well, like New Mexico's governor Bill Richardson, but for the most part the mainstream media thinks it will be one of those first three.
So far, Barack Obama has run an excellent campaign, both in the primaries and thus far in the general election. The people Sen. Obama has surrounded himself with like David Axelrod and David Plouffe are some of the best in the business. So a misstep in the VP selection seems unlikely.
Unfortunately, the selection of Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana would be a huge misstep for the Obama Campaign. My hope is that Team Obama knows this and they are simply floating the 'Bayh idea' as a smokescreen and they're running around Indiana with him in an effort to bring in some Hillary supporters (Bayh was a vocal supporter of Clinton's in the lead up to the Indiana primary).
If the rumors are true, however, and Bayh actually gets selected it would be the first major bad move of the campaign for Sen. Obama and here's why:
Senator Bayh, like Hillary Clinton, is exactly what Barack Obama has been running against, the politics-as-usual, inside-the-beltway, politically calculating, career-politician nonsense of the old school Washington politics, both Democrat and Republican.
Mr. Bayh, as the son of former Indiana Senator, Birch Bayh, was born and raised as a politician with a silver spoon in his mouth. Unlike Senator Obama, who has taken plenty of shots for being "elitist", Senator Bayh actually is an elitist - a senator's son - the epitome of elite.
Also, for all of you true liberals out there, Sen. Bayh is not a progressive. He is the rare staunch centrist and he stands for nothing except re-election. He is willing to say or do anything as long as each step is very careful calculated and it benefits him politically. This is why many in the punditocracy refer to him as the "safe choice". It is also why he would have been the perfect fit as Hillary Clinton's VP, but not for the candidate of a new direction, Barack Obama.
Speaking of political calculation, back in 2002, when it was the politically safe thing to do, Bayh came out in full support of Bush's War on Iraq. In fact, in October of that year, Senator Bayh was personally thanked by George W. Bush and John McCain for his support of the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.
These days, like Hillary Clinton, Bayh has not apologized for the vote to authorize war, but he has begun to criticize how the war has been conducted. Guess what year we began hearing that kind of talk from Mr. Bayh. Was it 2003, when it became clear there were no weapons of mass destruction? No. Was it the years following when casualties began piling up and civil war broke out in Iraq? No. It wasn't until 2006 that Bayh began speaking out against the war. 2006. The same year the Democrats won back both houses of Congress due to an overwhelming disgust for the Iraq War.
Evan Bayh is not a leader, he is a follower, and while Senators Bayh and Obama seem to be getting along in public these days, many of Barack's early supporters, and his campaign staff, still remember what I referred to as Evan Bayh's Imaginary Election. It was just another example of how the Senator from Indiana, along with his old Democratic cronies, is all too willing to intentionally mislead the public for his own personal gain.
These are just a few of the reasons there has been a recent backlash against Obama's flirtation with Sen. Bayh as the VP nomination. In fact, that backlash has led to what is being referred to as an anti-draft movement against Bayh. If you would like to become a part of that movement and you're on facebook click here for the "100,000 Strong Against Evan Bayh for VP Campaign".
If Barack Obama and his campaign think they need a centrist on the ticket that's fine, but rather than picking a calculating, anti-hope, war-mongering Joe Lieberman-style democrat like Evan Bayh why not pick a centrist with a record of intelligence and integrity like Bob Kerrey (D - Nebraska)(despite the gaffe about Obama's name), Bob Casey (D - Pennsylvania), Ed Rendell (D - Pennsylvania), or even a conservative like Chuck Hagel (R - Nebraska).
But whatever happens Mr. Obama, when I get that text message from you in the coming days about your VP choice please make sure it doesn't say "I've chosen Thomas Eagleton...I mean Evan Bayh as my Vice President." It won't be pretty.
For more on the Veepstakes at The Stonecipher Report click here. Also, check out our new poll in the right-hand column and tell us when you think Barack Obama will choose his Veep.
