Evan Bayh's topics - tribe.net

H.R. 2679 The "Christian Supremacy Act"

Rocky — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:08:58 GMT

Dear Chopper22,

Thank you for contacting me (Senator Evan Bayh) regarding H.R. 2679, the Public _Expression of Religion Act of 2005. I appreciate your thoughts and concerns on this issue.

As you may know, H.R. 2679 was introduced in the House of Representatives on May 26, 2005. This legislation seeks to amend the Revised Statues of the United States . It would deny attorneys' fees in a civil action against state or local officials involving a violation of the Constitution's establishment of religion clause. In such a case the sole remedy would be a court ordered prohibition against a particular activity.

Currently, H.R. 2679 is before the House Committee on the Judiciary. While I am not a member of this body, I will be monitoring this issue closely. Please rest assured, should this or similar legislation come before the full Senate for consideration, I will keep your views in mind.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope the information I have provided is helpful. My website, http://bayh.senate.gov , can provide additional details about legislation and state projects, and you can also sign up to receive my monthly e-newsletter, The Bayh Bulletin , by clicking on the link at the top of my homepage. I value your input and hope you will continue to keep me informed of the issues important to you.

Office of Senator Evan Bayh
(202) 224-5623
Russell 463
Washington, D.C. 20510

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Americans United Blasts House For Passage Of Fee-Stripping Bill

AU's Lynn Says Measure Is 'A Repugnant Affront To The Civil Rights of All Americans'

The U.S. House of Representatives in full political mode approved a seriously flawed bill aimed at stopping citizens from challenging in court government-sponsored religious activities, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

In a largely partisan vote, the House today passed the so-called “Public Expression of Religion Act,” which would make it much more difficult for those seeking to uphold the First Amendment principle of church-state separation. The bill, H.R. 2679, would deny legal fees and out-of-pocket expenses to plaintiffs who win lawsuits under the Fist Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which bans the government from promoting religion. It passed by a vote of 244-173.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, said the House leadership is obsessed with playing to powerful Religious Right lobbying groups that have been pressing for the legislation.

“This bill is a sop to the Religious Right, but even worse a dangerous attack on the First Amendment,” Lynn said. “The House leadership is openly hostile to federal courts for upholding church-state separation and this bill reflects that motivation. The bill seeks to slam the courthouse doors on citizens who challenge government-sponsored religious activities. It is a repugnant affront to the civil rights of all Americans.”

The supporters of the bill argued today that the measure is needed to scuttle legal challenges to religious displays on public property. Many of the bill’s supporters claimed that groups, such as Americans United, were on a campaign literally to remove crosses from cemeteries nationwide.

Lynn said that charge was scaremongering at its worst.

“There is no such campaign,” said Lynn. “In reality this bill is a broad attempt to stop all kinds of challenges to government-sponsored religious activities. If enacted, it would bar recovery of legal fees and related expenses in an array of conflicts ranging from forcing children to recite prayers in schools to taxpayer funding of religious education.”

Lynn said Americans United would continue its opposition to the bill, urging the Senate to scrap the measure.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=8582

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Americans United Warns VA To Recognize Wiccans' Rights Or Face Litigation - http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=8577

* Please get involved & write your state & local reps.

;

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Sen Bayh: Time to take hard line on Iran's regime

eamon1916 — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 16:01:07 GMT

February 12, 2006

My View: Evan Bayh

Time to take hard line on Iran's regime

For 13 days in October of 1962, America was confronted with a hostile and aggressive nation attempting to place nuclear weapons a mere 90 miles from our shore. During that time, the so-called doomsday clock -- the world's indicator for impending nuclear war -- was the nearest it has ever been to midnight. The world now finds itself nearing a similar situation with the radical mullahs of Iran seeking to obtain nuclear weapons.

Fortunately for the United States and the world, the Kennedy administration reacted promptly and forcefully, using every means possible short of military force, while keeping the use of such force on the table, to resolve the situation peacefully. We need that same foresight, resolve and decisiveness today to avoid the unacceptable choice of using military force or accepting a nuclear Iran.

Unfortunately, those exact characteristics have been conspicuously absent from the Bush administration's Iran policy. Their approach has certainly been damaging to our national security. It is good that Iran's case is being sent to the United Nations Security Council, but there is no guarantee the council will do any more than it did when North Korea's case was sent to the world body three years ago. That is, nothing.

Iran has called for the destruction of Israel; its president has asked the Iranian people to envision a world without the United States and Israel; the regime fosters terrorism across the world and is actively supporting groups hostile to the United States. It is working on technology capable of delivering missiles long distances. And now it has resumed pernicious nuclear activities that present the gravest threat to the United States in decades.

If we had marshaled world opinion in 2002, we would not be here today. We have wasted valuable time, diverted resources, and ignored this problem at our peril. No one wants to forestall the need to use military force more than I do. But if we are to do so, we must act now. Time is of the essence.

First, the administration should focus on convincing the U.N. Security Council to actually take up Iran's case and to put in place strong, multi-national economic, political and diplomatic sanctions against Iran when it meets in March. If politics thwart U.N. action, it may be appropriate to look at other forums, such as NATO, to take hard steps against the clerics in Iran. We cannot afford to wait. The Iranian government must understand that if its nuclear activity continues, it will be treated as a pariah state. We must lead this charge.

Second, supplies of refined gasoline to Iran should be cut off. Iran may be one of the world's largest exporters of oil, but it does not have the refining capacity to make the gasoline necessary to make its economy run. Iran currently imports 40 percent of its refined gasoline from abroad.

Finally, Iran must be isolated diplomatically, financially and culturally. Their delegations should no longer be welcomed in countries around the world. Iranian assets should be frozen and financial and banking ties severed. Travel to and from Iran should be cut off and international flights should not be allowed to land or originate from Iran. Iran should also be banned from world events like soccer's World Cup and the Olympics.

We should be clear; our adversaries are not the Iranian people. We must make common cause with the Iranian people against a regime that threatens the world's and their people's best interests. Most Iranians are as disillusioned with their government as the rest of the world.

We should expect repercussions and retaliation from Iran, which will be exacerbated because of the administration's delay, but the downside of doing nothing will be far worse. Iran has threatened to suspend its oil exports. It may well. But it would be doing grave damage to its own economy. Oil exports keep the Iranian economy afloat. How long could the regime sustain itself without oil revenues? Not long.

No doubt Tehran would use its terrorism surrogates. They may strike our embassies and step up activities across the globe, but we cannot be bullied into allowing such a regime to have nuclear weapons. Just imagine what kind of blackmail Iran could exert on the world then.

The opportunity we have to avoid the choice between military action and a nuclear-capable Iran may be fast approaching. It's up to all of us -- Democrats and Republicans -- to make sure we don't learn what could have happened with different leadership in October of 1962.

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Sen Bayh on National Security

eamon1916 — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 14:35:30 GMT

Senator Evan Bayh
Address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies
Washington, DC
February 2, 2006

Welcome and thank you for joining me.

Two weeks ago, Karl Rove – the President’s deputy chief of staff and the architect of recent Republican election victories – told the Republican National Committee that the 2006 elections should be a referendum on who can best secure the country in the post 9-11 world. Some in my party are afraid of this fight. They urge that we change the subject to domestic issues that work better for Democrats. Others argue that it is wrong to inject “politics” into something as important as National Security.

I strongly disagree.

Educating our children, providing quality health care and securing retirement are all critical challenges – but the American people will not trust us on any of those issues if they don’t first trust us with their lives.

And who can best protect America during these perilous times is of paramount importance. The records, proposals, strengths, and weaknesses of every candidate and party must absolutely be discussed. What else are elections for?

So today, I say to Mr. Rove and his fellow partisan strategists: You have thrown down the gauntlet, and I will pick it up.

As an American, I welcome this debate on national security because in an age of global terror, there is nothing more important than protecting the American people. It is a dangerous world - 3,000 Americans were killed on September 11th. Suicidal terrorists have pledged to attack again - and they have in London, Madrid, Amman, Bali, and across Iraq. North Korea has expanded its nuclear arsenal. Hamas will soon be in charge of the Palestinian Authority. And the radical leader of Iran who is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons – has pledged to destroy Israel and asked his people to imagine a world without the United States.

As a lifelong Democrat I welcome this debate, because it is one we can win. George W. Bush’s saying he wants the 2006 election to be about national security is like Herbert Hoover proudly claiming that the 1930 election should be a referendum on the economy. And if the Democratic Party can get its national security act together, the result should be the same.

Karl Rove has claimed that Democrats were too weak to defend the nation, that President Bush is simply tougher. Tough is good, but six years into the Bush Presidency it is clear that tough is not enough.

We need a foreign policy that is both tough … and smart. The good news? That it is the historic legacy of the Democratic Party. It is a legacy we must now reclaim.

Today’s Democrats stand on the shoulders of a proud tradition of Democrats who have defended this nation.

It was Democrat Franklin Roosevelt who stood up to fascism, and the isolationist forces in the country that said Hitler was Europe’s problem, and who led America’s greatest generation to save the world from tyranny.

It was Democrat Harry Truman that drew the first line in the sand against the spread of global communism, rebuilt Europe and Asia after WWII, and ushered in the policy of containment that laid the foundation for victory in the Cold War.

It was Democrat John F. Kennedy who called on us to “bear any burden and pay any price” in defense of liberty and stared down the Kremlin during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It was Democrats who fought tyranny in all of its manifestations. Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Apartheid in South Africa. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Communism in Eastern Europe. It has only been since the Vietnam War that Democrats have been viewed by the American people as congenitally weak – too soft to be entrusted with our national security, as concerned with protecting Americans from our own government as from suicidal terrorists. But that can change, and if we aspire to national leadership, it must.

We must begin by speaking loudly and clearly against the way that this Administration has undermined our nation’s security and bungled the war on terror.

To be blunt, Karl Rove and George W. Bush have been much better at national security politics than national security policy. They may have won some elections, but the American people have lost valuable ground.

As Americans and Democrats, it is important to begin by understanding how badly the President has failed to secure the country in a post-9/11 world – not for the purpose of laying blame, but to lay a foundation for an America that is secure, strong, and free. As Democrats, we have a patriotic duty and political imperative to lay out our ideas for protecting America. Frankly, our citizens have doubts about us. We have work to do.
In the coming year, I will give a series of speeches setting out what I believe to be the building blocks of a tough and smart national security strategy. There’s not time for that today, but to begin, I wanted to briefly share with you a few ideas that would make America more secure.

In the era of global terrorism, there is no threat greater to our national security than the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Yet on this President’s watch, North Korea has acquired many more nuclear weapons than when he took office. Up to two-thirds of Russia's weapons-grade material remains inadequately secured. And, Iran, “the foremost sponsor of terrorism in the world,” may be only months away from having the capacity to build a nuclear bomb.

Four years ago this month, the President stood before the nation and famously declared Iran and North Korea as a part of the “Axis of Evil.” That’s tough talk, and I commend him for it.

But did the President really believe that Kim Jong Il and the radical mullahs in Iran would respond to rhetoric alone? That was incredibly naive, foolish, and dangerous to our security.

Instead of the muscular approach John F. Kennedy employed to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Bush dithered. Unable to resolve disagreements between his “neo-cons” and “pragmatists,” he decided not to decide. His approach was neither smart nor tough.

How do we deal with Iran in a tough and smart way?

First, Iran must be made to understand that a nuclear Iran is not negotiable. We will not let a government that calls for the end of the United States or Israel acquire a nuclear weapon. It is that simple.

With that as our non-negotiable position, the administration must immediately go to the United Nations Security Council and call for strong economic, political, and diplomatic sanctions. If its nuclear activities persist, there will be consequences beyond that, including the use of force. We cannot afford to wait. The Iranian government must understand that if its nuclear activity continues, it will be treated as a pariah state.

Second, supplies of refined gasoline to Iran should be cut off. Iran may be one of the world’s largest exporters of oil, but currently imports 40 percent of their refined gasoline. By cutting that supply off, the Iranian economy will be hurt badly. Third, Iran must be isolated diplomatically, financially, and culturally. Their delegations should no longer be welcomed in countries around the world. Iranian assets should be frozen and financial and banking ties severed. Travel to and from Iran should be cut off and international flights should not be allowed to land or originate from the country. Most importantly, Iran should be denied the foreign investment for its energy sector that it so clearly craves.

And last, Iran should be assured that if they do the right thing, they will be welcomed back to the family of nations, with clear benefits including a carefully monitored civilian nuclear power program, membership in the WTO, and investment for a stable, more prosperous Iran.

This will not be easy. Time is not our friend. Bipartisan support for tough, thoughtful action is needed now.

While Iran and North Korea, two of the most radical, anti-American countries on earth, built up their nuclear arsenals, the Bush Administration’s focus was on Iraq. Here, too, they dissipated American strength by being tough but not wise.

Our country is deeply divided on whether going into Iraq was the right thing. History will ultimately judge. But there is absolutely no question the war has been prosecuted with stunning incompetence.

There is no greater responsibility for a President than conducting a war, and on that measure this President has failed. The cardinal rule in any war is that you plan for the worst and hope for the best, but this Administration hoped for the best and the American people have tragically reaped the worst.

We never had enough troops to secure that country. It’s obvious they had no plan for winning the peace. When I was in Baghdad last year, our top intelligence official told me things would be 100 percent better in Iraq if we’d only not sent the Iraqi army home.

Another U.S. official in Iraq recently told me that the Administration’s policy of complete De- Baathification was “insane.” The author of that policy was given our nation’s highest civilian medal.

Plenty tough. Not very smart.

I recently had the opportunity to visit some of our troops serving in Iraq. No matter how you feel about this war, they would make you so proud to be an American. They are young, brave and idealistic. These heroes deserve our wholehearted support and leadership worthy of their valor.

They deserve better than the false bravado of “bring ‘em on.” They deserve better than the illusion of “mission accomplished.” They deserve better than the flippancy of “you go to war with the army that you’ve got.” They deserve better than those things.

What happened in Iraq was they did come on. The mission is far from accomplished, and we went to the war with the army that we had but we didn’t give our troops the equipment that they needed. And that is tragic.

There are consequences to prosecuting a war on toughness alone. Iraq was not a haven for foreign terrorists before March 2003, but it is now. Iraq did not face the prospect of full-scale civil war, before March 2003, but it does now. Iraq was not susceptible to Iranian influence before March 2003, but it is now.

Tragically, because of naiveté, ideological illusions, and garden-variety incompetence, we are left with no easy answers in Iraq. There is no “transforming” approach at this juncture. With better leadership at the beginning, perhaps there could have been. Our troops could be on their way home with success in hand. Not now. We are where we are and must make the best of a very difficult situation.

While in Baghdad last month, one of our top generals told me “there is no military solution in Iraq – only a political solution.” He was right.

We must let all of the Iraqi factions know that they must make the difficult compromises necessary, or they will cease to have our support. Our presence cannot be used to avoid hard choices. Nor will we be sucked into an Iraqi civil war that a political stalemate could produce.

Shia must include Sunnis in the government in a meaningful way. And in the Army. And in the police. Complete de-Baathification must stop.

Sunnis must embrace majority rule and reconcile themselves with the new Iraq. There is no going back – violence will not change that.

All must decide – Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds – whether they want to live in one country or not. If they do, we can help. If they do not, then our mission is done. The coming months will tell. It’s now up to them.

Better security and more effective reconstruction are important – much can be said about both. But the essential point is that both must be in support of a comprehensive strategy for Iraqi political progress.

Here at home, all politicians must stop the caricature of our situation as a choice between spineless “cut and run” and mindless “staying the course.”

An approach that is tough and smart would establish benchmarks for success, a timeline for progress, accountability for results, and candor about how we are doing. It is an approach that is long overdue.

The mismanagement of Iraq has harmed American security in ways that go far beyond that country.

After the Cold War, the Army was downsized from 800,000 troops to less than 490,000 troops – a 40 percent decrease. Maybe it made sense at the time, but it doesn’t now. Today, operational deployments have increased 300 percent.

Even though defense spending has gone up dramatically under President Bush, there has been no real attempt to increase the size of the Army.

This failure has consequences for American security and the men and women in uniform.

The military is stretched so thin that the United States is severely limited in our ability to respond to aggression by Iran or North Korea. In 2004, nine of the Army’s ten divisions were either deployed to, preparing to deploy to, or returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Our adversaries can count, and they are emboldened by what they see.

Our military – including the Guard and Reserve – is at risk of being overused, burned out, and according to a new report commissioned by this Administration “our Army is danger of being broken by overuse.” Deployments have increased – many units are on their second and sometimes even their third tour in Iraq and Afghanistan – and training is being curtailed to get troops in the field as soon as possible to meet the need.

Our troops have also not been given the equipment they need to do their jobs as effectively and safely as possible. Hillbilly armor? That’s a disgrace. New body armor because soldiers were needlessly dying? What took so long?

Our soldiers are the bravest and best-skilled in the world, but their leaders – starting with their Commander-in-Chief – have failed them.

Yes, Secretary Rumsfeld, you fight with the army you have, not the one that you want. But you’ve had five years, Congress has given you everything you asked for. Excuses are no longer enough.

A tough and smart approach begins with increasing the size of the military and improving its capabilities. I would start by adding two divisions to the Army - an increase of about 100,000 troops. Increasing the size of the permanent army would relieve the burden on our current troops, improve our ability to respond to multiple crises simultaneously, and provide a boost to retention and recruitment.

The cost would be about $20 billion a year, less than 5 percent of the Department of Defense’s annual budget. During an era of Islamic jihadism, suicidal terror, rogue regimes, and proliferating weapons of mass death, this is an investment we must make.

The U.S. military has always had the best technology, but we cannot rest on our laurels – particularly as our security challenges have changed. That is why we need to invest more in military science and technology. Under this President, the military science and technology funding has remained flat since the 1990’s. We need to be spending at least three percent of our overall defense budget on science and technology. That’s not happening. Now it must.

Finally, we need to make sure that essential production capacity remains in the U.S. That is increasingly not the case. For example, 80 percent of a critical component for our “smart bombs” is made in China. It is not smart to depend on China for our military needs. In a choice between profits and patriotism, our nation’s security must come first.

In this era of global integration, our security cannot be provided by the strength of our arms alone. There has never been a nation that is militarily strong, but financially weak, yet that is the path this President has put us on. How can we deal forcefully with China on Iran, North Korea, trade or anything else when we borrow so much from them? We cannot. Our interests and our leverage are compromised by such weakness.

The same is true of energy. The President talks a lot about the lessons of September 11th . One of those lessons is that we can no longer be so dependent on places like Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Venezuela for our energy supply. Yet, we are more dependent on foreign oil from hostile countries today than we were on September 11th – making us more vulnerable and putting the United States in the uniquely disturbing position of bankrolling both sides in the War on Terror.

This goes to the heart of our security and our sovereignty. As the world confronts the prospect of a nuclear Iran, our leverage is dramatically limited by the fact that Iran is the world’s second largest exporter of oil.

We and our allies are vulnerable to energy blackmail. A few months ago, the Russians decided they weren’t pleased with the Ukrainian elections, so they simply decided to stop exporting natural gas to them – nearly causing an economic crisis in the region. How sure can we be that the radicals and America-haters who control the oil will never do that to us? Because it’s not in their best interests? I don’t think so.

Yet that apparently is what the Bush Administration believes.

On Tuesday night, the President finally acknowledged that energy security must be part of a comprehensive, national security strategy. But, words are not enough. He must act, and bring the same urgency to energy security that he has to the War on Terror Concrete steps are long overdue to promote energy independence. I have introduced legislation with Senators Lieberman, Brownback and others to reduce our dependence on oil by 7 million barrels a day in 20 years. We call for:

• The development and mass marketing of hybrid technologies;
• More pumps for alternative fuels at gas stations;
• Fuel-efficiency standards for trucks; and
• Tax credits for manufacturers to retool facilities for advanced technology and alternative fuel cars and trucks.

The President proposes reducing our imports of Middle East oil by 75 percent over the next 20 years. I propose eliminating them entirely in 10. We already have bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. If the President is serious, he should support our bill.

There is so much more to say:
-Homeland security
-Pandemic preparedness
-Intelligence improvement
- and a host of other things essential to our security

But I will save those for another day.

To my party, I urge that we do not change the subject or attempt to avoid this fight. It is our chance, and responsibility, to show the American people that we are tough enough and smart enough to protect this great country in perilous and uncertain times.

And to Mr. Rove, I say we are ready. Ready to have this debate any time, any place, you’d like to have it. Ready to expose the severe failings of this Administration’s stewardship of America’s security. Ready to show the nation that there is a better way, that we can be tough AND smart.

That is why I pledge that in the coming year, I will take this debate across the country, starting in the coming months. I will take up this debate on the stump with candidates, in union halls and lecture halls, on the floor of the Senate and over the internet – everywhere we can. For this is the right debate for the country and the right debate for the Democratic Party. And for the sake of our nation’s security, it’s a debate we must win.

Thank you.

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WashPost's The Fix: An Iowa Boost for Bayh

allamerica — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:52:45 GMT

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/01/bayh.html

Who said good policy doesn't -- sometimes -- make for good politics?

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who is "considering" (wink, wink) a presidential bid in 2008, got a very nice boost Monday when a group of Iowa state legislators introduced an education plan based on the http://www.in.gov/ssaci/programs/21st/index.html program Bayh shepherded to passage during his tenure as Indiana governor.

Introduced by state Rep. Jeff Danielson (D), the plan would ask 7th and 8th grade students either living below the poverty line or in foster homes to sign a pledge vowing to remain crime, drug and tobacco free, and maintain a "C" average throughout high school.

In return, the students would be given free college tuition at any Iowa state university or community college. The legislation's future is unclear. Republicans control the state House 51 to 49 while the state Senate is split evenly between the parties.

Currently in her 3rd term representing a Democratic seat based in northwestern Des Moines, Petersen said she got the idea for the program after reading up on Bayh following his visit to the Hawkeye State over the summer.

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Sen Bayh on CNN's Late Edition 1/15

eamon1916 — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 17:57:42 GMT

With us to discuss all of this and more two, key members of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Republican Trent Lott of Mississippi and Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana.

Senators, thanks very much for joining us. I'll start with you, Senator Lott. What do you know about this targeting of Ayman al Zawahiri?

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: I don't know a lot about it. I believe that the intelligence has indicated that he had been in that area. And obviously, we have evidence that some of the leaders of the former Al Qaida are in Pakistan.

So I think this was a justified strike. But I think we ought to wait and get the full report on it. We ought to wait and see if nothing else who actually was there and who was killed.

But how else are we going to be able to get at the leaders of what's going on in Iraq? I mean, it is being directed, we know for sure, in some instances from Pakistan. And my information is that this strike was clearly justified by the intelligence.

BLITZER: The information I'm getting from some former U.S. intelligence officials, Senator Bayh, is that before the CIA were to launch an air strike of this nature using these predator drones, they are on pretty good -- they insist they have to have a pretty high threshold in order to justify an attack on a house like this because presumably there could be what they call "collateral damage," innocent women and children, families being killed. You're regularly briefed on these kinds of targeted assassinations, as some call them.

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: And I just got back from that part of the world, Wolf. The standard of proof before an operation like that is extraordinarily high. You don't do something like that without pretty good evidence.

Now, it's a regrettable situation, but what else are we supposed to do? It's like the wild, wild west out there. The Pakistani border's a real problem.

We have solid information that the top Al Qaida leadership is being harbored in that part of Pakistan. Assassination attempts against Musharraf himself have been launched from that part of Pakistan.

So the real problem here is that the Pakistani government does not control that part of their own country, and these people, some of whom you just saw on your film there, are harboring these Al Qaida leaders. So regrettably this kind of thing is what we're left with.

BLITZER: The U.S. has a very close relationship with President Musharraf of Pakistan. You were just there, Senator Bayh. It's hard for me to believe, but maybe I'm wrong, that before the U.S. -- whether the CIA or the military were to launch this kind of operation, at least some very close intelligence officials to the Pakistani president would be clued in.

BAYH: Of course, I do think you're correct to give President Musharraf credit for the way he has shown courage and leadership, and he has worked with us. He does prohibit U.S. troops from being based there in his country. So, he's shown leadership, but he also has shown awareness that the people would be concerned about us actually having troops there.

But in answer to your question, I have every reason to believe that there was some communication at higher levels of the government. And you know, one criticism was that we have some indication the CIA had been watching the terrorists there for some several days. Maybe they should have made the strike earlier.

I'm not being critical. But this was based on good intelligence, and I feel that, you know, the government at some high level was aware that this action was going to be taken.

BLITZER: It's a very sensitive issue for the U.S.-Pakistani relationship, for President Musharraf. I want to play for our viewers in the midst of these angry demonstrations that we've seen, "death to America" and all this kind of stuff in Pakistan, a sort of measured statement coming from the Pakistani government's information minister. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEIKH RASHID AHMAD: We deeply regret that civilian lives have been lost in an incident in Bajoradensi (ph). While this act is highly condemnable, we have been for a long time striving to rid all of our tribal areas of foreign intruders who have been responsible for all the miseries and violence in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: When he refers to foreign intruders, he's referring to Egyptians, shall we say, like Ayman Al Zawahiri, or Saudis like Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda operatives, who may be in that area. As far as you know, and you were just there, is the Pakistani government fully cooperating with the U.S. government in the hunt for Al Qaeda?

BAYH: As far as I know, Wolf, they are. As a matter of fact, they're putting tens of thousands of troops into this area in an attempt to bring it under control. But Pakistani troops are being killed. Twenty of them -- well, nine were killed. Eleven were taken hostage while we were there. So they know they've got a problem. They know there are these Al Qaeda leaders there. They know that the tribes there give them sanctuary. And they're beginning to try and exert their control there. But they've got a domestic political problem. So it's a balancing act. How do they go about trying to bring that area under control, cooperate with us without causing the kind of political problems that would destabilize the government?

BLITZER: And I take it neither of you would have a problem with the U.S. government targeting for assassination either Ayman Al Zawahiri or Osama Bin Laden, who presumably is still at large?

LOTT: I would have a problem if we didn't do it. There's no question that they're still causing the death of millions of -- or thousands of innocent people and directing operations in Iraq. Absolutely we should do it.

BLITZER: What about you, Senator Bayh?

BAYH: I agree wholeheartedly, Wolf. These people killed 3,000 Americans. They have to be brought to justice.

BLITZER: Why is it so hard to find Osama Bin Laden? We haven't heard from him in more than a year, since before the last U.S. presidential election.

BAYH: Well, Zawahiri issues these tapes. He's a little bit more in touch with the other Al Qaeda members. You ought to fly over this area. It is huge, it is remote, it is mountainous, and these tribes are harboring him. Once you've seen it, it's no wonder it's hard to find him. And he's hiding out somewhere. He's not really communicating the way Zawahiri is.

BLITZER: Let's talk about Iran a little bit. This past week, as you know, Senator Lott, the Iranians broke those seals from the nuclear facilities that they have, causing the Europeans -- the British, the French, and the Germans -- to say negotiations are over with, it's time now to perhaps go to the United Nations security council. The president was very firm on this as well. Listen to what President Bush said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: The current president of Iran has announced that the destruction of Israel is an important part of their agenda. And that's unacceptable. And the development of a nuclear weapon, it seems like to me, would make him a step closer to achieving that objective.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Earlier, just a little while ago, Senator McCain was on "Face the Nation" on CBS. He was very strong on this issue. Let me just paraphrase. He said the United States has to act, has to go for U.N. sanctions, even if it means the price of oil will go up. As you know, Senator Lott, Iran is a major exporter of oil, and they're threatening to take action if these sanctions were to be imposed.

LOTT: Well, we can't be intimidated by economic threats from their side. I'm pleased that the European allies -- the British, the French, and the Germans -- are taking the position they're now taking. I'm following it with interest, the Russian position, which also seems to be critical of what the Iranian government is doing with nuclear weapons.

This is very serious stuff. There may not be the threat of imminent ability to deliver a nuclear weapon. But clearly that is, you know, indicated by what they've said and how they're acting. How more irresponsible can they be? They're denying, they're going to have a hearing on the Holocaust, like it never happened. And the comments about Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth. This is very serious. We'll have to watch the Chinese.

But we have to deal with this very seriously. Perhaps methodically. We have to do everything we can diplomatically. At the very minimum, we should go to the U.N. Security Council, and we should impose economic sanctions unless there's some dramatic change in the Iranian position.

BLITZER: He was at a news conference, spent two hours at a news conference yesterday, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Here's what he said in part in answer to this question about Iran's nuclear intentions. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have developed nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but they want us to stop our progress, and I think we are not allowed to have one, and we want to know why.

[CORRECTION -- Due to an error in translation, CNN incorrectly quoted Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his speech as saying that Iran has the right to build nuclear weapons. In fact, President Ahmadinejad said Iran has the right to nuclear energy, and that "a nation that has civilization does not need nuclear weapons," and "our nation does not need them." This transcript has been corrected. CNN takes this matter very seriously and apologizes for the error.]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. The Iranians say, why can these other countries like India or Pakistan or Israel for that matter have nuclear weapons? They deny that they're building a nuclear weapon, but why this double standard against Iran? That's basically the thrust of their argument.

BAYH: There's no double standard, Wolf. Iran is the foremost sponsor of terrorism in the world. Every country I visited -- Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq -- the Iranians are a force for instability and death. And in Iraq, they're now causing the deaths of Americans.

They have called for the destruction of another member state, Israel, a clear violation of the U.S. charter. None of the other countries you mentioned have done that. The president, who you just showed on there, asked an audience of thousands of students in Tehran to imagine a world in which there was no United States of America.

Iran is a menace, Wolf. They have to be dealt with, through economic, political, and cultural steps. And I'll just say one final thing. I'm glad the president is finally speaking out about this. But for four long years they have ignored this problem. It's brought us to the position that we're in today. And it has undermined the national security interests of the United States.

BLITZER: We have to take a quick break but very briefly, is there a military option, realistically speaking, given the U.S. involvement in Iraq, the fact that U.S. troops may be stretched about as much as possible right now? Realistically, against Iran is there a credible U.S. military option?

BAYH: Yes, but we don't want to go there. There are sensitive nodes in their program that could be struck that would dramatically delay its development. But that should not be an option at this point.

We ought to use everything else possible to keep from getting to that juncture, Wolf, because denying this problem for four years has brought us to a dilemma. On the one hand, we don't want to use military force. On the other hand, a nuclear-armed Iran is not acceptable.

BLITZER: Senator Lott?

LOTT: Regardless of what's going on in Iraq, you know, we have the capability. We could take action. But it would be difficult, and we have to see if there are other options that would have the desired effect before we would consider there going there.

BLITZER: Stand by, senators. We're going to take a quick break. Lots more to talk about here on "Late Edition," including the nomination of the U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, now almost certainly headed to the Senate floor for confirmation. I'll ask both senators whether they will vote to confirm.

And in Iraq, more bloodshed this week. Is there a political solution in sight? We'll talk with one of Iraq's senior diplomats.

Also, four years after 9/11, where is Osama bin Laden? We'll hear from a panel of terrorism and surveillance experts. "Late Edition" continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to "Late Edition." We're continuing our conversation with Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Republican Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Here's what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in December, December 14th, on this issue of the Holocaust: "They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred... The West has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets. If you have burned the Jews, why don't you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to Israel?"

And now, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced they're going to have a conference, a scientific conference, to discuss the Holocaust after what their president said. What do you make of this?

BAYH: Well, if anyone had any doubt about the radical, almost delusional nature of the Iranian regime, Wolf, this is it. I would simply tell the president -- I think Holocaust denial is actually against the law in Germany.

And, you know, to deny history like this, this virulent anti- Semitism, their sponsoring of terrorism, their search for a nuclear weapon ought to be a wake-up call to every American.

Appeasement won't work. You know, nice words won't work. We need to use diplomacy, economic sanctions, other means so we won't have to resort to military action.

But the time to act, Wolf, is now. We've been in denial for four long years.

BLITZER; Senator Lott?

LOTT: I can't add a whole lot to that. I mean, obviously, there is a serious problem here. How would they would explain what our U.S. troops found when they got to the site where Jews had been slaughtered?

And it is symptomatic of what's going on there and symbolic of it. We have a real problem. We haven't been ignoring it. We have been working with our European allies. We've tried to get them to act reasonably.

On occasion, they act like, well, maybe we're not going to move toward this nuclear capability. And then they revert right back to it. It is a serious problem, probably, right, now the most serious in the world.

BLITZER: You were just in Iraq, just came back. What's your bottom line assessment, Senator Bayh?

BAYH: Oh, Wolf, very difficult, very complicated. The good things are our forces are performing heroically. Secondly, the election went well. There was a large turnout. And that's good. The political process is starting.

But the difficulty is that the people of Iraq voted almost exclusively along religious and ethnic lines. They are a deeply divided society. And the insurgency continues to be very difficult.

So, the bottom line question, Wolf, is, do they want to live together in the same country or not? Are they willing to settle their differences through politics or will they insist on violence?

We can help them if they choose the former courses, but if they choose the latter, this is going to be very difficult for a long period of time.

And the final thing I'd say is, continue to build up their capacity to provide for their own security, so we can begin to hand this off. The next six to nine months -- that's really going to tell us a lot about the future course of events.

BLITZER: There are some polls -- I want to put some numbers up on the screen, Senator Lott, CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls that came out recently: "How are things going for the U.S. in Iraq?" Forty-six percent of the American public said "well." Fifty-three percent said "badly."

Another poll: "Was it worth going to war in Iraq?" Back in November only 38 percent said "yes." Now, 46 percent say yes; 52 percent, a majority, continue to say no, it was not worth going to war in Iraq.

And this number: "Within the next 12 months, will there be a democratic Iraqi government that can maintain order without U.S. troops?" Only 19 percent of the American public said "yes." Seventy- five percent said "no."

The American public remains very worried about what's going on in Iraq.

LOTT: Well, we have to be worried because we're still making a huge commitment there and a sacrifice. But we tend too much, I think, to focus on the negative.

I do think we need to look at a lot of the positive milestones that have been met. Of course, Saddam Hussein is going to trial. They have had three elections in the last year and the people voted in increasing numbers.

Did they vote along regional and ethnic lines? Yes. You know, welcome to democracy. I'm not totally surprised by that. But the people have shown an increasing interest in that.

And I do believe that those that say democracy and freedom have a tremendous lure, even in a place like Iraq, are right. Do they still have problems? Yes, they're trying to form a government.

It's hard for the Kurds and the Shiites to bring in the Sunnis and make sure that they are part of that government. But they've got to move in that direction.

And we've got to continue to work to improve their police and military capability. Overall, though, progress is being made and we should acknowledge that.

BLITZER: Senator Bayh, you voted against the confirmation of John Roberts, who's now the Supreme Court Chief Justice.

How will you vote on Samuel Alito's nomination?

BAYH: I don't know yet, Wolf. But I think both of these sets of hearings and this whole judicial nominating process is a clear example of how Washington is broken. It's become a process where the nominees come before the committees and say as little as possible or are, in too many instances, evasive, don't want to say anything controversial.

On the other hand, too often the people who are asking the questions are playing a game of "gotcha." And so, it puts people like me in a position, a real dilemma.

I want to know what the man really thinks, whether he has an ideological agenda or not. And because of this kabuki theater that takes place, in too many instances, we just don't know.

BLITZER: So, you don't know right now?

BAYH: I just don't know because the question I want to ask myself is: Is this man going to go for a lifetime appointment on our nation's highest court from which there is no appeal with an ideological agenda of some kind or not?

I think he bears the burden of proof of showing us that he does not. But, if the process does not shed much light onto that, what do you do?

BLITZER: How are you going to vote?

LOTT: I'm going to vote for him. But I didn't just jump to that conclusion. I think I proved, with an earlier recommendation for the Supreme Court, that I won't just follow, sort of, the party line or go for anybody. I expressed reservations about the qualifications of Ms. Miers when she was nominated. I've looked at this nominee; I've looked at his record; I met with him; I listened to a good portion of the hearings. I thought they were, frankly, an embarrassment, almost comical in some respects, and I think that's a tragedy.

I think we're making it more and more difficult for good men and women to be willing to go through the meat grinder that you have to go through in Washington in the confirmation process.

He is a conservative. You know -- surprise. But he has a moderate style of life. He is extremely well qualified and experienced. I think he's an excellent nominee. And I predict he will be confirmed by a wide margin.

BLITZER: We're almost out of time, but a couple questions to both of you. There's word out there that you may be leaving, retiring from the U.S. Senate, making an announcement even in the next few days. Is that true?

LOTT: I spent the Christmas holidays in my state visiting with the people that I love the most, my relatives, my neighbors, people on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that were devastated by Katrina.

It's been a complicated decision because of all that we've been through in the last year. But my heart is with the people there and I'm going to do everything I can to be helpful to them as long as it's necessary. And I have that capability.

But, any announcement on that, I plan to begin with announcements in my hometown of Pascagoula, Mississippi on the Mississippi Gulf coast Tuesday and then in Jackson later on in the day.

BLITZER: So, you'll make an announcement one way or another whether you're going to seek re-election or retire?

LOTT; That's right.

BLITZER: So, we'll have to wait till Tuesday?

LOTT: Yes, I'm afraid so.

BLITZER: When are we going to hear whether or not, Senator Bayh, you're going to run for the Democratic presidential nomination?

BAYH: I suspect you'll hear from Trent before you hear from me, Wolf.

BLITZER: You're not going to announce that before Tuesday?

BAYH: And not in Pascagoula, with all due respect.

LOTT: We'd be glad to have you, though.

BAYH: Well, thank you, Trent. I appreciate that.

I wish Trent and Tricia well with whatever they decide.

And look, Wolf, I'm increasingly concerned about the tone here in Washington, that it's just disconnected from the rest of the country. And we really do need leaders who will change the tone, who will make progress, not focus on ideology and partisanship.

And I'm giving serious thought as to what role I might play in all that but won't make a decision until after the midterm elections.

BLITZER: But you're leaving that option open?

BAYH: Yes.

BLITZER: Senators, good luck to both of you, Senator Bayh. Senator Lott, we'll be covering your announcement on Tuesday, whatever it is. Appreciate it very much.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

House urged to support Sen Bayh's "Patriot Penalty" provision

eamon1916 — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 17:04:19 GMT

It's nice to see Sen Bayh get some good press in the
military-related newspapers.

http://tinyurl.com/9r3eo

Lawmakers want pay protection for reservists

By Rick Maze
Army Times staff writer

With negotiators about to wrap up work on the 2006
defense authorization bill, 74 members of the House
have made a final plea for inclusion of a
Senate-passed provision to protect the income of
mobilized reservists.

The House and Senate versions of the defense bill
include similar provisions creating a new benefit for
National Guard and reserve members whose military pay
is less than they receive in their private-sector
jobs. Both plans would provide a monthly minimum of
$50 and maximum of $3,000 for those who suffer income
losses when mobilized, but there are large differences
in eligibility.

The Senate was more generous; its plan would begin
income-replacement payments starting after six months
of mobilization. The House bill would not start
payments until after 18 months of mobilization, which
would exclude most National Guard and reserve members
called up for Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation
Enduring Freedom.

The letter to negotiators, prepared by Reps. Tom
Lantos, D-Calif., and Sam Graves, R-Mo., calls the
House proposal “regrettable” and asks negotiators to
support the Senate plan.

National Guard and reserve members “are struggling to
keep up with mortgage, car, child care, and education
payments on substantially less income than they
enjoyed as civilians prior to extended deployments,”
the letter states.

“Fifty-one percent of the members of the National
Guard and reserve report that they suffer a loss of
income when mobilized for long periods of active duty
because their military pay is less than their civilian
pay,” the letter says. “While the average is $368 per
month or $4,400 per year, over 10percent report losing
more than $2,500 a month — certainly a material amount
of money for the average American family.”

Lantos, who has backed income replacement for several
years and has tried, without success, to at least get
the federal government to partially make up salary
differences for federal workers who are mobilized,
said he hopes Congress will act this year.

“The prospect of a substantial loss of income is
having a profound effect on our country’s ability to
recruit and retain our citizen-soldiers,” Lantos said
in a statement. “These men and women are a valuable
and necessary component of our armed services. It is
unconscionable that we would make [them] choose
between the financial security of their families and
service to our country.”

Graves, who has been working with Lantos despite the
fact that House Republican leaders have been cool to
the idea of paying more money to mobilized reservists
than to active-duty people doing the same job, said
National Guard and reserve members are making enough
sacrifices.

“I don’t think soldiers should have to take a pay cut
for serving their country,” he said. “This is a
bipartisan, commonsense bill that will help many
soldiers and their families.”

The Senate provision was authored by Sens. Evan Bayh,
D-Ind., and Richard Durbin, R-Ill.

Lantos said the difference in starting payments after
six and 18 months of service would equal a potential
income gap of up to $54,000, which he called “a
coldhearted short-changing of those who serve in our
name.”

The provision in the Senate bill is an important step
in fixing the “pay gap,” one of the top problems
facing Guard and reserve members.

More than half of reservists report that they face a
loss of income when mobilized for long periods of
active duty because their military pay is less than
their civilian pay. The average income loss is $4,400
per year.

At the same time, recruitment rates for the year are
currently 24 percent below normal for the Army
National Guard and 20 percent below normal for the
Army Reserve.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

The Meaning of Strength by Sen Evan Bayh

eamon1916 — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 14:57:38 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/87wty
The Meaning of Strength

Democrats must show they can defend the country in dangerous times.

By Evan Bayh

The challenge that Democrats face as a party isn't the sort of challenge that a lot of the elites inside the Beltway like to talk about. It's not about semantics. It's not about finding the right metaphor. It's not about framing. The challenge that we face is represented on the streets of Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana, and a thousand other towns and cities across this country. It's about understanding the profound changes that are shaping our future, appreciating the challenges that those changes are creating in the course of people's daily lives, and harnessing our values to forge an agenda that will empower people to meet those challenges and make the most of their lives. That's the work of the Democratic Party, it's the work of the United States of America, and it's the work we mush begin anew.

It all begins with strength -- the strength to defend our country during perilous times. We Democrats have always known that this is a dangerous world and there is evil in it. Sometimes we have to use force. Of course, there is a right way and wrong way -- a right time and place and a wrong time and place. But we never even get to have that discussion, because too many of our fellow countrymen and women out here in the heartland have concluded -- inappropriately, but concluded nonetheless -- that we don't have the backbone to use force even in the face of the most compelling circumstances.

That must change because those in charge in Washington today have done so much to deplete our strength and to undermine our national security. On their watch, North Korea became a virtual assembly line for nuclear weapons. On their watch, stockpiles of biological, chemical, and nuclear materials have gone unsecured across the former Soviet Union. On their watch, our nation remains woefully unprepared to face the calamity of a global pandemic. On their watch, our military forces have been stretched to the breaking point. On their watch, our alliances have been frayed. And on their watch, the situation in Iraq has been terribly mismanaged.

We never had enough troops to secure that country. It's obvious the administration had no plan for winning the peace. When I was in Baghdad in December, our top intelligence official told me things would be 100 percent better in Iraq -- 100 percent -- if only we had not sent the Iraqi army home. But we did, and that is a tragedy.

Missed opportunity. We Democrats can do better. We can do better than the false bravado of "Bring 'em on!" We can do better than the illusion of "Mission Accomplished." We can do better than the flippancy of "You go to war with the army that you've got." What happened in Iraq? They came on. The mission is far from accomplished. And we went to the war with the army that we had, but we didn't give our troops the equipment that they needed to do the job and protect themselves.

That's not strength; it's incompetence -- and those responsible need to be held to account.

We Democrats have the strength and the understanding to know that truly securing America involves a whole lot more than sending our brave soldiers to fight battles in far-away lands. It involves each and every one of us doing our part right here at home each and every day. But that takes leadership -- a leadership that has been lacking with those in charge in Washington today.

When the history of this time is written, I predict that the immediate aftermath of 9/11 will be regarded as an enormous missed opportunity. You may remember what it was like. In Indianapolis, I had people literally coming up to me on the street asking, What can I do? I want to do my part to help my country. The president was asked that question about a week or so following the attack. Do any of you remember what he said? Go to the mall and go shopping. That is not enough. That is not leadership. If I had been president I would have gone on national television and looked the American people in the eye and said: "We are going to do whatever it takes to bring those responsible for this crime to justice, and we will spare no expense in doing whatever it takes to secure our country to make sure that something like this never can happen again."

But now I'm going to ask you for more, because more is what it's going to take. The time has come for a new Declaration of Independence. Today we need a declaration of energy independence, because it is not right for our country to be as dependent as we are on unstable places like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia for something as vital to our national well-being as our petroleum supply. That is something we must change.

The president didn't offer those challenges. As Democrats, we will. We'll invest in new hybrid technologies that are more fuel efficient. We'll invest in new, highstrength, lightweight alloys to help accomplish that result too, and we'll lift up biofuels so that America's farmers can grow America's fuels. We will focus on this challenge like a laser until we get the job done, because we know that it's right for our economy, it's right for our finances, it's right for our nation's security, and above all else, it is important and essential to setting our children free.

Next, if we are going to be truly free and strong, we need to improve this economy. There has never, throughout history, been a nation that was militarily powerful but financially and economically weak. But that is the unsustainable path that we are on.

To get off that path, we must first recognize that there's work to do. This administration tells us things are just fine; this is as good as it gets. But Democrats know better than that, because we have helped this nation do better before. Working with the American people, we helped to lift this country out of the depths of the Great Depression. We helped America move from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, to service economy, to an information economy. We can help America reinvent itself again to be prosperous and economically strong in the innovation economy of the future.

Blind eye. But it takes a strategy. We'll invest in research and development in the parts of the economy that will create the good jobs of tomorrow: biotechnology, nanotechnology, advanced manufacturing, agricultural science, environmental sciences, and more. We'll have a meaningful system to help those who have been displaced by the forces of globalization make the transition to being upwardly mobile again. We owe them that. And when our companies and workers embrace free markets and open competition, as we must, we'll have a response when our competitors do not.

How can policymakers in Washington look in the mirror knowing that hardworking Americans are starting off 20 percent to 30 percent behind their competitors? And it's not because they're not smart enough, because they don't work hard enough, or because their products aren't good enough. It's because we turn a blind eye and allow illegal subsidies to take place: free rent, free materials, loans that never have to be repaid. We have turned a blind eye and allowed countries to artificially devalue their currencies. That's not right.

When our workers and businesses think smart, work hard, and make the investments to be competitive and productive in the global economy, we can't stand idly by. They have a right to expect more from their government when foreign competitors cheat to steal the fruits of those hard labors, but they've gotten nothing from this administration. Protectionism isn't the answer, of course, but nothing won't do either. When our workers and businesses take responsibility for meeting the challenges they face, they should have the right to expect government to be responsible, too. But with today's debts and deficits, that has not been happening in Washington.

We are on the cusp of becoming the first generation in the history of our nation to have our children inherit something less from us than what we inherited from our parents and grandparents, something diminished. We must not let that happen. Our legacy to our children must be something more than our unpaid bills. Every child born in America today is handed a bill for $36,000 of unpaid debts -- a birthday present from this administration. That must change. I'm desperately concerned that children may come to us one day and ask, what on earth were you thinking? Couldn't you see what was happening? Why didn't you do something to change the course that we were on?

We'd better start thinking about that conversation and do something about it today. Our children have a right to inherit from us a new foundation for hope and opportunity.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Democratic Party's 50-state strategy

Rocky — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 20:15:09 GMT

Dear Chopper,

Tomorrow night, Democrats will gather in all fifty states and Washington, DC to strategize, plan, and begin organizing for the 2006 elections.

More than 1,000 National Organizing Kickoff meetings are scheduled in all 50 states -- there's still time to find one in your area:

http://www.democrats.org/events/find

When you take part in an organizing meeting, you will be at the heart of Democratic Party's 50-state strategy. Governor Howard Dean will host a national conference call briefing on our progress so far and opportunities to get involved in your area.

The elections are a year away -- and that's exactly the point. We cannot wait until the last few months before an election to build an organization, and we cannot let that organization fade away after Election Day.

Join a group of Democrats committed to building our party in your community for an Organizing Kickoff Meeting tomorrow night:

http://www.democrats.org/events/find

This is an exciting time for our party -- I hope you can be part of it. Thank you so much for all that you're doing.

Yours sincerely,

Tom McMahon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

vp if bayh runs?

acoustichrmny — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 20:01:39 GMT

who would he choose or who should he choose?

posted in Evan Bayh - 1 reply

Bayh on campaign to impress A-list politicos in N.H.

eamon1916 — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 15:00:20 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/8sl9f
Bayh on campaign to impress A-list politicos in N.H.

Gannett News Service
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh introduced
himself at a dinner Saturday to about 600 of the most
active Democrats in the state that holds the first
presidential primary. Bayh has also been privately
wooing many of the most influential New Hampshire
Democrats.

Here's a look at some of the most important New
Hampshire Democrats and any interactions they have had
with Bayh:

Bill and Jean Shaheen.

Why they're important: Bill, an attorney, and Jean, a
former three-term governor, are at the top of the New
Hampshire Democrat power list. Both backed the party's
winning candidates in the 2000 and 2004 primaries.
Jean Shaheen's endorsement of John Kerry was
particularly helpful to his campaign. Shaheen, who
became the national chair of Kerry's campaign, is also
a strong organizer, although she is now in a
nonpartisan role as director of the Institute of
Politics at Harvard.

Bayh connection: Bayh raised more than $46,000 for
Jean Shaheen's unsuccessful 2002 Senate race.

Gov. John Lynch.

Why he's important: Lynch is the top elected Democrat
in the state. Potential Democratic candidates are
courting him. Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold visited him
during a recent New Hampshire trip and New York Sen.
Hillary Clinton has helped him raise funds. Lynch's
two-year term is up in 2006 and his influence in 2008
obviously depends on whether he is re-elected.

Bayh connection: Bayh met privately with Lynch during
a July trip to New Hampshire.

State Sen. Sylvia Larsen, D-Concord.

Why she's important: Larsen, a party activist since
the 1970s, is the leader of state Senate Democrats.
She was an early supporter of Kerry in 2004 and is
watching carefully to see if Kerry decides to run
again but won't necessarily stick with him if he does.

Bayh connection: Larsen has known Bayh for several
years and Bayh attended a July fundraiser for Senate
Democrats held in Larsen's home.

State Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester.

Why he's important: D'Allesandro is one of the most
senior Democrats in the state Senate and represents
Manchester, the largest city. His backing of John
Edwards in 2004 was Edward's top endorsement in the
state. Edwards came to New Hampshire this year to
attend a fundraiser for D'Allesandro. Delaware Sen.
Joe Biden invited him to lunch earlier this year.

Bayh connection: D'Allesandro remembers Bayh's father
and said he gets notes from Bayh from time to time.

State Rep. Jim Craig, D-Manchester.

Why he's important: Craig is the leader of state House
Democrats. He backed Dick Gephardt in 2004.

Bayh connection: Bayh planned to talk with Craig this
weekend.

Manchester Mayor Bob Baines.

Why he's important: Baines, who was a 2000 delegate
for Gore and backed Kerry in 2004, is mayor of the
state's largest city. Baines, who is up for
re-election this year, has gotten campaign help from
Kerry, Feingold, Biden, and Christie Vilsack, wife of
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Bayh connection: Bayh plans to campaign door-to-door
for Baines Sunday.

Ray Buckley, vice chairman of the New Hampshire
Democratic Party and head of Manchester Democrats.

Why he's important: Buckley is a prominent Democrat in
Manchester, the state's largest city. Buckley backed
Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman in 2004 and
campaigned for Jimmy Carter, who bested Birch Bayh in
the 1976 primary.

Bayh connection: Have known each other a while and
talk periodically.

Pat Russell, state liquor commissioner.

Why she's important: The former state representative,
12-year member of the Democratic National Committee,
and former mayor of Keene is from one of the state's
strongest Democratic areas. She endorsed Kerry in
2004.

Bayh connection: As a college student campaigning for
his father's 1976 presidential bid, Bayh stayed in
Russell's home. She hosted a meet-and-greet for Bayh
in Keene in July.

Kathy Sullivan, chairwoman of the New Hampshire
Democratic Party.

Why she's important: As head of the party, Sullivan
must stay neutral. But she has held the position since
1999 and if she steps down when her current term ends
in 2007, she can endorse a 2008 candidate.

Bayh connection: Bayh and Sullivan have met.

Nick Clemons, executive director of the New Hampshire
Democratic Party.

Why he's important: In Clemons' current position, he
can't work for a candidate. But he was the New
Hampshire field director for Kerry's primary campaign,
ran his state campaign in the general election, and
would be a top campaign aide to snag if he works for a
candidate for the 2008 primary.

Bayh connection: Clemons invited Bayh to speak at
Saturday's dinner.

Compiled by Star Washington Bureau Maureen Groppe.
Contact her at (202) 906-8118 or at
mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

posted in Evan Bayh - 1 reply

N.H. voters question Bayh about Iraq war

eamon1916 — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:59:04 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/bdwk5

N.H. voters question Bayh about Iraq war

Vote for invasion was right at the time but was based
on faulty information, senator says

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

HENNIKER, N.H. -- New Hampshire voters Sunday peppered
Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., with questions about the war
in Iraq, an indication of an issue Bayh could face if
he runs for president in 2008.

Bayh, who supported the U.S. invasion, was asked at a
gathering of about 100 people at New England College
whether he would cast the same vote today. He
responded that the decision he made seemed right at
the time.

"It turned out some of the most important information
we relied upon at that time just was not accurate," he
said. "There were no weapons of mass destruction. The
administration has proven to be terribly incompetent
in the way they've carried this out. . . . Of course,
we'd make different decisions based upon different
facts as we know them today."

The answer did not satisfy Al Cantor.

"I think he needs to say, 'I blew it. I should've seen
through all the lies,' " said Cantor, who asked Bayh
about his support for the invasion. "There were
millions of people around the world saying there was
no case for war."

Of the Senate Democrats viewed as possible 2008
presidential candidates, only Sen. Russ Feingold of
Wisconsin voted against the war.

Jim McCanaha, who served on Sen. John Kerry's New
Hampshire steering committee in 2004 and was the third
of at least five people to ask Bayh about Iraq, wanted
to know what sort of foreign policy Bayh would adopt
to avoid similar situations in the future.

The country needs to be more skeptical about
intelligence information and more willing to
acknowledge that some problems can't be solved with
force, Bayh said.

McCanaha said he doesn't fault Bayh for voting for the
war because he thinks senators were in a tough spot,
but he was looking for a better definition of Bayh's
foreign policy goals.

Bayh also fielded questions about health care, the
budget deficit, education, the environment, global
competition and other issues at the college and at a
smaller forum in Franklin, N.H.

Bayh, who plans to make a formal decision about a
presidential run after the 2006 elections, has been
exploring a campaign by traveling the country this
year.

He has traveled twice to Iowa and New Hampshire, which
traditionally hold the first nominating contests.

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe
at (202) 906-8118 or mgroppe@gns.gannett.com.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Bayh in New Hampshire

Daniel — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 03:54:20 GMT

I thought the speech was impressive and very well-delivered.

I have more comments at my blog: the Kentucky Democrat.

posted in Evan Bayh - 4 replies

has senator bayh noticed the davis-bacon act suspended??

stephanie_phillyjawn — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:45:20 GMT

Reconstruction ruling benefits Bush pals ...

President Bush's suspension of prevailing wage laws on federal contracts in Hurricane Katrina-damaged areas is another lethal blow by the administration to the people of the obliterated Gulf Coast region.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/letters/cst-edt-vox19a.html

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/letters/s_374922.html

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-pbmail750sep18,0,3487564.story?coll=sfla-news-letters

posted in Evan Bayh - 5 replies

Religion in Politics:

Rocky — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 15:28:10 GMT

Religion in Politics:

Why is religion in politics such a common theme these days?

Because 42% of US Senators are getting a 100% rating from the "Christian Coalition" score cards. No Republicans got below a 50% score card rating. Only 22% of the US population Identify with the christian right.

What do they believe?

"The surest antidote to tyranny is a free people who believe it owes allegiance to a higher power, not the government." - Ralph Reed ("Active Faith" 96 pg 8-9)

- In other words, so long as everyone is christian, they're all free. The US Constitution says that the government owes its allegiance to "the people", not a higher power. The very first 3 words in the Constitution are "We the people".

"We need common sense judges who understand that our rights are derived from god. Those are the kind of judges I intend to put of the bench." - G.W. Bush

- Once we have a government that believes it derives its authority from god, then we become a theocracy. If you ask folks on the xian right if they believe in a theocracy they'll say, "absolutely not". No, they only agree with Ralph Reeds Idea that a democracy means everybody sharing his Idea of a higher power (sigh).

"Christians alone are Biblically mandated to occupy all secular Institutions until Christ returns". "The army of god is to conquer the earth, to subdue it, to rule over it, to exercise dominion"

- The xian right are waging war on all secular institutions. Please get involved in the 2006 elections.

Also get educated very quickly by viewing these 2 videos. view this one first - "Life and Liberty for All Who Believe". Then this second - "The Rise of Dominionism" at -

http://www.theocracywatch.org/audio-video.htm

Home:
http://www.theocracywatch.org/

;

posted in Evan Bayh - 4 replies

Sen Bayh votes against the Bridge to Nowhere

eamon1916 — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:57:17 GMT

One provision of the hideous Transportation bill that
was recently signed into law is the provision for
building a $230mil bridge linking Ketchikan, Alaska
(population ~15,000) to Gravina Island (pop ~50). The
provision was put in by "King of Pork" Sen Ted Stevens
of Alaska.

Yesterday Sen Tom Coburn (R-OK) proposed an amendment
which would shift $150mil of that money to rebuilding
I-10 over Lake Pontchatrain in Louisiana and shift the
remaining money back to Alaska, provided none paid for
the Bridge to Nowhere.

The Amendment was defeated 85-15 after Sen Stevens
announced if the measure passed he would resign from
the Senate.

Thankfully, our Sen Evan Bayh was one of the 15
Senators with the courage to stand up to Sen Stevens
and vote for the Amendment.

Way to go Senator!

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Meet Bayh's Team

eamon1916 — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 14:19:37 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/dno4u

One of the ways Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has been preparing for a potential presidential bid in 2008 is assembling a team of key aides who include:

Chief of Staff Tom Sugar: Originally from Kokomo, Sugar had his first political job as a campaign field organizer for former Rep. Jim Jontz, D-Ind. Sugar worked in various capacities for Jontz, including chief of staff, before Jontz was defeated in 1992. While working for Jontz, Sugar also was a state organizer for the Democratic Leadership Council. Sugar joined Bayh’s gubernatorial staff during his second term, serving as Bayh’s director of policy and planning. Sugar ran Bayh’s 1998 senatorial campaign and then became his chief of staff.

Deputy Chief of Staff Linda Moore Forbes: Forbes, a veteran of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, rejoined Bayh’s staff in 2005. She first worked for Bayh in 2001, after serving as former President Bill Clinton’s deputy political director. Before that, Forbes was the field director for the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist Democratic group that both Clinton and Bayh have chaired. Forbes is married to Jeff Forbes, who was the New Hampshire political director for Clinton’s 1992 campaign.

PAC Director Steve Bouchard: A New Hampshire native, Bouchard was the New Hampshire director for Wesley Clark, a whose campaign he joined after Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., dropped out of the 2004 race. After Clark’s presidential campaign folded, Bouchard was the Ohio state director for America Coming Together, an independent group that tried to defeat President Bush. When former Sen. Bob Kerrey was exploring a 2000 presidential bid, Bouchard was the New Hampshire director for Kerrey’s political action committee.
Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer: The Delaware native joined Bayh in 2005 after serving as deputy campaign manager for former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s unsuccessful re-election campaign. Pfeiffer also worked on South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson’s successful 2002 re-election campaign and has served as communications director at the Democratic Governors Association.

Pollster Paul Maslin: In the 2004 campaign, Maslin worked for Howard Dean, one of about a half-dozen presidential candidates Maslin has advised. The California native has also worked for former California Gov. Gray Davis, various senators, House members, mayors and organizations that include the League of Conservation Voters, the National Education Association, Disney and Coca Cola.

Media adviser Anita Dunn: Dunn handled the campaign advertising for Bayh’s 2004 re-election campaign. She helped run Bill Bradley’s unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign and has served as a political adviser to former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. Other clients have included the Democratic parties in New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Delaware and various congressional candidates. Dunn began her career in politics working for White House Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan under former President Jimmy Carter.

Chief fundraiser Nancy Jacobson: Jacobson has raised money for years for both Bayh and the Democratic Leadership Council. She is married to pollster Mark Penn, who used to poll for Bayh. But Penn was also Bill Clinton’s pollster and is expected to work for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton if she decides to run for president.

Informal adviser Ron Klain: An Indianapolis native, Klain is a former chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore and Attorney General Janet Reno. He was also a senior adviser to Gore’s 2000 campaign.

Informal adviser Richard Gordon: A friend since their days at the University of Virginia School of Law, Gordon was Bayh’s director of policy and planning during Bayh’s first term as governor.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Senator finds heckler knows about state

eamon1916 — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 14:14:38 GMT

<Rob's note: For those who aren't familiar... Indiana was one of 3 states to not observe DST. The state recently voted to start observing it next spring. The debate over DST is a _very_ passionate one in Indiana.>

http://tinyurl.com/chwan

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., got his first heckler on the presidential campaign trail in Iowa last week, although the insult was directed more at Indiana's infamous battle about its clocks than at its senator.
Bayh, speaking at a fundraiser for a state legislator in Ames, was about to discuss an Indiana college scholarship program he created while governor.

"If I had to pick one thing I was proudest of . . . " Bayh began.

"Daylight-saving time?" a listener shouted out, causing big peals of laughter.

"No, it's not that," Bayh said. "But I see you're familiar with our state."

Best of both offices

Considering that it's been more than 40 years since a sitting senator was elected to the White House, it's not surprising that Bayh likes to emphasize his two terms as governor as he tests the waters for a potential 2008 run. Bayh, who has served in the Senate since 1999, frequently says he is "first and foremost a governor." But he also has found a way of combining the appeal of being a governor with the national security and foreign policy exposure of being in the Senate.

"You think you have a senator here," Bayh told a group of Des Moines Democrats last week. "You have a governor who now has national security experience."

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Bayh: Rove must go if linked to CIA leak

eamon1916 — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 19:56:10 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/aema6
Bayh: Rove must go if linked to CIA leak

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa -- White House political adviser Karl
Rove must be forced from office if he's linked to the
leaking of a CIA operative's name, Indiana Sen. Evan
Bayh said today.

Rove faces a fourth grand jury appearance in the
investigation of the leaking of CIA officer Valeria
Plane's name after her husband, former Ambassador
Joseph Wilson, became a public critic of Bush
administration policies.

"Even if he's not indicted, if it appears that a top
adviser to the president of the United States was
trying to harm someone personally for having a
different public policy point of view, that's
unacceptable behavior in the White House," Bayh said.

Bayh, who is considering a run for the Democratic
presidential nomination, visited Iowa today to
campaign for legislative candidates.

Bayh said Bush's political strategists have divided
the nation for short-term political gain.

"That kind of cynical strategy has worked well for
Karl Rove and the people whose advice he takes, but
it's not good for America and it's not the kind of
politics I'm going to practice," Bayh said.

The Indiana senator and former governor said the
nation faces profound challenges from a fast-changing
world economy. The country can't meet those challenges
with an electorate that's deeply divided and political
leaders that foster that division, he said.

"We have to come together as a people because the pace
of change that confronts us from the rest of the world
doesn't give us the luxury of being as divided as we
are now," Bayh said.

Bayh started the day at a fundraising breakfast and
was scheduled to speak at several similar gatherings
throughout the day in Iowa.

"As a former governor, I know how important
legislative seats are," he said.

posted in Evan Bayh - 8 replies

Possible presidential candidate makes visit to Des Moines

eamon1916 — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:00:43 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/avd53
Possible presidential candidate makes visit to Des Moines

By Charlotte Eby

DES MOINES — U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat from Indiana and potential presidential candidate in 2008, said Americans are looking for a leader to help bring people together at a time when the country is the most divided it has been since the Vietnam War.

“I think we’ve had too many politicians who for short-term political reasons have actually sought to divide the American public. That’s deeply irresponsible,” Bayh said.

Bayh met with activists Thursday morning in Des Moines during a two-day trip to the state, where he helped raise money for state lawmakers. Bayh said he plans “a few” more trips back to the state, which kicks off the presidential nominating process.

The former Indiana governor pointed to his own political success in a state that is challenging for Democrats. Indiana has cast its electoral votes for the Republican presidential candidate 16 out of the last 17 presidential elections.

“I think it takes leaders who reach out and try to appeal to something other than people’s baser instincts,” Bayh said. “I think it takes leaders who consciously try to appeal to more than just their stronger supporters, the independents and the reasonable people on the other side of the political aisle.”

He said President Bush has governed the country in a way that has divided people more than in any time since the Vietnam War. Bayh said the country is facing profound change in a more competitive world, which is creating challenges that leaders in Washington don’t have a strategy for dealing with.

“We need to be much more aggressive and thoughtful as a country about meeting those challenges and preparing for that change if America’s going to be all that it can and should be. And we’re not doing nearly enough of that today, economically, from a security standpoint, or energy independence and a variety of other areas,” he said.

Polk County Auditor Michael Mauro asked Bayh why Democrats initially agreed with the idea of going to war in Iraq and how the United States eventually would get out.

Bayh offered up a detailed answer on the process of making Iraq more politically stable, an answer that didn’t seem to satisfy Mauro.

“I was looking for him to say that there were some bad decisions made, there was some bad information given, because lots of Democrats bought onto that,”said Mauro, who is running for Secretary of State next year.

Charlotte Eby can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Bayh stresses unity in Iowa

eamon1916 — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 15:57:15 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/bqtfd
Bayh stresses unity in Iowa

The Indiana senator, speaking in Des Moines, says he wants to bring Americans together.

By TIM HIGGINS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

October 14, 2005

If U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh runs for president in 2008, his supporters' favorite bumper sticker might read "Bayh-partisan."

Bayh, in Iowa for the second time this year, met Thursday with Des Moines Democrats and told them he wants to unite people to solve the nation's problems.

The Indiana senator noted that he's already won in a state that traditionally elects Republicans.

"We are not going to be able to meet our challenges as deeply divided as we currently are. We have to come together as a people, because the pace of change, the challenges that confront us from the rest of the world, don't give us the luxury of being divided as we are now," Bayh told reporters. "It takes leaders who reach out and try to appeal to something other than people's base."

Bayh also said presidential adviser Karl Rove should be fired if it's proven he was connected to leaking the name of a CIA agent to the news media during the buildup to the Iraq war.

"Even if he is not indicted, if it appears that one of the top advisers to the president of the United States was trying to harm someone personally for a different public-policy point of view. That's unacceptable behavior in the White House," Bayh said.

The former Indiana governor has said he will make his official decision on whether to run for president after the 2006 elections. The Iowa caucuses are expected to lead off the presidential nominating process in 2008.

Bayh spent Thursday at small gatherings around Des Moines and plans to meet with activists in Ames today.

He joked about a bumper sticker that could play off his last name, pronounced "buy."

"I kind of like 'Bayh-partisan,' " he told Democrats at a lunch meeting hosted by state Rep. Janet Petersen of Des Moines.

The day's first appearance was a breakfast hosted by former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bonnie Campbell and her husband, Ed, at Blank Municipal Golf Course. It was a who's who of Polk County politics: Supervisor John Mauro; Treasurer Mary Maloney; and Auditor Michael Mauro, who plans to run for Iowa Secretary of State.

Maloney said she wanted to hear Bayh's message but, like many, was quick to say her appearance was no endorsement.

"It's way too early to say. This is 2005," she said. "I am interested in meeting all of them."

Later in the day, Bayh attended a few events with Peterson. He told the groups that America faces a number of challenges because of the ever-changing global economy, and that those issues must be addressed by a united country.

"The truth of the matter is that the American people have much more in common than what divides us," Bayh said. "There is a yearning for . . . people to remind us that at the end of the day, we really are not red states and blue states but 50 red-white-and-blue states with a common heritage and common destiny."

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Congressional Petition

Rocky — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:16:03 GMT

I hope Evan Bayh will confront the issues concerning religion in governemnt. What do you think he'll do? Be sure to send him the Congressional Petition below. All of our leaders should be briefed on the agenda of the religious right that has taken over the Republican party like a parasite.

The powerful Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, Tom DeLay (R-TX) embodies government by divine guidance:

He [God] is using me, all the time, everywhere, to stand up for a biblical worldview in everything that I do and everywhere I am. He is training me.

http://www.theocracywatch.org/gov_tom_delay.htm

------------

Weekend Warriors

House Leader Tom DeLay's 'Biblical' Agenda Draws Amens From Worldview Weekend Activists Who Are Seeking 'Christian Dominion' In America

By Rob Boston

http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5572&abbr=cs_

------------------------------

Congressional Petition

Friends, here are 3 excellent videos that highlight what is going on in America & the US government today. All 3 of these videos are so important that they must be a mandatory view for all Congressmen & women, US politicians, Supreme Court Justices etc.

Folks must realize that accuracy, transparency, facts & evidence do not equate to religious intolerance. We have both a right & a responsibility to demand all of those attributes when it comes to our most cherished beliefs. We must unite & demand accuracy & transparency in religion & government before it's to late. An open & honest discussion on the topic of religion is still taboo in America. This must change now. We have a lot to learn very quickly & one good way to catch-up is to view these 3 videos that explain it very well.

“Religious freedom is one thing,” says Joan Bokaer, director of TheocracyWatch, a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell University. “But religious extremism is something completely different. What people aren’t aware of is just how deeply the radical religious right has penetrated our government—in all three branches. We really are very close to becoming a theocracy. People have reason to be worried.”

View videos # 1 & 2 - "Life and Liberty for All Who Believe" & "The Rise of Dominionism" @ ...

http://www.theocracywatch.org/audio-video.htm

The next movie has been astounding audiences in theaters around the world is now available on DVD. In this provocative, critically acclaimed documentary, you will discover:

- The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus

- The Jesus of the Gospels bears a striking resemblance to other ancient heroes and the figureheads of pagan savior cults

- Contemporary Christians are largely ignorant of the origins of their religion

- Fundamentalism is as strong today as it ever has been, with an alarming 44% of Americans believing Jesus will return to earth in their lifetimes

Movie # 3 - http://www.thegodmovie.com/

"Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?" is an excellent article to explain further, a must read for anyone who wants all of the facts.

http://www.ffrf.org/about/bybarker/rise.php

Please send a copy of this Petition letter to your state, & local Representatives etc, etc.

FirstGov encourages you to contact your elected officials and share your thoughts on current events and government policy. Below you'll find links to e-mail addresses, as well as phone numbers and mailing addresses for key elected officials -

http://www.us.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

p.s. Also, request these DVD's be made available at your local libraries & favorite movie rental stores.

;

posted in Evan Bayh - 1 reply

Bayh's Hoosier values

eamon1916 — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 14:57:05 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/atyx6
Bayh's Hoosier values

The Star editorial board seems to have been waiting in the weeds to nail Sen. Evan Bayh. When the senator announced his intention to vote against confirmation of Judge John Roberts as chief justice, Monday's lead editorial condemned it as "pure political posturing . . . erasing any doubt that he's running for president in 2008."

The editorial spared no rhetorical ammunition, saying Bayh's vote was calculated to avoid attacks by left-wing Democrats and "hyperventilating political action committees" in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. His lame alibi for such perfidy, said The Star, was "a vague answer about Roberts' supposed vagueness before the Judiciary Committee."

Well, the truth is Roberts was vague before the Judiciary Committee, purposely so. When the confirmation hearings began, Bayh introduced Roberts, a fellow Hoosier, saying, "I look forward to a full and clarifying discussion of his views." Roberts danced and dodged around questions on critical issues including church-state separation, Title IX, rights of illegal immigrants, gay rights and abortion.

The White House complicated efforts by refusing to release memos written by Roberts during his tenure in the solicitor general's office. When asked about troubling positions taken both in private practice and government service, Roberts maintained that he was only arguing the position of his clients or of the administration he served. These were not necessarily his own positions, he said, remaining vague on whether he would defend core rights or narrow them.

Bayh's position was not vague, and it echoes that taken by many other senators: A lifetime appointment as chief justice is too important to be trusted to an enigma. Roberts asked to be taken on faith. Bayh said that is too much to ask.

Bayh may have inherited his high regard for the Senate's duty to advise and consent on Supreme Court nominees from his father. As a teenager, Evan watched Birch Bayh labor to block two Nixon nominees. Clement Haynsworth, in 1969, was doomed by revelations about his legal and business ethics. In 1970, Nixon's next choice, G. Harold Carswell, was found to have run for office as a white supremacy candidate.

As for hyperventilating, check these closing sentences from the Star editorial: "Bayh went to Washington talking about Hoosier values. He clearly lost them along the way." That's about the worst thing you could say about an Indiana politician. All this over his single vote against Judge Roberts? Nonsense!

Bayh is one of the most moderate Democrats in the Senate. He regularly irritates liberal special interest groups, voting against partial-birth abortion and importation of price-controlled foreign drugs. He supports the administration's war on terrorism though he did tell Donald Rumsfeld that he should resign because of Abu Ghraib.

How do you measure Hoosier values? One way might be to note that Bayh has never come close to losing an election in Indiana.

That's why national Democrats are interested in Bayh. They know now that the South is lost in presidential elections and the up-for-grabs battleground is the Midwest, where many large electoral states are decided by a point or two.

But mostly Bayh embodies exactly the Hoosier values The Star thinks he's lost. And those values may prove strong medicine if he does run for president in 2008.

Bayh once said, "I do think that whatever is right for the Democratic Party and right for the American people will be found in the center, both geographically and ideologically." That's an idea that deserves a test.

Ken Bode, a former senior political analyst for CNN, is the Pulliam professor of journalism at DePauw University. Contact him at kenbode@depauw.edu.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Statement by Sen Bayh on Judge Roberts

eamon1916 — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:51:27 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/97rqh

"The outcome of John Roberts' confirmation process is not in doubt. He will be the next Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Like all Americans regardless of party, I hope and pray that he will be a great Chief Justice. Time will tell.

"But I am troubled that I must hope and pray for that result and cannot conclude it with greater certainty. I cannot because so much essential to reaching a considered judgment about this nominee remains unknown. And that is not enough for a lifetime appointment to our nation's highest court, a court from which there is no appeal, a court that is the ultimate arbiter of our most basic rights and freedoms.

"It did not need to be this way. When I introduced Judge Roberts at his confirmation hearing, I said that I looked forward to a full and clarifying discussion of his views. Regrettably, that did not happen.

"A more forthcoming process -- one in which the White House released all important, relevant documents and one in which questions were answered forthrightly -- could have filled in the empty spaces, resolved doubts and warranted my support. The nominee was not well-served by a process designed to maintain ambiguity rather than resolve it. Voting to confirm a nominee to the Supreme Court must be more than an act of faith.

"Much of my thinking involves what it means for the Senate to "advise and consent," who bears the burden of proof and how to resolve ambiguity and address the unknown.

"‘Advise and consent' must mean more than ascertaining collegiality and strength of resume. Those things are essential, but not enough. More important are a nominee's beliefs. On this score, in too many important areas, we can only speculate.

"John Roberts had less than two years on the Court of Appeals and issued very few opinions to shed light on his approach as a judge to significant constitutional issues.

"Prior to that, he was a lawyer in private practice. A successful lawyer, but according to his own testimony, the beliefs he represented were his clients, not his own. So there's little to be learned from that time in his career beyond what we already know -- he's an effective advocate for others' beliefs. The question is, what are his own?

"And then we get to his public service.

"His statements on equal rights and discrimination against woman while serving in the executive branch are extremely troubling. For example, he argued that a high school student who was sexually harassed by a teacher had no remedy under Title IX-the Supreme Court disagreed with him in a unanimous decision.

"Unlike some, I don't believe that Judge Roberts' statements as a young lawyer must reflect his views today. My views have certainly evolved since my twenties, and I assume that Judge Roberts' have as well. However, all we can do is assume, because when presented with the opportunity to disavow the positions in his memos, Roberts refused. His answer, that he was a lawyer arguing the position of the Administration, doesn't address these concerns. For a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court, assumption alone does not meet the burden of proof.

"Nor has this burden been met by someone who seeks to resolve doubt by generalities such as, ‘I will follow the rule of law.' Surely, more is needed. But in too many instances, this is all we have.

"So, as an American and fellow Hoosier, I wish soon-to-be Chief Justice Roberts well. I hope he will strike the right balance between the role of the judiciary and the other branches of government, between the role of the executive branch and the legislative branch, between the role of the federal government and the states, and between individual rights enshrined in our Constitution and the rights of the majority as determined by election, between the need for dynamic change in the law and the importance of stability. I hope. I hope, because based on the record before us, it is impossible to know.

"Regrettably, therefore, I cannot vote to confirm, not because I oppose John Roberts, but because we simply do not know enough about his views on critical issues to make a considered judgment. And that is the standard that must be met for a lifetime appointment to our nation's highest court."

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Bayh says he won't support Roberts nomination

eamon1916 — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 18:10:04 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7kl6x
Bayh says he won't support Roberts nomination

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh said Friday he will vote against the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to be the next chief justice of the United States because not enough is known about how Roberts will act.
“I cannot (conclude he'll be a great justice) because so much essential to reaching a considered judgment about this nominee remains unknown,” Bayh said in a statement. “And that is not enough for a lifetime appointment to our nation’s highest court, a court from which there is no appeal, a court that is the ultimate arbiter of our most basic rights and freedoms.”

Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar plans to vote for Roberts, who spent most of his childhood in Indiana. A majority of senators plan to vote for Roberts.

Bayh was the last Senate Democrat considering a 2008 presidential run to announce how he will vote.

Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. voted against Roberts and Wisconsin Sen. Russell D. Feingold voted for him when the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed his nomination Thursday. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton announced her opposition after the committee vote and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has also said he’ll vote against Roberts when the full Senate takes up the nomination next week.
Women’s groups, which are influential in the Democratic primary process, are opposed to Roberts.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Why I'm Backing Bayh

eamon1916 — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:42:53 GMT

“The Democratic Party has an important decision to make. Do we want to vent or do we want to govern?” Senator Evan Bayh spoke those words in 2003 as the primary season for the 2004 Presidential election was just getting started. They are still true today. In a couple of years we are going to be faced with a question of who are we going to support in the campaigns for President. My choice is Senator Evan Bayh.

We can no longer look to the past and continue to complain about the events of the past few years. It may feel good to get the anger off our chest, but it will serve no purpose other than looking like we are sore losers. We had a chance to hold President Bush accountable for his job performance as President and we lost. It’s time to put the past behind us and look to the future.

That is why I am backing Senator Evan Bayh. Senator Bayh understands that when someone is elected President, he is elected President of the United States, not President of the Democrats or Republicans, or President of liberals or conservatives. You must be able to work with your opponents, not alienate them. You must be willing to listen to your opponents, not ignore them.

Senator Bayh has a long track record of working with both sides in forging bipartisan partnerships. His record as Governor and Senator presents a solid record of governing from the center. Governing from the center is crucial if we want to bind the rift that has split this country apart into Red and Blue. As Americans, we have many challenges to face in the coming years and ruling from either the right or left of the political spectrum will only serve to alienate the citizens on the opposite side thus hurting the country we all love as a whole.

The most important thing to remember is that what is best for political ideology isn’t always what’s best for the country. It’s time to stop thinking about our party and think about our country. It’s time to stop thinking about how we’ve been wronged and think about how we can make it right. It’s time to stop thinking about left vs. right or red vs. blue and start thinking about bringing the country together again. It’s time to back Senator Evan Bayh.

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August Bayh Bulletin

eamon1916 — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:31:47 GMT

August 2005 Bayh Bulletin

This August, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh traveled across Indiana, co-hosting Job Fairs, Job Training and Small Business Summits for the third year in a row. These forums helped connect Hoosiers with more than 300 employers seeking to fill more than 6,500 jobs statewide and also gave entrepreneurs the opportunity to seek advice from experts on how to start and grow a business. Bayh also announced that the IRS had decided to keep the Fort Wayne Tax Assistance Center open after pressure from himself and a coalition of other senators. With the Senate back in session this month, Senator Bayh will continue his efforts to champion Hoosier interests in Washington.

Bayh Holds Six Job Fairs, Job Training and Small Business Summits Across Indiana

Senator Bayh traveled across Indiana this month, co-hosting the third annual series of Job Fairs, Job Training and Small Business Summits as part of his efforts to help residents succeed in today’s economy. Bayh, a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, organized the forums to provide Hoosiers with the tools and resources they need to find a job today and create the jobs of tomorrow. Job fairs were held in South Bend, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Marion.

Bayh joined with co-sponsors to bring together 300 companies seeking to fill more than 6,500 jobs statewide and invited representatives from local universities, trade programs, and non-profits to meet with Hoosiers interested in learning how to improve their work skills to apply for new, higher-paying jobs. Bayh also brought together small business experts to provide entrepreneurs with practical tools and advice to expand their businesses.

“At the Job Fairs, Job Training, and Small Business Summits, every single Hoosier has the opportunity to realize his or her goal - whether that’s to find a job today or create the jobs of tomorrow,” Senator Bayh said. “Indiana’s small businesses already employ a million Hoosiers, and I’m working hard to give them the tools they need to expand and hire even more in the future. With the resources provided in my new legislation, small businesses can become big successes, using cutting-edge equipment and improved R&D to create new jobs and strengthen Indiana’s economy.”

At the summits, Bayh announced that he will introduce legislation next month designed specifically to provide small businesses with the resources they need to compete and succeed in an increasingly fast-paced global economy. With the Small Business Future Growth Initiative, Bayh will take on the main challenges faced by Hoosier entrepreneurs in order to encourage the innovation, worker training, and high-tech developments needed to create the jobs of tomorrow.

Co-sponsors for the Job Fairs, Job Training and Small Business Summits included WorkOne, JobWorks, Indiana University -Purdue University Fort Wayne, Department of Workforce Development, Northern Indiana Workforce Investment Board, Northeast Indiana Workforce Investment Board, Ivy Tech Fort Wayne, Indiana University South Bend, City of Evansville, Office of Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, Indianapolis Private Industry Council, City of Indianapolis, Office of Mayor Bart Peterson, Indiana State University, Ivy Tech Marion, and Marion Community Schools.

Bayh Announces IRS Decision Will Keep Fort Wayne Taxpayer Assistance Center Open

Senator Bayh praised the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) recent decision to suspend plans to close some of its Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC), including the center in Fort Wayne. The decision was made possible after the Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to maintain funding for Taxpayer Assistance Centers in the IRS budget. Senator Bayh and a bipartisan coalition of other senators had urged the Appropriations Committee to fully fund the Taxpayer Assistance Centers in late June. Bayh said he was pleased that the Appropriations Committee had agreed to fund the Taxpayer Assistance Centers so that Fort Wayne residents would be able to get the help they need preparing their taxes.

“Paying your taxes can be a confusing, frustrating process,” Senator Bayh said. “The very least the IRS can do is make the process easier by offering Hoosiers the chance to talk face-to-face with an IRS representative who can answer their questions and provide advice. I am happy that Fort Wayne residents will continue to have those services available to them, and I will continue working to make sure that Hoosier taxpayers receive high-quality customer service from the IRS and other government agencies.”

In June of this year, Senator Bayh and his colleagues wrote to the Appropriations Committee urging it to reject the IRS’ planned reductions in taxpayer service, which would have closed 68 Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country, including the one in Fort Wayne. In their letter, the senators questioned the IRS’ rationale for the reductions and emphasized the importance of customer service and in-person tax assistance to American taxpayers. Last week, the IRS announced it had suspended plans to close some of its Taxpayer Assistance Centers.

Senator Bayh’s efforts to keep Taxpayer Assistance Centers open will help ensure that taxpayers have access face-to-face help in understanding and complying with federal codes and laws, in addition to phone and Internet customer service options. Many taxpayers do not have access to computers and many others simply prefer face-to-face service.

Last year, in another effort to ensure face-to-face service for area residents, Bayh successfully fought to keep the regional Social Security office in Auburn open.

---------------------

We hope that you found this issue of "The Bayh Bulletin" informative. Please feel free to share with us your opinions on important issues and any other feedback you might have by using one of our forms to contact Senator Bayh available here.

Do you know someone who would like to receive "The Bayh Bulletin"? If so, please direct them to http://bayh.senate.gov/signup.htm.

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Sen Bayh on Katrina

eamon1916 — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 15:39:32 GMT

Sen Bayh's speech on the Senate Floor regarding Hurricane Katrina

----

Madam President, I don’t speak often on the floor of the Senate. Frankly, it’s been my observation that we have too many speeches and not enough action in this town. But some events are so profound that they demand our reflection. The tragedy along the Gulf Coast is such a time.

This Sunday will be the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11th - attacks that opened our eyes to the dangerous world that we live in, made real the existence of evil, and shook our national complacency forever.

Last week, we witnessed a tragedy of equal proportions - not a terrorist attack but an act of nature, made more tragic by the violation of the bedrock American value of community and the fundamental promise implicit between our government and our people.

Our Government failed at one of the most basic functions it has - providing for the physical safety of our citizens and in so doing raised basic questions about who we are as a people, what makes us special, and whether our leaders understand.

Madam President, I’m not going to dwell on the horror of the past week which we as a nation witnessed and which the people of the Gulf Coast experienced.

Among the horrors, we also witnessed countless episodes of tremendous heroism and heartwarming generosity. And we saw Americans from across the country rise up to play the role the Government should have played by giving money, food, water, clothes, even opening their homes to complete strangers. That’s the best of America.

There will be a time for the hearings and fact-findings and commissions. Those investigations must be independent so that we can get to the bottom of what happened and why. And those responsible must be held accountable for their mistakes, not promoted or awarded medals.

Today, however, I want to talk about something deeper - the breaking of a promise between our basic institutions of government and the American people who have created those institutions.

The fact is, Madam President, that scores, maybe hundreds of lives were lost not simply because people didn’t leave, or because the levees were not strengthened, but because after the storm our institutions of government failed them. And that’s just not right.

Many of us never thought we would live to see the day when tens of thousands of our fellow citizens would be left for nearly a week to fend for themselves without food, without water, and stranded on roof tops.

This is a moment where we have to step back and revisit the idea of what America is really all about.

People came here because of that idea - they came here because of the promise that everyone has an opportunity to aspire to something greater and if you work hard and play by the rules, our government will stand up for you if you happen to fall down on your luck.

What happened last week in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast broke faith with that idea in a profound way.

I believe that the truth about America today is that our institutions - and particularly this Administration - have broken their fundamental promise to the people they were elected to serve.

It’s unfortunate, but perhaps not surprising from leaders ideologically hostile to the institutions that they lead. The answer to the challenges we confront today can’t be big government, but it also cannot be no government. And above all, it cannot be incompetent government, but that’s what they have given us.

What we are seeing in New Orleans is the result of a series of misjudgments and misdirected priorities that have all produced an increasingly tragic result - a people unprotected by their own government - a government that longer embodies our most basic and most precious values. From soldiers without armor to protect them in battle to children with no health care to protect them against disease to corporate employees with no pensions to guide them in their elder years. This Administration has sown the seeds of indifference and division for too long and now we are all reaping the whirlwind.

Americans have always prized individuality - it is part of our national DNA, but America is a community that draws strength from the sum of our people and has always known that the total of that sum is worth far more than its individual parts.

We can only do so much alone to maximize our freedom, to make the most of our liberties. Sometimes we must act together. It is what separates us from the Law of the Jungle. It’s what makes us special and different from other countries too.

As a civil rights leader once said, we may have arrived on these shores in different ships but we’re all in the same boat now.

Last week we were not all in the same boat. There were too many left adrift. Too many of our boats were left behind.

This is not the America we have known for more than two hundred years and not the America we should aspire to be.

Our government broke a promise. It did not keep faith with our values. It’s time for us to renew that commitment - to make a new promise - to the people who went through the horror of last week and to each and every American across our great land. That we are going to work with you, to rebuild your city, to give you the tools and the resources you need to get back on your feet. That together we are all in the same boat and that everyone has a place. It will help you and it will strengthen all of us.

We must providing funding to school districts that accept displaced children.

We must provide medical assistance for all displaced victims without forcing them to prove wade through endless red tape.

We must rebuild and strengthen the levee system in New Orleans as quickly as humanly possible - which should have been done years ago - so that its people will never again face the calamity of last week.

If Holland can do it, the little nation of Holland, than so too can we. But to accomplish all this and so much more that remains to be done. It will take leadership. Leadership unlike that which has controlled Washington for these last several years. The times demand leaders that understand that the true test of leadership is not how we accentuate the differences among us, but instead how we reconcile them, how we forge principled consensus, and how we find common ground.

We need leaders who appeal to us to think about something other than narrow self-interest, but instead focus upon the greater, the better good.

The answer to our challenges, Madam President, can be found all around us on this floor. It is written on the motto of the great seal of the United States Senate. E Pluribus Unum - “out of many, one.” United there are no challenges we cannot meet. Divided we will remain surrounded by dangers, our potential as a nation, unfulfilled.

So this Sunday, September 11th, let us say a prayer for the victims in New York and for those along the Gulf Coast and most of all, let us say a prayer and ask for a blessing on this great country that we might have the unity, the wisdom, and the selflessness to fulfill the full meaning of our creed - “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

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Sen Bayh to return to NH

eamon1916 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 18:52:09 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/83r5r
Senator will return to New Hampshire as Democrats'
keynote speaker

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., is heading to New Hampshire in
October, and it's not for the fall foliage.

Bayh, who is considering running for president in
2008, will be the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire
Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Oct.
29.

It will be Bayh's second trip this year to New
Hampshire, home of the first-in-the-nation primary. He
spent two days in the Granite State in July, meeting
with party leaders and activists, environmentalists
and local media, and touring a plant.

Bayh's cultivation of New Hampshire began before that,
however. Former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who
was the national chairwoman of John Kerry's 2004
campaign and ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in
2002, was a top recipient of money Bayh raised through
his political action committee. Shaheen remains an
influential Democratic player.

But Bayh is one of many potential presidential
candidates courting the state.

Democratic visitors since the beginning of the year
have included Kerry, former vice presidential nominee
John Edwards, former presidential candidate Wesley
Clark and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack was supposed to speak at a
Democratic picnic on Labor Day weekend, but he phoned
in remarks instead so he could remain in Iowa and deal
with evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.

At least seven Republicans also have traveled to New
Hampshire this year.

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Indiana's Bayh stumps in South Carolina

eamon1916 — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 15:23:28 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/aznjk
Indiana's Bayh stumps in South Carolina

JENNIFER HOLLAND

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. - U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said
Wednesday he's preparing for a possible bid for
president in 2008 and wanted to test South Carolina's
political waters.

Bayh says he knows South Carolina, which is the third
contest after Iowa and New Hampshire, could play a big
role in securing the Democratic nomination.

The former Indiana governor rallied top Democrats at a
reception honoring past and present party leaders in
the South Carolina congressional delegation, telling
them he know what it will take for Democrats to win
back control.

He said Indiana has a lot in common with South
Carolina, including "the values in our respective
states and the economic challenges that we face and of
course as Democrats it's always a little up hill in
places like South Carolina and Indiana. I think that
might give us a special kinship as well."

Bayh said he also recognizes how to rebuild the party
by sending a message that "we really do want to
provide the kind of leadership that reaches out to
independents and reasonable Republicans."

He said Democrats need to improve their credibility on
national security and convince Americans that
Democrats are willing to use force when necessary.

He also says Democrats need to have a message about
growing the economy at a time of globalization and
fiscal discipline.

"I think very often the public sees us as just a
collection of public interests," Bayh said.

He also criticized President Bush for failing to
inspire people to work together.

"Regardless of geography, I think Americans really do
yearn for more unity and less division," Bayh said. "I
think people understand that these are serious times,
that we face serious challenges and we're not going to
be able to meet them if we're divided."

Bayh said his message would resonate with voters in a
state like South Carolina, where nearly a third of the
population is black.

"I've got a long record book as governor and in the
Senate of standing for social justice," Bayh said. "I
appointed the first minority individual and the first
woman to our state Supreme Court."

The South Carolina Democratic Party raised about
$25,000 at the reception, which Chairman Joe Erwin
said would help pay down a third of the party's debt.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said that Bayh's
Midwestern values appeal to Southerners. "Evan has a
tremendous shot in South Carolina," Clyburn said.

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Bayh pays visit to fundraiser in South

eamon1916 — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 15:20:23 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7a3w6
Bayh pays visit to fundraiser in South

Democrat says party needs 2008 candidate like himself
who can attract GOP voters.

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The South Carolina Democratic Party
fundraiser where Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., was a special
attraction Wednesday night was a salute to the state's
Democratic members of Congress.

That's a small group.

Only two of the state's eight U.S. House members and
two senators are Democrats, highlighting the
Democratic Party's problem of competing in the South.

"This party is bloodied," said Rep. John Spratt of
South Carolina. In fact, in the six presidential
elections after 1980, Democratic candidates have
carried a total of just nine Southern states. That
happened even though three of those candidates --
Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore -- were from
the South.

As Bayh has traveled across the country this year,
pitching himself as a potential 2008 presidential
candidate, he has emphasized that he has won five
statewide races in Republican Indiana. That includes
his 62 percent re-election victory last year when
President Bush won 60 percent of the vote in Indiana
-- two more percentage points than the Republican
incumbent got in South Carolina.

"I think folks in states like yours and mine, maybe we
know a little bit more about this than some others,"
Bayh told the group of party leaders and donors.
"Because the challenge facing our party nationally is
not whether we win California by more, or New York by
more, but reaching out to South Carolina and Indiana
and Ohio and Florida and convincing enough people who
haven't been with us to come on over and give us a
chance."

South Carolina was one of an early group of states --
and the first in the South -- to weigh in last year
after the traditional opening of the nominating
process by Iowa and New Hampshire. Although the 2008
primary schedule has not been determined, other
potential candidates are paying attention to South
Carolina. They include former U.S. Sen. John Edwards
of neighboring North Carolina.

"Maybe the national Democratic Party is going to get
the message that winning a Southern state, or a border
state like Missouri, is more important than winning
New Hampshire," said former South Carolina Democratic
Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian. "To think you can win
the presidency by playing to the liberal base of the
Democratic Party without coming south to a more
moderate base is delusional."

Bayh's speech -- emphasizing strong national security,
creating jobs in a global economy, achieving more
energy independence and reducing partisanship, themes
he's sounded in speeches across the country -- played
well with Chris Geola, who recently moved to South
Carolina from Alabama and came to the fundraiser with
his wife to check out the Democratic Party.

"It seemed to reach the people that this party needs
to," Geola said. "I liked the moderate message."

8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com.

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Bayh will introduce Supreme Court nominee

eamon1916 — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 15:18:13 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7kcg3
Bayh will introduce Supreme Court nominee

By Kathy Kiely and July Keen
USA Today

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee John Roberts will
be introduced to the Senate Judiciary Committee next
week by a centrist Democrat and a veteran Republican,
an important symbolic boost for his confirmation
prospects.

Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat who represents Roberts'
home state of Indiana, and Sen. John Warner, a
Virginia Republican, have agreed to appear with him
when confirmation hearings begin Tuesday.

Warner is a member of the Gang of 14, a bipartisan
group of senators who cut a deal earlier this year
that allowed some of President Bush's judicial
nominees to be confirmed, but maintained Democrats'
ability to block others under "extraordinary"
circumstances. Support from the group will be crucial
to Roberts' confirmation.

Bayh is appearing in accordance with "the
longstanding, bipartisan tradition of introducing a
nominee from his home state" and hasn't yet made up
his mind how he'll vote on the nomination, said the
senator's spokesman, Dan Pfeiffer.

But the presence of Bayh, a potential 2008
presidential contender, will underscore differences in
the Democratic Party over the Roberts nomination.
Liberals such as Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and
Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts have sharply
criticized some of Roberts' positions.

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Sen. Bayh's latest comments about John Roberts

eamon1916 — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 15:17:04 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/9uwyz
Sen. Bayh's latest comments about John Roberts

"Judge Roberts called me (Wednesday) and asked me if I
would do (introduce Roberts at next week's
confirmation hearings) and of course as a matter of
courtesy I agreed to do that. He lived in our state
from the time he was eight until the time he was 18.
He considers Indiana to be where he was raised. So I
told him I'd be pleased to do that. Like many of my
colleagues I'm interested in what he has to say. And
we won't know that until he's asked and answers the
questions. I think I should hear what the man has to
say before making up my mind. Whoever is chosen for
this spot could be on our nation's highest court for
30 years perhaps, and deal with some of the most
fundamental liberties that we have in this country so
I think it's important we take our time, ask the right
questions, listen carefully to the answers and then
reach a considered judgment. But of course when he
called me and asked me if I'd introduce him as a
courtesy, I said ‘absolutely.' As a matter of fact, my
first reaction was, we've had too much incivility in
Washington. Too much fussing and fighting. And if I'm
asked to help try and correct some of that, I'm happy
to try and do that. But it does not suggest how I'm
going to vote."

-- Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., on Supreme Court nominee
John Roberts. Bayh spoke to The Indianapolis Star
during a speech trip to South Carolina

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Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh offers his views on everything from the War in Iraq to family values

eamon1916 — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:40:04 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/ak6rb
Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh offers his views on everything from the War in Iraq to family values

By Mark Bennett/Tribune-Star

The story may sum up Evan Bayh's possible appeal as a 2008 presidential candidate.

When he was a kid, Bayh's parents took him to Independence, Mo. His dad, U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind., wanted Evan to meet Harry Truman. Evan's mom, Marvella, expressly told her son to be quiet on the visit to the former president's home. And Evan did just that. At least, until he was forced to break his silence.

"I said, 'I'm sorry, Mom, I've got to go to the bathroom,'" Bayh recalled Thursday, as he spoke to a crowd at the annual job fair in Hulman Center.

Embarrassed, Mrs. Bayh turned red.

"But Truman saved the day. He said, 'It's OK, son, so do I,'" Bayh explained. "My claim to fame - I went to the bathroom with Harry Truman."

Now 49 years old, Evan Bayh indeed comes from a well-connected political family. But he also has roots in a town and a state well off the national political radar screen. On Thursday, Bayh said that when Truman became president, "he never really let it go to his head. He remembered where he came from."

Well, Bayh comes from Shirkieville, a little town in western Vigo County from which his father rose to serve as senator from 1963-81. And the fact that Evan Bayh has occupied that same Senate seat since 1998 as a Democrat in a traditionally Republican state has cast him favorably as a "centrist" when talk of the 2008 presidential race arises.

Though, in a 15-minute interview Thursday, Bayh indicated his recent visits to key election states Iowa and New Hampshire were only part of a process to explore a possible run in 2008. He is being viewed around the country as a likely entrant in the Democratic field, along with New York senator Hillary Clinton and others.

As Bayh put it, "I'm doing some of the practical things you need to do to keep that option open."

He was a 21-year-old Indiana University student in 1976, when his father ran unsuccessfully for president, losing in the Democratic primaries to Jimmy Carter. Three years later, his mother died of breast cancer at age 46. His parents' influence on the decision he faces on a possible presidential candidacy seem strong. The effect such a run would have on his wife, Susan, and their twin sons, Beau and Nick, will play a role in his choice, he said.

"It's my belief that being a good candidate and perhaps serving as a good president is consistent with being a good father," he said. "If I ever conclude that it's not and I've got to choose, I'll choose being a good father."

With some other candidates viewed as polarizing, his appeal atop the Democratic ticket is frequently linked to his popularity in an otherwise red political state. He is, they say, a crossover guy, able to win over Republican voters.

But James McDowell, an Indiana State University political science professor and veteran campaign analyst, thinks the majority of delegates to Democratic conventions are less centrist than typical Democratic voters and may likely lean toward a more liberal choice. And that could make a Bayh victory difficult, he said.

"He's potentially electable," McDowell said. "But I don't think he's going to get the nomination."

Still, Democrats in Iowa told the Des Moines Register they were impressed by Bayh during his visit earlier this month. And a political action committee called All America PAC, according to the Register, raised nearly $1.2 million in the first six months of this year toward Bayh's possible candidacy.

And though he's still exploring the idea, Bayh emphasized on Thursday his determination to avoid "going Washington" as well as the value of his experience as a state executive as Indiana's governor from 1988 to 97 and as a senator for the past seven years.

"That is a good combination," he said.

Mark Bennett can be reached by e-mail at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or by telephone at 1-800-783-8742, Option 6, Ext. 377.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tribune-Star reporter Mark Bennett sat down with Sen. Evan Bayh on Thursday to discuss the lawmaker's political future. Following is the text of that interview, in question-and-answer format.

T-S: If you run for president in 2008, will you announce your bid from Shirkieville again?

Bayh: "I don't know. That's so far down the road, I couldn't say. This is a decision that I don't have to make for a year and a half. So I'm doing some of the practical things you need to do to keep that option open. But my first priority is serving the people of our state. That's what I care about, and that's why I'm here in Terre Haute today. So if that's a decision I do make - where - I guess we'll have to decide that if that time arrives."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-S: Do you anticipate the next president will inherit a war in Iraq?

Bayh: "Well, I hope not. Hopefully, we'll be able to make enough progress before then that we can begin bringing our troops home. But it's impossible to set a deadline right now. Hopefully, we'll make progress, but how quickly we will make it, no one can really say right now. I would imagine that we will have some presence in Iraq, but hopefully it will be substantially reduced, and be if not exclusively, largely in a supportive role, rather than taking the front-line role that we currently have. We need to get more Iraqis trained and equipped to provide for their own security, so that we will no longer have to. And we can do only those things that they're not capable of, for example air cover and those kinds of things. They'll be patrolling the neighborhoods, they'll be the ones out on the front lines. Hopefully, with the next [general] elections more than three years away, God willing, we'll have gotten there by then."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-S: How much of a role will the president play in whether our troop numbers there escalate?

Bayh: "Well, I'm not a big one for Monday morning quarterbacking, but I do think that we did not have nearly enough troops there at the beginning of this conflict. And the president was warned about that by some of his top generals. And he chose to take, what I would call instead of planning for the worst and hoping for the best - which is the prudent way to undertake something as serious as the war - they've planned for the best. And now, unfortunately, we're reaping the worst. We've never had enough troops to stabilize that country and to keep the looting from breaking out and the insurgency from taking hold. And it's impossible now to go back and redo that. So the difficulty is that if we send another 20,000 or 30,000 troops, I don't believe that would make a material difference in the situation. It might help some. But it's not going to be a transforming event. If we send 200,000 or 300,000 troops, that might be transforming. We're not going to do that. We don't have that many troops to send. And we're not going to re-institute the draft. So what we have to do - and it is a slow process, much slower than any of us would like - but we have to train the Iraqis to provide for their own security, so that we will no longer have to. That's what we need to really be focusing on. That and drying up the political support for the insurgents. If you look at the history of insurgencies, the only real path to success is to convince those who are supporting the insurgency that it's not in their best interests. We need to give, in this case, the Sunni Muslims a clear understanding that they have a stake in the success of the future of Iraq. And that means including them in drafting the constitution and the election."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-S: Your terms as governor of Indiana could become an emphasis in a presidential campaign. Do you feel like your administration as governor here was unfairly portrayed, given the state's economic problems, in the last gubernatorial election involving Mitch Daniels and Joe Kernan? There were lots of references to the last 16 years of Democrat administration.

Bayh: "I'm very proud of the economic record we had during my eight years as governor. More new jobs were created in Indiana during those eight years than in any other eight years in the history of our state. I think that speaks for itself. When I left office, we had the largest budget surplus in state history. I think that speaks for itself. So I think we had a strong economic and fiscal record. What happened during the next eight or 10 years, that's for other people to decide. I'm proud of my record as governor, both economically and fiscally. Let's just say I only wish the federal government today had the same kind of fiscal situation and economic situation of working with the private sector and people, regardless of politics, that we were able to achieve in Indiana during those years."

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T-S: John Kennedy was the last sitting U.S. senator to win a presidential election. Do you think the perception, wrong or right, that the Senate is a millionaires' club somehow plays into that - that somehow the average person doesn't see these people as one of us?

Bayh: "I don't know if it's that, quite so much. Ronald Reagan was a well-to-do movie star, and yet he was elected governor [of California]. John Kennedy, to cite as an example, which is a good example - the Kennedy family, of course, was quite wealthy. Franklin Roosevelt was quite wealthy. I think it has more to do with a couple of things. First, I think one of the reasons governors win is because people look for successful executives to be successful executives. If you are good at running a state and working in a state to make progress, that is a relevant experience perhaps for serving as the chief executive of the country. At this juncture in time, I'm first and foremost a governor at heart. If I had to just choose being governor or senator and saying which would better prepare someone to be president, I'm picking governor. Because, you're are running something. You are accountable for progress every day. It's not just giving speeches and casting votes. However, we live in a dangerous world. And following the 9/11 attacks, if you want to be a credible commander in chief, I think you need to have some in-depth national security experience, too, which you don't get quite as much of, if all you've been is governor. I now serve on both the Armed Services Committee, which oversees our military, the Intelligence Committee, which oversees the terrorist threats connected to overseas countries. I spend more than half my time focused on some of those issues - what's going on in North Korea, Iraq, what's going on with al-Qaida, weapons of mass destruction, those kinds of things. So that is a good combination, as an executive running a state but also now with years of national security experience. That's No. 1. People tend to look for governors to be presidents, because they're both executives.

"The second thing I would mention is that there is a tendency we have to guard against - I call it "going Washington" - when people are elected to Congress. And it has nothing to do with how big their bank accounts are, but because Washington is not representative of the rest of the country. It's just not. And that's why I love coming home. I always try to think, 'What would I do if I were still governor? What would I think if I were in Indianapolis, in Terre Haute, faced with this problem?' And I think if you've been out [in Washington] 20, 30 years, after a while I think you stop speaking English. They talk in bureacratese, or whatever you want to call it. One thing I learned about being governor is how you bring people together. Washington just seems to be cut into so many divisions. And I think people look at that in a leader."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-S: The importance of responsible fatherhood and families has been an emphasis during your time as governor and senator. What can a president do to further those causes?

Bayh: "I think there's a role for national leadership there. But let me say this - I only wish that we could pass a law that would ensure that every man that brings a child into the world was a good father. But obviously we can't. But there are things we can do to encourage more men to be the kind of father to their children that they should be. Part of it involves men who maybe didn't get the education they now know they need to get a good job, to be a good provider. And they may have problems with alcohol or substance abuse, that kind of thing. We've got to get them help and recovered from those kinds of things before they should be connected with their families. And we need to work hard on those kinds of things, to get their lives in order, and then they'll want to re-connect and should re-connect with their kids and the mothers of their children. My philosophy on this is, there's really no substitute for loving parents. Even if the marriage doesn't work out, you still have to make that commitment. And there's things maybe we can do to inspire more men to be the kind of fathers their children deserve. If we can do that for children, fathers and mothers both will be better off.

"I go to these initiatives, and I remember going to one in Indianapolis one day. And these men would approach me, and frequently someone would say, 'You know, I never knew my father. And I've decided I want my child to have something better than that. Now, maybe I didn't live my life, as I look back, as I wish I'd lived it. But I understand I need to do better. I'm mature now. I know what it means to be a father. And I want better for my child.' And it kind of breaks that cycle of neglect."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-S: With your own dad, you experienced something not many children have - seeing him run for president. Having gone through that yourself, what kind of experience could be involved with your own boys and Susan if you decide to run?

Bayh: "That's something that weighs on my mind. Susan is totally supportive. I couldn't ask for a more supportive spouse. She's probably not as objective about her husband as she could be, but I'm glad that she's not. But she's said that whatever I decide to do, she wants to be supportive. The boys are only 9 and a half [years old]. They don't know what all is involved. I did sit down and talk with them a bit. I said, 'Boys, your dad's thinking about this; what do you think?' And they came back and said some of their friends thought that would be kind of neat, and that kind of thing. And I said, 'Well, that means your dad might not be able to be at some of your ball games quite so much, and I may be gone a lot, and I may not be able to be with you at night.' And then it didn't sound quite so good. I didn't want to turn them off to the idea. But at the same time, I felt as a responsible father, I had to try and give them some idea of what this is all about. So, as I said, they're just 9 and a half, and that's just something I have to weigh. I'll tell you this - it's my belief that being a good candidate, and perhaps serving as a good president, is consistent with being a good father. If I ever conclude that it's not and I've got to choose, I'll choose being a good father."

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T-S: What would your mom likely say to you in this situation? From your memories, what would her likely advice be?

Bayh: "That's a good question, and I don't know the answer to that. One of my regrets is that my mother has been gone for so many years. But she went through many phases in her life. She was very active in my father's public activities. She, herself, had been governor of [Hoosier] Girls State, and was a very accomplished public speaker. And so a big part of my mother would have been proud and saying, 'Look, as long as you do right by your family, that's No. 1, if you can make a contribution to your country, then that is a noble thing.' So I think a big part of her would say, that would be a good thing to do. Then after her cancer, she began to focus more on the loss of privacy and the time away from family and all those kinds of things. When you start to understand more clearly that maybe you don't have that many days left, politics isn't at the top of the agenda. Fortunately, knock on wood, as far as I know, we don't have any of those health issues in our family.

"But getting back to that, I think she would say, 'Make sure your children and your wife are taken care of. And once you do that, if you can serve your country, that would be a noble thing to do.' So I try to keep my priorities in order. But as a parent, I can only imagine if one of my boys came to me [and said he was running for president], I'd be worried for him. Because, it's hard. It's tough in some ways. People say mean things. Politics has gotten to be much too negative. That's just a fact of life. It's one I'm prepared to deal with. But I need to think about if my children would be subjected to people saying things if Š But I think we're strong enough to handle that."

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Meeting Senator Bayh, the next US President

Daniel — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 22:44:45 GMT

Because there was a private reception, I had to edit this a little.

I had the honor today of meeting the next President of the United States. Senator Bayh was in town to launch an initiative started by State Treasurer (and good friend) Jonathan Miller. The initiative deals with the Military Family Bill of Rights. Bayh is working on it in the Senate and in the House--Congressmen Ben Chandler (D KY-6) and Geoff Davis (R KY-4).

Before the press conference, I was able to attend a private reception where Sen. Bayh met briefly with everyone, and gave a speech. He took some questions. Of course, I was one of the first to meet with him when he came in. Evidently, my personal blog is popular enough to where I've become a leading voice for the Democrats per Evan. I did manage to get a photo of Senator Bayh and some other state officials. Jonathan introduced him as Kentucky's 3rd Senator and said he hopes to introduce him as the next President of the United States someday.

Before Senator Bayh showed up, I spoke with and got pictures with State Auditor Crit Luallen and Rep. Ben Chandler. I spoke with Ben for a few minutes. I spoke with Jack Conway when he arrived. He ran in 2002 against Anne Northup. No word yet on whether he'll be running in 2006. I hope he does. Like myself, Jonathan and Ben are big into fantasy baseball.

I've read some of the crap that Bayh gets for his speeches and people say he has no charisma. Guess what I have to say about that? They are wrong. I can say that I have met the next President of the USA. I will work my butt off for him when he runs in 2008. He may not be telling anyone, especially the press, but you can see that he is running especially with trips to NH and Iowa.

Jonathan introduced Senator Bayh at the press conference and than Congressman Chandler afterwards. They all took questions afterwards. Mark Riddle, who managed Jack and Ben's campaigns, was at the press conference as well. Mark Nicholas was there as well. He blogs at the Bluegrass Report. He also managed Ben's 2003 campaign.

All in all, it was great. After the press conference, I was introduced to many people including Jefferson Co. Chairman Tim Longmeyer, though I think it had to do with a little website I run...

posted in Evan Bayh - 1 reply

Evan Bayh on Road to the White House

eamon1916 — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 21:32:16 GMT

rtsp://video.c-span.org/60days/rwh081405.rm

Recorded 8/3 in Hudson, IA
Broadcast 8/14

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CNN Inside Politics - June 23 - Topic: Iraq

eamon1916 — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 21:07:36 GMT

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/23/ip.01.html

BASH: Among the lawmakers grilling the Pentagon's top guns today, Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana. After that session, he and I had a chance to talk about his views on Iraq. And I began by asking him about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld likening the sentiment about Iraq now to what it was like after World War II when critics said the U.S. was losing post war reconstruction efforts in Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. EVAN BAYH, (D) INDIANA: Dana, I think we need to be supportive of what it takes to get the job done. I think the analogy to the post World War II period is completely inept. Those countries in Western Europe weren't struggling with deep, religious divisions or ethnic divisions, they didn't have hostile neighbors who were infiltrating insurgents into their society. And most importantly, we had a strategy for success with clear benchmarks to measure our progress and to hold policymakers accountable.

All of those thing, unfortunately, are not in place in Iraq today. And they need to be if we are going to be successful. So, I think the American people live from patience, Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike, but there has to be a strategy with benchmarks to determine how we're doing so that we can have confidence in the leadership. That's not in place right now.

BASH: As you probably know, Democrats recently, even in the last 24 hours or so, have met and decided that it's very important as a party to have a much sharper focus -- sharper rhetoric against the White House when it comes to Iraq. Is that a smart thing to do?

BAYH: Well, I think the American people want a sharper focus upon the strategy for success. This shouldn't be a political thing. I think the American people, Democrats included, want accountability for progress in meeting the benchmarks that we need to meet in order to be successful there so that the Iraqi people can go forward and we can bring our troops home. I think that's sound public police. I don't think it's a matter of political posturing.

BASH: General Abizaid suggested that perhaps some of the rhetoric coming from Washington, talking about how Iraq isn't necessarily going that well is perhaps hurting the troops on the ground. Is there a danger in Democrats, maybe even some Republicans, overreaching in the criticism?

BAYH: Well, we all need to guard against overreaching. I think that applies to both sides. And there have been excesses on both sides. For example, when Vice President Cheney said a month ago that the insurgency was on its last legs, or in its throws, that's simply not reality.

So both sides need to stick to the facts. We need to be candid with the American people about what is going on in Iraq so that we can earn their trust and confidence and most importantly define a strategy for ultimately bringing this to a successful conclusion.

BASH: Senator Bayh, I wanted switch you to another topic, that is, comments by Karl Rove. The White House political strategist said that saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. Now, the White House is defending those comments, saying that it's simply -- he was simply illustrating a difference in philosophy. Is there something to that?

BAYH: No. That's an example of hyperbole. The kind of overheated rhetoric that exists in Washington. Sadly, Dana, that is one of the reasons why people look at this city and sometimes think it's really a part of a foreign country not their own.

Look, the administration, if we want to have a consensus and reconcile our differences so that we can go forward and be successful together in the war on terror, we can't engage -- the administration can't engage in that kind of divisive, overheated partisan rhetoric, it's just not right.

BASH: I want to ask you about -- or at least read you a quick quote from one of your colleagues, Senator Joe Biden. He said about the 2008 race, I know it's only 2005, but he was talking about it. He said, my intention is to seek the nomination. If, in fact, I think I have a clear shot at winning the nominee by this November or December, then I'm going to seek the nomination.

You have said thaw are keeping your options open. But the field is getting crowded, Senator, do you want to go further than that?

BAYH: Well, I hope I don't disappoint you, Dana. I am not going any further on the program today. Look, I have got the utmost respect for Joe Biden. He's an outstanding public servant. If he goes forward, I think he will be a tremendous candidate.

Others of us, myself included, are doing some of the practical things that you need to do to keep that open as an option if it makes sense when the time comes. But most importantly of all Dana, I think all of us need to focus on what's right moving this country forward. And if we focus on that, those substantive things that will matter to the American people, then all this politics, that will take care of itself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: When the time comes, senator, we will be here ready for you to come and tell us your plans for 2008

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CNN Inside Politics, July 25th

eamon1916 — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 21:04:13 GMT

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/25/ip.01.html

BASH: Senator Clinton is one of several potential 2008 presidential hopefuls attending the DLC meeting. Governors Mark Warner and Tom Vilsack are also there, as well as Indiana Senator Evan Bayh.

I spoke with Senator Bayh a short time ago. And I started by asking him about the split within the ranks or organized labor we've been reporting and if he thinks the breakup is bad for his party.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: What matters to me is the welfare of working men and women across this country. And on that, Democrats are united.

I know these organizational things come and go, but regardless of that, we need to focus upon better health care, job security and creation, pension security, those kinds of things. And if we focus on that, then hopefully, this will be just a temporary bump in the road.

BASH: OK, Senator, I want to ask about a speech that you gave -- gave there at the DLC meeting today. You talked about it being a time for intra-party squabbling and division to be over. It's no secret that the DLC, the moderate wing, where you are, and Democratic National Committee have had some -- some rifts, if you will, recently.

And your own CEO and founder, Al From, said recently -- quote -- "For the most part, congressional Democrats, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, and parts of the new Internet activists have delivered a largely negative and pessimistic message, talking about more about what is going wrong than how to make that right." So, that sounds like a pretty divisive statement in and of itself. Are you speaking to your members of the DLC, that they should sort of stop attacking Howard Dean?

BAYH: Dana, I called for unity today. Of course we're a diverse property. And that is actually a source of great strength for the Democratic Party. And of course we occasionally have differences of opinion. And it's good that we debate those.

But what's happened since November is that we've begun obsessing on those relatively minor differences. And we have got to get beyond all that and focus upon what really matters. And that is harnessing our values to -- to forge an agenda for opportunity and progress for the American people.

So, centrist Democrats, left, right, all that doesn't matter. What matters is moving forward and focusing on practical results for the American people. So, I hope we'll get beyond this identity crisis and all that stuff and focus upon the work at hand.

BASH: I want to ask about -- back here in Washington, about the leaks investigation. Your party has been pushing this hard. They've had mock hearings. It was the subject of their radio address this past weekend. They've been calling for Karl Rove's security clearance to be revoked.

It is -- it seems to be sort of a top issue for the rank-and-file Democrats out there. Given what you just said about moving on and talking about issues, is this the top agenda item, should it be, for Democrats?

BAYH: Well, it's certainly an important issue. I mean, it all comes down to leadership, Dana. We shouldn't have someone working in the Oval Office trying to discredit and smear a private individual, who's just speaking their mind about an important issue facing the country. That is not going to move our nation forward.

We have got tremendous national security challenges and economic challenges and a variety of other things. And so to have a -- one of the president's right-hand people engaged in that kind of behavior just is not -- it's not up to the standards that we ought to have in the White House.

So, it's a legitimate issue, but it's only one of many. And we have to focus on the others, too.

BASH: Let me ask you about one other issue. And that is, of course, John Roberts, his nomination. Many Democrats want to use this to sort of illustrate the differences between the party.

Democrats want to ask specifically about abortion and other issues that could highlight social differences between the right and the left, if you will. Is that something that should be done through the Roberts nomination?

BAYH: Well, I think it should. I don't think we should have either a rush to confirmation or a rush to confrontation.

You know, this individual will probably be on the Supreme Court for 30 or 40 years and will be interpreting our basic document that affects the basic civil liberties of the American people. And I think it would be irresponsible to not ask someone who has been nominated for a position like that what some of their core beliefs are.

You wouldn't run for the United States Senate or for governor or for anything else without answering people's questions about what you believe. And I think the -- the Supreme Court is no different.

BASH: Senator, it's quickly time to embarrass you. I think we have got just a few seconds left. I learned from your hometown paper today that you were recently named the hottest senator, not counting Barack Obama from Illinois. And you joked with your staff that you wanted to do a walk-off, like they had in the movie "Zoolander."

How is that planning coming? Are you planning to do that? And can you give me one of those "Zoolander" faces? Is that something that...

(LAUGHTER)

BASH: ... you've learned from that movie?

BAYH: I'm not sure I am going to embarrass myself on national TV by giving you a "Zoolander" face. But I -- I am going to say to my good friend Barack, look, maybe we can raise for a few bucks for the DLC and have some fun in the meantime. So, we'll -- we'll see how that goes.

I mean, it just goes the show that there are a lot of shortsighted people out there when it comes to voting on hottest and not hottest.

BASH: OK. Well, we're certainly going to see how that goes, in terms of you and Barack Obama doing that walk-off.

(LAUGHTER)

BASH: Let us know when that happens.

BAYH: Thank you, Dana. We'll -- we'll keep you posted.

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Skimmed from the Louisville Courier-Journal

eamon1916 — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 20:31:33 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/drc9d

On the Web
Evan Bayh hasn't officially said he will run in 2008,
but he hasn't slowed those who want it to happen.

Americans for Bayh has a Web site,
americansforbayh.com, though the site is quick to say
it's not a formal organization. There's also a blog
connected to the same group.

Meanwhile, in traffic
The same week Bayh spoke to the Iowans, we spotted a
new bumper sticker in Washington traffic. It said,
"Bayh! President 2008."

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Life of the Party

eamon1916 — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:04:41 GMT

http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/articles.html
Life of the Party?

By Chris Cillizza

Evan Bayh just may be the Democrats’ best hope in 2008—if he can convince America he’s for real.

In mid-May, Evan Bayh was leaving Washington’s ritzy St. Regis Hotel, which, with the exception of George W. Bush, has been visited by every American president since Calvin Coolidge, when a funny thing happened. Fresh from a speech to the Dow Jones board of directors, Bayh was stopped by a uniformed hotel employee. “You’re Evan Bayh!” the man said. “You need to run for president!”

So it goes, of late, for Indiana’s junior senator, who, in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes, has become the hottest commodity not named Hillary Clinton. As soon as John Kerry conceded last November, Bayh’s phone began ringing as supporters urged him to run. The Internet crowd has hoisted the banner as well—AmericansforBayh.blogspot.com promises “all Bayh news, all the time.” And in the nonstop conversations among D.C.’s chattering class—composed of consultants, lobbyists and party apparatchiks—Bayh is one of the first names offered as a 2008 contender, mentioned in the same breath as Clinton, Kerry and 2004 VP nominee John Edwards, and given an edge over Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, and governors Mark Warner of Virginia, Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Tom Vilsack of Iowa.

To Democrats searching for a new start following Kerry’s devastating defeat, Bayh has become the empty vessel into which hope is being poured. Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle raves about Bayh’s “tremendous additional growth potential.” Observers more prone to speak English note simply that Bayh has attained the Democrats’ holy grail: winning—repeatedly—in a red state.

And as Bayh has begun to raise money, hire staff and speak in key states around the country—all the necessary steps to launch a successful presidential race—it’s become increasingly clear that 2008 represents his best chance to realize the political potential that has attended him almost since birth. Go for it and he quiets the naysayers who have long cast him as a blandly handsome politician with no heft. Lose and he can look forward to spooling out his days in the Senate, pondering what might have been. All of which is to say that for Evan Bayh—the political prodigy always among the great mentioned for president and vice president, elected statewide five times but still pegged as an “empty suit,” regarded as perfect on paper but too risk-averse to win the big one—the long-awaited someday is now.

EVEN TRUE-BLUE DEMOCRATS remain unbuoyed by John Kerry’s oft-quoted assertion that if half the average crowd at an Ohio State football game had switched their votes in 2004, the Dems would now control the White House. True, Bush won Ohio—and with it, a second term—by a paltry 120,000 votes. True, his failure to win Michigan and Pennsylvania meant that Kerry took half the Rust Belt. But in 2004’s mapping of Red and Blue America, Bush was a crimson tide engulfing the South, the Southwest and the Plains states, while his opponent merely lapped at the edges in New England, the West Coast and the Upper Midwest.

The scary truth for Democrats is that Kerry’s defeat wasn’t just about Kerry. It was about the party, and it revealed, or confirmed, problems that run far deeper than the ability to hustle 50,000 or 60,000 votes. Most party strategists see these problems as solvable, but there is consensus that they must be addressed—the sooner, the better—if the Democrats hope to regain the White House in 2008.

So what exactly are the problems? First, Democrats remain (complicitly) dogged by the increasingly dirty “L” word. On the war, taxes and every other wedge issue Republicans could exploit in 2004, Kerry and his “allies” were portrayed as dangerous, untrustworthy liberals. One of the final ads Bush ran featured a narrator saying, “John Kerry and liberal allies: higher taxes; voting to tax Social Security benefits; government-run healthcare; a record of slashing intelligence; and reckless defense cuts. Alone in the booth … why take the risk?” Exit polls conducted on Election Day showed the wisdom of the Bush strategy. Not surprisingly, those who described themselves as liberal voted overwhelmingly for Kerry, while those who called themselves conservative voted just as overwhelmingly for Bush. But the former accounted for only 21 percent of those polled, while the latter accounted for 34. And for that imbalance, you have to give the Republicans credit: For years, their rhetoric has sought to make “L” a scarlet letter, to redefine “liberal” as the opposite of “moral.” In this, the Democrats have cooperated nicely; as Howard Dean pointed out in June, Democrats have ceded ownership of the term “moral”—never mind that, according to exit polls, the most pressing concern for Americans who reelected Bush was moral values.

Second, Democrats remain dogged by questions in voters’ minds about their ability and commitment to keep America safe. Kerry, the combat veteran and decorated war hero, seemed the perfect candidate to squelch those doubts, but 13 Swift Boat veterans later, everyone knows how that turned out. Bush repeatedly questioned his opponent’s ability to protect America, and in October was quoted in The Washington Post saying that Kerry “would weaken America and make the world more dangerous”—a debatable proposition at best. Yet according to exit polls, the second-most pressing concern for Americans who reelected Bush was the issue of terrorism and the war in Iraq.

Third, the Republicans’ registration and turnout operations are now killing the Democrats’. The GOP left few votes on the table last November, thanks to a massive voter identification and turnout effort that grew out of the party’s missteps in 2000. In that election, though polls showed Bush with a three-to-six-point lead in the days leading up to the vote, the margin was ultimately wiped out by a superior Democratic ground game built largely on the back of organized labor. Beginning with the 2002 midterm elections, Republicans began testing a turnout operation of their own known as the “72 Hour Program.” As the name suggests, it was designed to mobilize Republicans in the final three days before an election in an effort to nullify the traditional Democratic turnout edge. It worked. Republicans picked up seats in the House and Senate that year and spent the next two perfecting their system. The result? Kerry won more votes than any previous Democratic presidential candidate and still lost the popular vote by 3 million in 2004.

Fourth, America’s population continues to grow in areas where Republicans are strong and getting stronger. The 2004 election was a demographic disaster for Democrats, and long-term population trends are all in Republicans’ favor. Bush won 96 of the 100 fastest-growing counties in the country—the vast majority of which lie in Republican-friendly states like Georgia, Texas and Florida. For an example closer to home, look no further than Hamilton County. In the 16th-fastest-growing county in the country, 74 percent of voters chose Bush. In the spreading suburbia of Boone County, the margin was the same. It was in places like Zionsville, Fishers and Carmel that the last election was decided.

Fifth—and this is the Democrats’ most troubling problem, with the most elusive solution—the party continues to search, so far unsuccessfully, for a compelling, unified, resonant message. If Republicans have found richly fertile ground in the country’s expanding middle, it’s in large part because their mantra of free enterprise, values and keeping Americans safe resonates with young families—the pioneers of the outer suburbs. The pioneer spirit is one of opportunity and optimism, but Democrats have increasingly cast themselves as the party of “no”—no tax cuts, no adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, no war in Iraq (or at least a belated “no”)—with little in the way of positives to counterbalance the negativity.

To lead the search for solutions to these problems, party activists earlier this year turned to Howard Dean, who, during his 2004 presidential campaign, pledged to end the red/blue divide in favor of purple states where both parties could compete. He rode that pledge to victory in the battle for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee (but only after promising that he wouldn’t run for president in ’08). And so, less than a year after November’s bitter defeat, the party’s two most public faces—Dean, who recently said he “hates” Republicans, and Hillary Clinton—happen to be the country’s most visible symbols of liberalism. With liberals’ voting power waning and Republicans energized by their success in ’04, Democrats need not just a new message but a new messenger. Only by connecting with the “demi-generation” (dubbed by former Clinton and current Bayh advisor Ron Klain) of young suburban families can the party hope to win.

ENTER EVAN BAYH: Midwesterner, moderate Democrat, former red-state governor, family man. Hoosiers are well-acquainted with his meteoric rise in politics. Just two years after being elected Indiana’s secretary of state, he became, at age 33, the youngest governor in the country. He easily won reelection in 1992 with 63 percent, even as then-President George H.W. Bush was carrying Indiana by six points. That win formalized Bayh as a rising star, an idea that gained momentum when he was named keynote speaker of the 1996 Democratic National Convention and got a chance to sound the positive, family-oriented themes that have come to form the bedrock of his political philosophy. “I come from here, the heartland, a place where values run deep, and love of family and country is strong,” Bayh told the Chicago convention crowd by way of introduction. “A place where the most important title a man can have is not governor but father, husband, son.”

And a place, he might have added, that likes to rough up Democrats. “Five times, in what is a challenging environment for Democrats, I have been entrusted with leadership by the people of Indiana,” Bayh says today, adding that he can be a “unifying force” not just for Democrats but also independents and “reasonable Republicans.” From where party operatives sit, Bayh’s reach to Indiana’s “reasonable Republicans” (picture a young mom who supports abortion rights, wants to keep more of her tax dollars and worries about her kids being safe from terrorism) is his best selling point. He lured these voters with a mix of fiscal pragmatism (during his eight years as governor, he never raised taxes) and a very public home life that appealed to even the liveliest partisans.

It was this crossover appeal that landed Bayh in the pool of potential VP candidates for Kerry in 2004; he was eliminated when Kerry decided against making a geographical pick who could help him carry a state. Instead, of course, Kerry tapped the gregarious, charming John Edwards and went on to handily lose both Indiana and North Carolina. With the South seemingly shut off to them for the foreseeable future, Democrats have no choice but to wrest the Midwest back from the GOP’s clutches. Bayh, the thinking goes, could become the first Democrat to carry the Hoosier State since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. As Anita Dunn, the senator’s media consultant, argues, “he could certainly put his own state into contention in a way that no one else can” if he is leading the ticket.

Bayh’s team believes his voting record will shield him from Republican cries of “weak on defense” and “liberal.” He supported the Iraq war and the $86.5 billion Bush sought to finance it. More recently, though—and with more relevance to the primaries—the guy who’s long been regarded as an elephant in donkey’s clothing has been getting in touch with his inner Democrat: voting no to Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, blocking the confirmation of a new U.S. Trade Representative in order to force a vote on a bill seeking to tighten trade regulations with China, opposing Priscilla Owen for a seat on the federal bench.

Bayh says his voting record—sometimes with his party, sometimes not—reflects his conviction that Washington’s ideological divides ill-serve the American public. His longstanding effort to distance himself from D.C. politics-as-usual is, in the wake of last year’s elections, reemerging as a call to unity. In Bayh’s worldview, us-against-them isn’t a matter of red state vs. blue state; it’s about Washington vs. the real life of America. He often refers to the capital as a foreign country. He omits, on his official biography, any reference to having graduated from St. Albans School, the most insidery of D.C. prep schools. He laments the disconnect between Washington and the great “out there.” He decries the “cacophony of the Beltway” and speaks rhapsodically of “the real desires of most Americans out in the heartland.” (With that heartland—and the Iowa caucuses—in mind, he’s stepped up his advocacy for the use of ethanol, the corn-based alternative fuel.)

What Bayh’s supporters see in their man is a new kind of Democrat who understands the needs and concerns of folks living in the country’s vast middle because he shares them. The senator, who turns 50 this year, his wife, Susan, and their 9-year-old twins, Beau and Nick, are a picture-perfect foursome to offer up to voters in the outer ’burbs. The family will be front-and-center during the run-up to the presidential race and an integral part of campaign messaging once Bayh formally announces. At a recent speech in Colorado (a potential ’08 swing state), he tried to paint for his audience the family portrait that Hoosier voters got to see firsthand. Calling the birth of his boys “a big deal in our state,” he said, “I was the first governor since 1830 to have kids while in office, so you want to talk about the loss of privacy in public life—try sitting there in the maternity room watching the 6 o’clock news where live—live—they were reporting how often my wife was having contractions.”

“People have a much more personal connection to Evan in Indiana than they do [in Washington],” says Klain, a native Hoosier. “People saw him emerge as a family man and as a father.” When I asked Bayh about the twins’ impact on his life, he said, “I have been increasingly referencing my children and appealing to other people to think about theirs in addressing the challenges that face our country. One of the great things about our country is that each generation has always been willing to make the difficult decisions necessary to ensure that those who follow will have a better life. Now is the time for our generation to do the same.” Do it for the kids: a good—if, in Bayh’s hands, painfully stilted—message, made better by the fact that he really means it. He isn’t talking specifics yet, and he may not have to. Unlike running for governor or senator, running for president is less about policy proposals than striking a chord. “I still believe in a place called Hope” might sound hokey now, but for Bill Clinton it was political gold. At his core, Bayh believes in a Democratic Party defined by its desire to protect the American family—from terrorist attacks at home and abroad, from the creeping moral decay represented by absentee fathers and high divorce rates. The trick is to situate that family in his own version of a place called Hope—if one exists.

ALTHOUGH TALK OF BAYH’S presidential ambitions is all the rage in the D.C. gossip chamber, he remains a blank slate to American voters. In any poll testing the Democratic candidates mentioned for 2008, he is an asterisk—an afterthought next to giants like Clinton and Kerry and even the second fiddle to 2004’s second fiddle, Edwards. As a result, he’ll have to spend millions simply to introduce himself to an electorate already acquainted with his rivals. National polling suggests that no more than 1 percent of voters feel strongly enough about Bayh to say they’d support him in 2008. Others may have heard the name but know nothing about him. (Let alone his family. In a national race Bayh won’t have the resources to make sure every voter is up to speed on Susan, Beau and Nick. Nor will he have a monopoly on a telegenic clan. Edwards’ youngest children—5-year-old Emma Claire and 3-year-old Jack—were the darlings of last year’s campaign and will still be usefully cute in three years’ time.)

Of course, this early in the game, low name recognition is par for the course for a politician who’s never run a national campaign, and it’s hardly a sign of doom. Howard Dean went from “who?” in 2003 to frontrunner in ’04, and Bill Clinton went from nowhere to the White House. In presidential races, momentum is everything, and it’s harder to thrill voters when most of them already know you—harder still when they know you and don’t like you. This explains why Bayh supporters spin his asterisk status as an asset: He won’t be toting the political baggage of his better-known opponents. Robin Winston, a former Indiana Democratic Party chair and now an Indianapolis-based consultant, believes Bayh’s anonymity will be a good thing once the presidential race begins in earnest. In an implicit reference to Clinton—beloved by her allies, detested by her foes—he says, “I don’t think people will be lined up around a building for hours to be against Evan Bayh.”

But primaries are about giving voters a reason to vote for you, not against the other guy (or the other Clinton). And in order to win, Bayh must develop an appeal based on something beyond simply being the least-offensive Democratic candidate in the field. Bayh backers should be alarmed to know that when I asked Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu, a Bayh ally, about his strengths as a presidential candidate, she said earnestly: “He is not anathema to the South, the Midwest or the Northeast.” There’s a bumper sticker for you: Bayh! He’s not anathema!

In Indiana, of course, despite his membership in a smiling family, Bayh is known as blah, wooden, aloof. Like Kerry, he’s a son of privilege; like Kerry, he lacks the charisma of the politician who is also a self-made man (though perhaps Bayh’s bland is a step up from Kerry’s dour). In Bayh’s defense, however, it must be considered that he rose so far, so fast that, like the kid who grows a mustache in order to pass as older, he almost had to cloak himself in a sober personality. Assessing his style of governance, which might politely be called cautious, he told me, “I felt a need to prove I was serious enough to be entrusted with important public leadership.”

The primaries will give Bayh a chance to introduce a more compelling version of himself to America. But if his keynote address during the 1996 Democratic convention was any indication of what’s to come, wish him luck. That night—the night most Americans first laid eyes on Bayh—he was the victim of his own preternatural wariness; the speech remains his most public failure to date and was widely panned locally and nationally. The South Bend Tribune opined: “If a keynote speech is designed to light a fire in the belly of convention delegates, then Bayh was working with wet matches.” (He was also a victim of circumstances that night. First lady Hillary Clinton spoke before him, eating up valuable minutes of primetime TV news coverage. And Bayh may have been distracted by behind-the-scenes jousting with Clinton adviser Dick Morris, who wanted him to attack GOP nominee Bob Dole. Bayh refused, a decision backed by President Bill Clinton. Does this mean he won’t play dirty in a presidential campaign? Hard to say. But given his ambition, it seems unlikely that he’d let opponents savage him without throwing a few haymakers of his own. His singling out of “reasonable Republicans” may suggest he’s reserving the right to deal differently with their unreasonable counterparts.)

Sitting relaxedly in his Senate office with an arm draped over the back of a chair, Bayh—all too aware of his cardboard image—pooh-poohs the notion that he’s nothing more than a casting-call politician. “I get up in the morning, get out of bed, take off my suit, then take a shower,” he deadpans, recounting a response he once gave an Indiana reporter when asked to describe a typical day.

“There is a side of him that is very fun and engaging and great to be around,” says Richard Gordon, a longtime confidante and close friend. “I’ve had times with him where I couldn’t stop laughing.” When I asked for an example, Gordon told me that he first met Bayh in 1976, while stumping for Birch; Evan went to the Granite State to campaign, and Gordon met him at the airport. Twenty-four years later, Bayh was asked by Al Gore to campaign for him in New Hampshire, and Bayh invited Gordon along. When the senator deplaned, Gordon was waiting at the gate. “He walked up to me and said: ‘Haven’t I seen you here before?’” Hmmm.

Even his closest advisers admit that Bayh must work on letting his inner fire out. Ron Klain, while noting that Bayh is “genuine,” acknowledges that he’s “not the most knock-’em-dead speaker.” Indianapolis attorney Bill Moreau, who was Bayh’s chief of staff in his gubernatorial days and is now part of the inner circle looking ahead to 2008, suggests that it’s a matter of setting, noting that Bayh is “much more compelling” in a Q&A session than in formal remarks: “He listens carefully, challenges people and gets inside their questions.” In Moreau’s mind, this will serve Bayh well in Iowa and New Hampshire, where voters view it as their birthright to get up close and personal with politicians. But I was up close and personal when I asked Bayh what the Democrats need to do in the next three years, and all I got was an eye-glazing, incomprehensible tangle of policy jargon. Bayh told me: “We need to translate the taxpayers’ resources into the results they have a right to expect. In recent years we have become good at judging ourselves by inputs when what really matters is outcomes.” Huh?

If Bayh is smart—and those who know him well say he is, to an awesome degree—he’ll learn to converse, to emote, to “flirt” with reporters covering the presidential race. John McCain’s 2000 candidacy was fueled by a media enchanted with a politician who treated them as equals and didn’t speak in sound bites. The Dean phenomenon followed a similar blueprint (though Dean’s media lovefest was built less around an effervescent personality than a tendency to make impolitic comments; to this day, reporters swap Dean stories from the ’04 campaign—stories that usually end in “He said what?”). While Bayh will never be this sort of un-politician, he must show a bit more leg to the press corps if he hopes to emerge from the pack. “I’ve got some things I feel passionate about and am willing to fight to try to achieve,” he told me. “What I need to do is better articulate what I feel strongly about and why.” Or, what he needs to do is remember that articulated issues eventually bore voters and reporters, many of whom would rather know that when Bayh ran a marathon this year—California’s Big Sur—he got to the finish line and chugged down a beer.

Still, if Bayh lacks the sparkle of some of his colleagues, he possesses important attributes they lack—attributes he’ll highlight over the next few years. Of the five Senate Democrats now eyeing the White House, he’s the only one who represents a state carried by Bush in ’04, and the only one who’s served as a chief executive. (In addition to the five Democratic senators, six Republican senators are potential candidates in ’08, never mind that a sitting senator hasn’t ascended to the Oval Office since John F. Kennedy in 1960. In the past 45 years, a who’s who of Senate titans has fallen short, including Bob Dole, Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern, all three of whom won their party’s nomination but lost the election). The consensus among Democrats is that—with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton—gubernatorial experience is a must for their next national candidate. By 2008, Bayh will be 12 years removed from the governor’s mansion; regardless, he’ll draw heavily on his time there. As voters grow less and less trusting of D.C. politics, his two terms as governor give him, if not immunity from, a defense against, accusations of “Potomac fever” or “going Washington.” And as Bush proved, actions, not amendments, are the way to voters’ hearts.

ALTHOUGH HE CONTINUES to insist he hasn’t made a final decision about running, Bayh has been arguably the most active of the would-be candidates in building the massive machinery necessary to make a campaign possible—traveling to Wisconsin, Ohio, Colorado and New Hampshire to raise his profile among party activists, assembling a political team and seeding a national fundraising apparatus. This, on top of a career that has long struck observers as eminently strategic: From chairing the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic Leadership Council to giving the keynote speech at the ’96 Convention and serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Bayh has given the impression of a man who goes home at night and checks off the stops along his meticulously planned political roadmap.

Since the 2004 election, he has hired pollster Paul Maslin, who was Dean’s man in ’04 and is therefore the pollster among the party’s liberal left (though a tell-all he wrote for Atlantic Monthly detailing the failures of the campaign left him crosswise with some of the truest Deaniacs). On Bayh’s team, Maslin replaced Mark Penn, who in previous elections had also polled for Bill and Hillary Clinton. Forced to choose, Penn went with the favorite.

Maslin immediately made waves when news broke that he’d conducted a focus group in Iowa on the viability of a Bayh-like candidate in a race against Clinton, Kerry and Edwards. Fifteen participants were shown Bayh videotapes. Allegedly, they worked. After initially voting 8–7 to support one of the three better-known candidates, all 15 said, post-video, that they’d at least consider a candidate like Bayh.

But for now, more important than polling is fundraising—the first real litmus test of any presidential hopeful. Everyone running is a proven star on the rubber-chicken circuit in his or her region, but not all will be able to broaden that appeal. For 2008, the price of entry for a serious candidate will be $20 million to $30 million. Given that Clinton raised better than $40 million for her 2000 Senate campaign and is almost guaranteed to raise between $80 million and $100 million in her bid for the White House, the really serious candidates must be prepared to raise that or more.

With money in mind, Bayh has brought on seasoned political operative Steve Bouchard (a New Hampshire native, no less) to head up his political action committee, All America PAC. For the foreseeable future, the PAC will serve as the center of the potential Bayh 2008 campaign, raising dollars for and currying favor with aspiring candidates for state and federal office as well as financing Bayh’s travels outside of Indiana. Although he has close to $7 million in a campaign account—one of the largest cash stashes in the Senate—Bayh has been busy hustling for more dollars to prove he can compete with the big guns.

These early moves have improved his odds in the ever-evolving betting line on which candidates are judged to be trending upward or falling downward by the setters of conventional wisdom, a group whose members range from citizens of the emerging blogosphere to traditional party pundits like Paul Begala and James Carville. In Bayh’s favor is also the “I told you so” factor that smart-alecky politicos love: He’s just unknown enough that if he wins and you picked him early, you end up looking like a savant. Right now his name is part of the chatter, and he’s doing his damnedest to keep it up.

When asked to explain the meaning of his staff additions, his increased fundraising and his speeches in battleground states, Bayh is almost apologetic. “I haven’t made a decision one way or another, but unfortunately the way the process works is you have to do some things at an early stage just to keep the option open.”

His courting of a national audience has so far done little to hurt his support at home. A poll conducted in March for The Indianapolis Star and WTHR showed that 49 percent of those tested would back him on the ’08 ticket; only 33 percent said they would likely vote for someone else. Sixty-seven percent thought he had the “personal qualities needed to be a good president.” Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who has worked extensively in Indiana, calls Bayh’s home-state popularity an anomaly in a country where partisan politics rule. “Republicans like him,” Yang says. “He is a Democrat they can be comfortable with.”

Longtime state Republican activist Brose McVey acknowledges his party’s healthy respect for—if not fear of—Bayh. “Anytime you get a good-looking, intelligent, conservative Democrat, you’ve got yourself a dangerous weapon,” says McVey. “We don’t take Senator Bayh lightly.”

Of course, as Bayh spends more time outside Indiana, his popularity at home will inevitably suffer. Once the initial pride of having a native son seeking the nation’s top office wears off, voters resent being ignored by a politician who would, after all, be nowhere without their votes. In May and then again in June, Bayh traveled to New York City to raise money and chat up would-be donors, and as time passes, he’ll go back to New York—and Los Angeles, and Chicago—more and more. That means less time and attention for Indiana. And in order to be competitive in the Democratic primary, he’ll be forced to take more liberal positions on divisive issues—positions that will alienate some of his previous Hoosier supporters. Beware the spectre of home-state erosion and the ghost of Al Gore.

But while Bayh has begun to play to the liberal left, he’s unlikely to abandon his centrist credentials. If he decides to run for president, he says, he’ll be the same guy Indiana voters know and largely like: “If you try to be something other than who you are, it doesn’t work very well—people figure it out pretty quickly. I am comfortable being who I am.”

And therein lies the tantalizing possibility of Evan Bayh: the possibility that everyone who thinks they have him pegged—who reduces him to the transparency of his ambition or the opacity of his character—might just be surprised. Bill Moreau ran the Big Sur marathon with Bayh and says the senator mapped out a logical, lucid race: slow and steady pacing, 10-minute miles, a negative split. For 25 miles, he ran as planned. And then, at the end, in mile 26, he pulled it out, poured it on and finished with a sub-8-minute mile. If that was a taste of the race to come, he’s ready to run.

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South Carolina next on agenda for senator

eamon1916 — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 14:57:00 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7zn9p
South Carolina next on agenda for senator

He's been to New Hampshire and Iowa. So what's next for Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., as he continues exploring a potential 2008 presidential bid? South Carolina, another state that votes early in the primary season.

Bayh will speak at an Aug. 31 fundraising dinner for the state party.

"The purpose of the trip is to help the South Carolina Democratic Party," Bayh spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said. "They invited Senator Bayh, and he was happy to accept."

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin called Bayh "one of the Democratic Party's rising stars" who "has a very exciting future ahead."

Although the 2008 primary calendar still is in flux, South Carolina recently has been the first Southern state to vote in the presidential primary process.

Bayh traveled there in 2001 to speak at a different Democratic Party event.

Many Democrats have argued that the party needs to pick a nominee who can compete in the heavily Republican South. Bayh has been touting his five statewide wins in Republican Indiana as evidence that he can appeal to Republicans nationwide.

In addition to his travels to Iowa and New Hampshire, Bayh also has spoken this year at Democratic Party events in Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin. He's scheduled to go back to New Hampshire in October to speak at a Democratic Party dinner.

Bayh has said he will decide after the 2006 elections whether to formally campaign for the presidency.

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The Iraq war!

Melodie — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 06:03:34 GMT

I told My husband that the muslims would hate us more&they do.If we leave Iraq they will have Civil war,which they do.We let the suit's take charge not the General's,Just like Vietnam.Now if we leave it will be a breeding ground for Algeuda(SPeling over look PLS)Then what in the hell do we do to clean up this spoiled ass grown man.He lied to us all along.His state of the union address he had me sold on the yellow cake mix for africa.(HE LIED)I feel ashame to be an american,but do not make them boy's and girls die in vane.You might think I am stupid,but when the Pres.and Daddy Bush&Rumsfeld and I think Cheney ran an illegal pipe line from Jordon years ago&you know the Bush's have$$$$in the oil business.(WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON)??????????I think we already know.I grew up hearing my parents talk about Birch bayh,&Ivoted for you for Govenor.You have the looks,you are soft spoken,but to the point.PLEASE TAKE CARE OF US.The world is not ready for Hillary.She is a good woman,but to many men like my husband.EVAN GO FOR IT!!!YOU HAVE IT.Take this little sawed off spoiled brat out of the picture,but I'm sorry for the next man that has to deal with what he lied to us for this damn war. Thanks, Melodie Myers Yorktown Indiana I hATE FOR YOU TO HAVE TO CLEAN UP THIS DAMN messssssssss

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Sen Bayh on CSPAN - Road to the Whitehouse

eamon1916 — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 15:46:37 GMT

ON ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Sen. Evan Bayh in Iowa
This Sunday, we present remarks by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) at the Black Hawk County Democrats Fundraising Dinner in Hudson, Iowa. The event is part of a three-day trip to Iowa by Sen. Bayh. He has stated that he is exploring a possible presidential bid in 2008. Iowa is expected to host the first-in-the-nation presidential caucus in 2008.

SUN., 6:30PM ET, C-SPAN

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Postcard from Iowa

eamon1916 — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 15:44:42 GMT

Last week, Senator Bayh was back on the road. This time: a three-day tour of Iowa's plains and mainstreets.

The trip began with a visit with a good friend, Congressman Leonard Boswell of Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, where he and Senator Bayh teamed to raise awareness about the terrible problem of methamphetamine abuse which is affecting so many communities across America. He met with many of the activists and and staff people who have helped make the Iowa Democratic Party among the strongest found anywhere.

The next day Senator Bayh spent some time in the town of Waterloo where he spoke with local Democrats. Then, it was back to Des Moines where Senator Bayh and Governor Tom Vilsack teamed up to break ground on a brand new early childhood education center being built in the Des Moines area.

Senator Bayh's trip to Iowa confirmed impressions gathered on other recent trips - Americans are concerned for our nation's future, but they are optimistic about our ability to meet these challenges given the proper leadership. Making sure our nation has the right leadership for the future must be top priority for all of us.

As always, I urge you to visit us at www.allamericapac.com. Sign up as an All American, post an entry on our blog, click through our photos, or just simply get to know Senator Bayh and the All America PAC community a little better.

Sincerely,
Steve Bouchard
Executive Director - All America PAC

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Your July 2005 Bayh Bulletin

eamon1916 — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 00:50:59 GMT

July 2005 Bayh Bulletin

This July, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh continued to champion Hoosier interests in Congress. He secured more than $50 million in the Highway Bill for Indiana, which is projected to create nearly 2,500 jobs statewide. He took action to protect Indiana's “Do-Not-Call” law from attempts to weaken it. When the Energy Bill came through Congress this month, Bayh was able to include provisions that will increase the use of ethanol. Bayh also continued his efforts to ensure that our troops fighting overseas have the armoured vehicles they need to win the war on terror.

Bayh Delivers $52 Million in Highway Bill for Indiana, Creates 2,470 Jobs

Senator Bayh announced that Congress approved $52 million for transportation projects across Indiana as part of the Highway Bill, which will create nearly 2,500 jobs statewide. The final bill is now on President Bush's desk, awaiting his signature.

“Public transportation and road improvements are essential for creating jobs and growing local economies,” Senator Bayh said. “These projects will make Indiana a better place to work and live, by upgrading roads, repairing bridges, reducing traffic congestion and improving public transportation. The funding will also help stimulate redevelopment and spur economic growth by making Indiana's cities more attractive to businesses and visitors.”
Cities and towns across Indiana will benefit from Senator Bayh's efforts to include Hoosier projects in the Highway Bill.

• Indianapolis is slated to receive $16 million to make general improvements to the downtown, remove the Market Street ramp and improve IndyGo's Downtown Transit Center.

• The Gary/Chicago Airport will receive $8.7 million to relocate a railroad line that has limited the airport's capacity for take-offs and landings and to make improvements to accommodate a bus shuttle service to the Airport.

• Fort Wayne will be able to use $7 million to make repairs and improvements in the Clinton Street corridor and the “Fort to Port” section of U.S. 24.

• Evansville will get $4 million to improve the Lloyd Expressway.

• South Bend will get $4 million to construct a new bus operations center.

• Terre Haute will receive $8 million, including funds to complete the Cherry Street Project and to modernize Margaret Avenue.

• Lafayette will get $2.5 million to enable the city to purchase new buses.

• Grant County will receive $2 million to improve key roads and highways.

Numerous other communities will also receive funds for local projects.
In addition, the Highway bill ensures that Indiana will receive a better rate of return on the federal gas tax, which, combined with the additional overall level of funding contained in the bill, results in Indiana receiving an average of $228 million more annually than in past years.

Senate Passes Energy Bill, Including Bayh Amendment for Cleaner, Safer School Buses

Senator Bayh announced that several amendments he offered to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil were included in the final Energy bill approved by the Senate. In order to address our long-term energy needs, Bayh was an original sponsor of the Bioenergy Security Act, which provides funding for biomass research and development, and encourages biofuel production. In addition, the Energy bill included a Bayh co-sponsored amendment encouraging gas stations to install or expand pumps that offer E-85, an ethanol-gasoline blend used by Flexible Fuel Vehicles.

The Energy bill also included Bayh's Clean School Bus provision, which will provide schools with $55 million to help replace old, polluting school buses with cleaner, safer buses. Bayh's Clean School Bus provision will provide much-needed funding for an EPA effort that helps school districts purchase alternative fueled buses or ultra-low sulfur diesel buses to replace their old school buses, with emphasis on replacing those built before 1977. Under Bayh's provision, the government will pay for between 25 and 50 percent of the acquisition costs to purchase new buses or retro-fit older ones.

“Our children deserve to ride to school on the cleanest, safest school buses possible,” Senator Bayh said. “My Clean School Bus provision will help communities replace polluting buses with cleaner-running models, which will cut down on air pollution and help reduce the causes of childhood asthma.”

While recognizing the progress made in advancing the use of renewable fuels, Bayh cautioned that much more remains to be done before America's energy future is secured.
“The progress made in the energy bill is a start toward addressing our future energy needs, but it is only a start,” Senator Bayh said. “Much more must be done before we achieve real energy independence and no longer have to rely on Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela for our energy needs.”

Bayh Urges FCC to Protect Indiana's Do-Not-Call Law

Senator Bayh joined a bipartisan group of senators, including Senator Lugar, to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect Indiana's successful “Do-Not-Call” law from attempts to weaken it by pre-empting its protections with a weaker federal law.

“If Indiana wants to have a strong “Do-Not-Call” law, the FCC should respect that,” Senator Bayh said. “Hoosiers have demonstrated overwhelming support for our state's “Do-Not-Call” registry, and I will continue to fight to make sure that the FCC does not water-down Hoosier's consumer rights for the benefit of telemarketers.”

Under Indiana law, telemarketers that do not have established business relationships with consumers are forbidden from calling Hoosier households without first receiving their permission. However, if the FCC agrees to requests from banks and telemarketers to pre-empt state law, Hoosiers could once again be inundated with thousands of unwanted calls.
Indiana's “Do-Not-Call” registry is the most widely used consumer protection law in Indiana's history. More than three million Hoosiers have joined Indiana's “Do-Not-Call” list since it was started to protect Hoosiers from telemarketers' constant calls.

Bayh Introduces Amendment to Prevent Future Shortages of Armored Vehicles in Iraq

Senator Bayh offered an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill to ensure that there is enough funding to meet future needs for armored vehicles, armored cargo trucks and armored fuel tanker trucks, in addition to up-armored Humvees, all of which have all been targeted in roadside attacks overseas. Bayh has been a leader in the fight to provide more up-armored Humvees to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. With this amendment, Bayh is expanding his effort by providing funding for a wider range of vehicles for our troops.

“Every vehicle that is a potential target should be fully armored to protect the troops riding inside it,” Senator Bayh said. “My amendment will significantly increase funding for fully armored vehicles, in an effort to avoid future shortfalls that could jeopardize our soldiers' safety. It is our moral obligation to provide our men and women fighting overseas with the equipment they need in the field.”
Bayh's amendment calls for $390 million to purchase more than 2,300 armored vehicles, including 1,428 up-armored Humvees and more than 800 armored trucks. While up-armored Humvee shortages have presented the most pressing need, the increasing number of insurgent attacks has also reduced the number of available armored trucks. The 2,300 armored vehicles will restore Army stockpiles in the region, which have been depleted during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We hope that you found this issue of "The Bayh Bulletin" informative. Please feel free to share with us your opinions on important issues and any other feedback you might have by using one of our forms to contact Senator Bayh available here.

Do you know someone who would like to receive "The Bayh Bulletin"? If so, please direct them to http://bayh.senate.gov/signup.htm.

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Bayh canvassing Iowa Dems

eamon1916 — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 15:23:24 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/e4o9f
Bayh canvassing Iowa Dems

Hoosier senator is retracing prior footsteps of father
and a little-known Georgia governor.

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa began playing a leading role
in presidential politics in 1976 when a relatively
obscure Georgia governor named Jimmy Carter
unexpectedly bested better known candidates --
including Sen. Birch E. Bayh of Indiana -- in the
Democratic caucus.

Carter did it by coming to Iowa early and often.

"He lived here," said Democratic activist Bill Gluba,
who supported one of the also-rans in 1976.

Evan Bayh, then a student at Indiana University, took
time off from his studies to campaign for his father
in Iowa, an experience he says gave him the political
bug.

It also apparently taught him some political lessons.

"Politics in Iowa tends to be very personal," Bayh
said at the start of his three-day visit here this
week. "And that's a good thing. People want to meet
you. Ask you questions. Get to know you. Not just once
or twice, but repeatedly."

That's why Bayh was in Iowa more than a year before he
says he is likely to decide whether he'll officially
run for president in 2008. He spent three days meeting
local party officials, labor leaders, young
professionals and activists, speaking at fundraisers
and attending public events.

He has been active in other ways, too, raising more
than $1 million through his political action
committee, which paid for this trip and will pay for a
return trip to New Hampshire in the fall.

At a fundraiser for the Black Hawk County Democratic
Party on Wednesday night, Bayh worked the line of
people waiting for a home-cooked meal of chicken or
fish, baked potato, fresh corn-on-the-cob, steamed
broccoli and brownies.

Lawyer Bruce Braley, a precinct coordinator for
Democrat John Edwards' 2004 campaign, asked if it was
true that Bayh is a fellow member of the Phi Psi
fraternity. Bayh slipped Braley the secret Phi Psi
handshake in response.

"Everyone in Iowa is used to having presidential
candidates here," Braley said afterward. "We're always
interested in evaluating new talent."

When Bayh formally addressed the crowd of about 60
Democrats, looking tan and relaxed in an open-collared
blue shirt and navy blazer, he gave a version of the
remarks he's delivered to Democratic groups in
Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Hampshire and elsewhere
this year.

Detailing his personal background, Bayh talked about
his father's public service, his mother's fatal battle
with breast cancer, his marriage to Susan and the
birth of their twin sons.

On issues, Bayh emphasized the need for Democrats to
win back the public's confidence on national security,
creating jobs in a global economy and the moral
responsibility of reducing the federal deficit.

Like most groups he's spoken to, the Iowa Democrats
responded strongly to Bayh's description of an Indiana
college scholarship program, started during Bayh's
years as governor, for low-income students who meet
certain standards.

"I never heard of that, and I'm thrilled to know about
it," said Marilyn Spina, who nodded in agreement as
Bayh described the program. "They ought to do that
everyplace."

Besides the public fundraiser in Hudson on Wednesday,
Bayh also spoke Tuesday at a private fundraiser for
U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa.

Helping other Democrats raise money is one way
presidential hopefuls generate good will and get
better known. Bayh has been to Iowa twice in previous
years for Democratic fundraisers.

Boswell also introduced Bayh to the staff and others
at Iowa Democratic Party headquarters. And the two
held a news conference on federal efforts to fight
methamphetamine.

That allowed Bayh to stand in front of television
cameras, surrounded by Iowa law enforcement officials,
against the backdrop of the gleaming gold dome of the
Capitol.

"Indiana and Iowa have a lot in common," Bayh said.
"They're both Midwestern states. Our economies are
similar. The cultures of our state are similar. We can
be proud of our heritage. But, Leonard, there's one
thing that we share that I don't think we can be proud
of and that is the scourge of meth that is affecting
both of our states very dramatically."

"Time will tell"

Although the stated topic of the news conference was
drugs, that wasn't what the print and broadcast
reporters there -- from Iowa, Indiana and the Los
Angeles Times -- wanted to ask about.

"Senator, three days in the state where it all begins?
You've been mentioned as a candidate. What signal are
you sending?" a veteran Iowa political reporter asked.

"Well, first of all, I'm here to help my friend
Leonard Boswell," Bayh said, his white shirt damp with
sweat in the muggy afternoon heat. "I'm also looking
forward to beginning a conversation with the people of
Iowa about the challenges that face our country, what
together we can do to meet those challenges and
perhaps what role I might play."

"What role do you want to play?" another reporter
asked.

"Time will tell," Bayh responded. "This is the
beginning of the conversation, not the end."

Boswell also has gotten fundraising help from Edwards,
who has remained active in Iowa. Asked when he will
pick a 2008 candidate to back, Boswell replied, "Not
soon."

"But I'm going to accommodate anybody wanting to come
to our state and meet people and take advantage of
whatever I can do to introduce them to people and find
them resources," he said.

Potential favorite son

Bayh also got help from Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who
took Bayh's place as chairman of the Democratic
Leadership Council, a moderate Democratic group known
for helping launch Bill Clinton's presidential
campaign.

Vilsack is considering his own campaign for president.
Still, the governor on Thursday invited Bayh to the
groundbreaking for an early learning center in
Knoxville. In front of a crowd of local community
leaders -- and a few dozen preschoolers wearing
yellow, plastic hardhats and holding plastic shovels
-- Vilsack said he wanted to specifically thank "my
good friend Evan Bayh who is here. He has many places
he could be."

Bayh has been complimentary of Vilsack, too. But the
senator hasn't ruled out competing here if Vilsack
decides to run.

"Clearly if he runs, he would be a dominate favorite
son here in Iowa," Bayh said. "But I've got twin
9-year-old boys. They love one another. But sometimes
they're competitive, too. Sometimes public life can be
that way."

After Bayh's visit, said Democratic activist Jerry
Crawford, Democrats who met with Bayh either publicly
or privately would begin comparing notes.

"It's a bit like dating -- trying to figure out if
there's an attraction," said Crawford, who chaired
John Kerry's 2004 Iowa campaign. "I think (Bayh's)
doing the right thing. Now he just needs to keep
coming back. . . . It's a marathon."

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe
at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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Q&A: Bayh's Iowa visit

eamon1916 — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 15:22:17 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/al94m
Q&A: Bayh's Iowa visit

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who is exploring a 2008
presidential bid, spent three days in Iowa, home of
the first-in-the-nation caucus. Some key questions and
answers:

Question: What did Bayh do?
Answer: He spoke at fundraisers for U.S. Rep. Leonard
Boswell and for the Black Hawk County Democratic
Party; held a joint news conference with Boswell about
methamphetamine, attended with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack a
groundbreaking for an early learning center; spoke to
a group of Des Moines young professionals; met with
Iowa reporters and had private meetings with various
Democratic activists and officials.

Q: Did he have any downtime?
A: A regular runner, Bayh hit the jogging paths both
Tuesday and Wednesday, despite the steamy weather.

Q: What was the reaction to Bayh?
A: Iowa media coverage included an inside story on his
trip in The Des Moines Register with the headline:
"Indiana senator begins tour of Iowa." Former Iowa
Democratic Party Chairman Gordon Fisher wrote a
complimentary entry in his political blog about a
private dinner he and others attended to meet Bayh.
"First off," Fisher wrote, "I must say Senator Bayh is
the only presidential candidate in history, ever, to
be early for an event ... So, he had me at hello."
Others who met Bayh also were complimentary, including
state Rep. Janet Peterson, who said she's looking for
a candidate who has a handle on national security,
creating jobs and who understands what help parents
need. "He definitely is one of my favorites," Peterson
said. But it's far too early for Democratic activists
to be lining up behind presidential candidates.

Q: Does Bayh have more trips planned?
A: He will be the main speaker at a New Hampshire
Democratic Party fundraising dinner in October. Bayh
spent two days in New Hampshire last month and has
also been the keynote speaker at party dinners in
Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin. Other trips are possible
this year.

Q: What else is Bayh doing?
A: He has raised more than $1 million through his
political action committee, a fundraising tool that
will help him travel around the country, raise his
profile and build a campaign team. The PAC has five
full-time employees and is one of the most active PACs
of the potential 2008 presidential candidates.

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Interactive Sen Evan Bayh Timeline

eamon1916 — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:12:25 GMT

http://content.gannettonline.com/gns/bayh/bayh.html

pretty snazzy... check it out!

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Bayh is seen as a uniting force

eamon1916 — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 15:41:42 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7nn76
Bayh is seen as a uniting force

Hillary Clinton continues to draw plenty of attention
at Leadership Council.

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Sen. Evan Bayh's top selling point
as a potential Democratic presidential candidate is
his image as a centrist.

But a national gathering of activists from the party's
moderate wing -- at which Bayh, of Indiana, and three
other potential 2008 candidates spoke -- shows he will
have competition. The biggest challenge could come
from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, despite
her national image as a liberal.

"I think she has a real ability to transcend the
philosophical lines of the party," said New Hampshire
state Rep. Peter Sullivan, who hasn't picked a
favorite for 2008. "She's obviously someone who's very
popular with the liberal base. But she's also someone
whose record is of a very pragmatic new Democrat."

Clinton hasn't said whether she'll run in 2008, but
her celebrity status within the Democratic Party and
among nonpoliticos was evident Monday at the
Democratic Leadership Council's "national
conversation."

Clinton was mobbed after her speech by reporters and
some of the estimated 300 attendees, most of them
state and local officials.

"Clinton, of course, has the biggest name recognition
and would be regarded by most people as the
front-runner (in the Democratic primary), to the
extent that we can really talk about a front-runner
this far out," said John Green, director of the Ray C.
Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University
of Akron in Ohio. "But this crowd really wants to win.
So they will go with the candidate they think is the
winner."

The group announced Monday that Clinton would head an
initiative to talk to people nationwide about the
challenges of shaping a Democratic Party agenda.

Bayh, who spoke at the event as the DLC's outgoing
chairman, also had private meetings with Iowa and New
Hampshire Democrats and others during the conference.
He has been arguing that his winning record in
Indiana, a solid Republican state, shows his national
electability.

"Our success as a party will in large part be
determined by how we do right here in the heartland of
America," Bayh told the group.

Eric McFadden, chairman of the Ohio Catholic
Democratic Caucus, said he "liked Hillary a lot" but
also is open to Bayh.

"I like his moderate approach and the way he reaches
across party lines. He's obviously been elected
governor and senator from a very red state," McFadden
said. "He has the ability to reach across the aisle
and unite people instead of divide people."

The DLC helped elect Bill Clinton, through giving him
a national platform when he was governor of a small
state and through policy development. Bayh became
chairman in 2001.

"The DLC is usually contrasted with the traditional
liberal Democrats," said Green, referring to
feminists, environmentalists, labor unions and civil
rights activists. No single group represents a
majority of the party, Green said, although the DLC
might be the largest of the bunch.

But it's not getting a pass from the Campaign for
America's Future, a liberal group that seeks to "make
this economy work for working people once again."

"The DLC is old news," said spokesman Toby Chaudhuri.
"They dominated the party in the 1990s, but now
they're creating widespread confusion around the core
Democratic message."

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe
at (202) 906- 8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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Senator's not afraid to face Hillary Rodham Clinton

eamon1916 — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 15:39:36 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/exku2
Senator's not afraid to face Hillary Rodham Clinton

The Democratic Leadership Council's annual meeting in
Columbus, Ohio, this weekend may be billed as a
"national conversation," but it's really an early
beauty contest for the 2008 Democratic presidential
primary.

Four potential candidates -- Sen. Evan Bayh of
Indiana, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Iowa
Gov. Tom Vilsack and Virginia Gov. Mark Warner -- are
addressing the expected crowd of about 300 Democrats
on Monday.

The group, which promotes centrist Democratic
policies, was a vehicle for Bill Clinton's 1992
campaign, and most of the early buzz about the 2008
campaign is whether Hillary Rodham Clinton will run.

Bayh, however, recently told reporters during his
first foray to New Hampshire that if Clinton does run,
that won't necessarily scare off him and other
potential candidates.

"She's obviously a very formidable presence, a very
talented person," Bayh said. But, he added, voters
like a good competition.

Maureen Groppe, Star Washington Bureau

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Bayh comments on Democratic Leadership Council

eamon1916 — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 15:38:41 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/9e8w3
Bayh comments on Democratic Leadership Council

More about what Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has to say
about the Democratic Leadership Council, a group he
has headed since February 2001:

Question: You’re stepping down July 25 as chairman of
the DLC. The group, which promotes centrist Democratic
policies, was founded because of a concern that the
Democratic Party was out of touch with mainstream
America. Do you think that’s still the case?

Answer: It was formed in response to what Al From
referred to — he’s a good Indiana native — as the
market failure of 1984 in which the Democratic nominee
for president carried one state. And the thinking at
that time was because all the enduring values of the
Democratic Party — security, opportunity,
responsibility — were still vitally important to the
country, that the way in which we were going about
achieving those values had atrophied and that we
needed to modernize to reform the Democratic Party to
be more effective in achieving the values that endure.
So I do think there are some similarities and we’ve
suffered some political reversals again — losing the
presidency, losing the Senate, the House, the majority
of governorships, the majority of the state
legislatures for, I think, the first time since the
Great Depression. And we’re surrounded by some
profound change, even revolutionary change in terms of
the globalization of the economy, the aging of our
population, stresses and strains and families, the
post-9/11 situation. So I do think, as Americans
first, but also as Democrats, we need to give a lot of
thought to how we go about achieving those values, not
in the world of the 1930s, 60s or even 90s but in
today’s world. So I do think there are some parallels.

Q: What did you do as chairman of the DLC that helped
bring the party closer to the mainstream of America?

A: One of the things we did was to try and develop our
grass roots, literally to get closer to the people of
America. I’m first and foremost a former governor. And
because of that, we focused upon more statewide
officials, more local officials, trying to be much
more aggressive in reaching out across the country
geographically and getting out of Washington and
really listening and soliciting the advice of people
closer to the grass roots.

Q: If you do decide to run for president, how will
your time as DLC chair help you?

A: We’ve done some good work on some particular
issues, particularly about how to strike the right
balance on trade, not be protectionists, but to insist
upon a level playing field, a fair shake for American
businesses and workers. And also on the security
front. I think that’s very important that we show
strength not only in terms of our policies but how we
go about pursuing those policies. I think too many
Americans wonder whether Democrats can be tough enough
in an uncertain world. Particularly whether we
recognize that it is a dangerous world and there is
evil in it and there are times we have to use force.
Now there’s a right way and a wrong way and a right
time and a wrong time. But we very often don’t even
have that discussion because people don’t think that
we are willing to use force under even the most
compelling of circumstances. And that’s something that
we’ve got to get beyond.

— Compiled by Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen
Groppe. Contact Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at
mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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Evan Bayh on John Roberts, Supreme Court nominee

eamon1916 — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 15:37:39 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/akut9
Evan Bayh on John Roberts, Supreme Court nominee

Sen. Evan Bayh's vote on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts will be the first time Bayh will have to weigh in on the high court, a vote that could have political ramifications for his potential presidential bid. He talked to The Indianapolis Star about the nomination.

Question: When Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement, you said Bush should pick a consensus candidate. Did he do that?

Answer: I don't know. Time will tell. I hope so. I don't know enough about the man to really express an opinion. The process hasn't even begun yet.

Q: He did go through the Senate for his current position.

A: And that's a hopeful sign. But the Supreme Court is different than the Court of Appeals, the main difference being that when you're on the Court of Appeals you're not the final arbiter. And I think the depth of review needs to be more extensive for the court from which there is no appeal. So I think that's a hopeful indication, but, again, we're just beginning.

Q: Is there anything in particular that you most want to know about him?

A: I'm just starting to get my thoughts together about that. Since I'm not on the Judiciary Committee, I don't have to deal with those things in great detail. Obviously, his intellect and his integrity -- I'm assuming that those are all right -- most of all his judicial approach. Is he willing to interpret the laws and the Constitution in accordance with the will of the voters in the first case and the intent of the framers in the latter case? And not have some kind of personal ideological agenda he's hoping to implement. If you feel that way, you ought to run for public office. So that's the main thing I'll be looking for.

Q: Your dad (former Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind.) led two filibusters against Supreme Court nominees. Do you see yourself playing any kind of high profile in this nomination?

A: Probably not. Not unless there's something that I'm not aware of that comes to my attention. My father was on the Judiciary Committee, so he was intimately involved with those kinds of things.

Maureen Groppe

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Q & A with Evan Bayh

eamon1916 — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 15:29:27 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/9625c
Senator hails chief reasons for making run

He says experience as governor would serve him well as president

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana has been raising money, building a campaign team and wooing Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire as he prepares for a potential 2008 bid for the presidency.

Monday, Bayh steps down as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist Democratic group that was a vehicle for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign.

Bayh sat down with The Indianapolis Star to talk about his potential run, the state of the Democratic Party and what he picked up from the movie "Zoolander."

Question: Four of Indiana's last five senators -- including your father -- have run for the presidency and not received their party's nomination.

Answer: Is that right? (Laughs) Are you suggesting the law of averages is either against me or on my side?

Q: That's my question: Why do you think if you decide to run, you might be the one to do it, to at least get the party's nomination?

A: Well, I think having been a governor is a good thing. Having been responsible for producing results, not just casting votes and giving speeches. We balanced budgets. We worked with the business community to create jobs. We expanded health care, improved education. I think that that kind of executive experience is important to potentially serving as an executive.

At the same time, in a post- 9/11 world, I think it's critically important that a commander in chief have some in-depth experience in terms of national security. I spend more than half my time now -- because I'm on both the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee -- on things like North Korea, Iran, weapons of mass destruction, al-Qaida, all those sorts of things that I think are important, particularly for a Democrat, where the threshold of credibility may be somewhat higher on those kinds of issues.

I've tried to be a more consensus-building figure throughout my public life and have tried to appeal, not just politically, but substantively, to people who are independent and Republican in terms of finding common ground.

Fatherly advice

Q: What's the best advice you've gotten from your father (former Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind.) about running for president?

A: Well, you've got to be who you are and stand for things that you really believe in because if you win, that's how you've got to govern, and if you don't, you can hold your head up high. And also, one thing I've learned from him -- although he hasn't said this to me directly -- is there are a lot worse things that could happen to you in life than losing a presidential election. One of them is not using it as an opportunity to actually say where you think the country ought to go.

Q: This year, so far, you've been voting with the Democratic Party more than you did in your first term. You voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which is the first time you've voted against a trade agreement. Is that a sign that you need to move more to the left to have a chance of winning the Democratic Party's nomination?

A: No, not at all. Let's take the one that you mentioned. I am for open trade and competition. But I've become increasingly concerned that our nation has no response when our workers and businesses think smart, work hard, make investments to be competitive in a global economy and other nations want to take the fruits of those labors because they don't embrace free and open competition. . . . Now our response cannot be protectionism. But our response has to be something other than nothing. And nothing has been what we've gotten too much of.

I think those votes can all be reconciled, and they're perfectly consistent. You can read these scorecards and different votes any way you want to. But in terms of class-action reform, bankruptcy reform, some other things, I stayed with the position that I've always adhered to. Many members of my party voted in a different way.

My point simply is, I've stayed consistent throughout, and I'm not attempting to trim my sails for short-term political reasons.

Q: You grew up around presidential politics, and you've been mentioned as possible presidential material for a long time.

A: Someone once said that I'd been a rising star in the '80s, the '90s and now in a new millennium. (Laughs) I don't know how long you can be rising.

The presidency

Q: When did you first start thinking about whether running for president was something you wanted to shoot for?

A: Look, I fully expected that (Sen.) John Kerry was going to be elected last November. It was not on my mind. Now it turned out, of course, I was in error -- not the first time, I should say. But I was not seriously thinking about it before then.

To get to the heart of your question . . . the only reason to be in public life is to try and make a difference in people's lives. The applause and all that, that's nice. But after a while, that's not what it's all about. So I am driven to try and be in that place where I can make as big a difference as possible. . . .

Very few people ever get to be president of the United States. It's possible to make a real contribution to our society without being president of the United States -- and to have a happy, fulfilled life. But, you know, if destiny takes you in that direction, then that gives you a wonderful opportunity. . . . So the speculation is something I'm flattered by. But I didn't think until after the election last November that it was very realistic to think about, not in concrete terms.

Family life

Q: Even though you've been in the public eye a long time, a presidential campaign is a whole different level of scrutiny. Your twin sons still are young, and your wife has her own career (as a lawyer). Do you think your family is prepared for the kind of scrutiny you would get if you decide to run?

A: Yes, I do. Will it be pleasant at all times? No, I'm sure it won't be. Everyone likes their privacy. Nobody likes to be criticized. But Susan is a wonderfully supportive wife. I'm not sure she's completely objective about her husband. I think maybe I'm lucky she's not. And she's totally supportive about whatever I do. I've been in the public arena for a long time, and we've gotten accustomed to all that that means.

Q: Is she, right now, pushing you one way or the other?

A: No. She doesn't see that as her role. But I'm fortunate she believes in me. So she's not pushing me to run. But if that's the thing I decide to do, she'll be 110 percent supportive. She's certainly not discouraging me. I frankly don't know how someone could run if that was the case.

I do worry about my sons. They were at much too much a tender age last time (referring to the 2004 campaign). It still weighs on my mind that they're 91/2. And I've got to be away from home a lot.

But already, they're spending more time with their friends. And I think that that elusive thing we call character and how that will be formed in them, I already sense that a lot of that is there. . . . But in any event, when I sit down and talk to them and say, 'Look boys, Dad may not be able to make all the ball games and come to all the school events,' that's not something that they relish and, frankly, I suspect it will bother me more than it bothers them if that's what happens.

But they're good boys, and they've got a wonderful mother, and I wouldn't even be thinking about it if I didn't think it was possible to reconcile both being a good candidate and being a good father. If I thought I had to chose, I'd chose being a good father every time.

Q: Was there a hard time for you when your dad ran?

A: No, I don't really recall it that way. I think he was gone a lot. I don't feel like I suffered because of that. I never doubted that he loved me. And that's the thing that matters. I always found it to be kind of inspirational, that he was trying to help our country, and that's part of what drives me, too.

Q: Can the Democratic Leadership Council be the same help to you as it was for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign?

A: I wouldn't presume to compare myself to a former two-term president. I'll say this, and I may say this in my speech (Monday in Columbus, Ohio), I really don't think the election of the next president ought to be about ideology, left versus right. I think it's about right versus wrong. I think it's about moving this country forward in practical ways. I think that's what it needs to be about.

My message to Democrats in particular will be, 'Look, after a tough political election, a period of introspection is appropriate. But we've had way too much self-doubt, too much denial, too much anger. We've got to get beyond that and be secure in our values, clear in our course, confident in our cause.' So all this anxiety I think has to come to an end.

Priorities

Q: You've just started your second Senate term. What's your top priority?

A: Things that would ensure our strength from a national security standpoint and from an economic standpoint. That's why I've been so insistent upon getting our troops the armor that they need. That's why I've focused on this trade issue.

Also, the most important thing there is to have a positive agenda for growing our economy. I'm just not convinced that we do right now, and that's going to involve focusing upon the parts of the economy that can create the good-paying jobs in the future. And research and development, the education, the infrastructure, the things that will nourish and help those parts of the economy grow. That's what I care about.

A lot of challenges face our country today. If I had to pick just two, I'd say it's our post-9/11 security situation and the globalization of the economy and what that means for our prosperity and all that flows from that -- retirement, security, health care, all those things.

Hottest senator?

Q: You were recently named by an online poll as the hottest U.S. senator, not counting Barack Obama (who was disqualified for "extreme hotness").

A: (Laughs) Can we cut this interview off right now?

Q: You've gotten that kind of attention before from People magazine, Washingtonian magazine and others. Do you ever get tired of that? Does Susan?

A: Her observation was, "Of course, dear. That's what happens when you send them a 7-year-old picture. You can stay forever young." That's kind of flattering but sort of trivial. I thought it was funny.

Of course, you've got to keep it in perspective, too. Back at the time of that People magazine article, I think someone from (The Star) contacted People and said, "We're kind of interested in the criteria you used in making these selections." And the person said, "Well, you know, we focused on actors and models and people like that. But we thought we needed at least one person from the political realm and, frankly, there wasn't a lot to choose from." (Laughs)

I surprised members of my staff by saying when the (online poll) results came out (that) I wanted to challenge Barack to a walk-off. They were surprised I'd heard of "Zoolander" (in which Ben Stiller is a clueless fashion model). I said, "I want a walk-off, baby." (Laughs)

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

--------------

5 things you didn't know about Bayh

Favorite President
"President Jed Bartlett (of TV's 'The West Wing'). If fictional characters are not allowed, then Abraham Lincoln."

Book and CD you're enjoying now:
Book: " '1776' for myself, and 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' with the boys." CD: "Emmylou Harris: Anthology."

Three adjectives you would use to describe yourself:
"Terse."

Your most embarrassing political moment:
"The 1996 keynote address to the Democratic National Convention." (Many delegates headed for the exit during the speech.)

Something people don't know about you:
"Is there anything left?"

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Postcard from NH

eamon1916 — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 16:11:38 GMT

Dear Friend,

As I am sure you have now heard and read, Senator Bayh spent a couple of days in New Hampshire earlier this week. As a native of New Hampshire, I can tell you that the trip was a smashing success. It was a busy and frenetic two days - Senator Bayh met with Democratic Activists in Manchester and Keene, helped the NH Senate Democrats raise funds, and made numerous appearances on TV and radio. In addition, he met with New Hampshire’s terrific Governor, John Lynch, the leadership of the NH House Democrats and toured GT Solar Technologies, a cutting-edge company in Merrimack.

Our travels and conversations throughout the state confirmed what many of us suspected – people are interested in hearing ideas and solutions, not partisan fighting.

I thought you might enjoy the attached photos from the trip and some of the press coverage. In addition, C-SPAN will be airing portions of Senator Bayh’s trip on Sunday, July 17th at 6:30pm EST.

As always, I urge you to visit us at www.allamericapac.com. Sign up as an All American, post an entry on our blog, click through our photos, or just simply get to know Senator Bayh and the All America PAC community a little better.

Sincerely,
Steve Bouchard
Executive Director
All America PAC

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Bayh brings energy plan to N.H. voters

eamon1916 — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 21:43:18 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/drurb
Bayh brings energy plan to N.H. voters

Senator says lack of plan to wean nation off foreign oil was one of Bush's mistakes.

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

MERRIMACK, N.H. -- Sen. Evan Bayh wrapped up a two-day visit to New Hampshire on Monday by touring a plant that exports solar panel technology, giving him a chance to talk about two of his favorite themes: energy independence and trade.

"What we're doing here is, I hope, a glimpse into the future of our economy, of energy independence, of being more competitive in terms of global trade," Bayh said after watching employees work on a high-pressure furnace that will be sold to the Chinese to melt silicone to make solar panels.

Bayh, D-Ind., has been emphasizing energy independence and trade globalization not only in New Hampshire -- home of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary -- but also in speeches he has been giving across the country this year as he explores whether to seek the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008.

Bayh frequently tells audiences that one mistake President Bush made after Sept. 11, 2001, was not calling for a declaration of energy independence, a remark that pleased some of the Democrats who came out to meet Bayh in Keene on Sunday.

But Bayh finessed an answer when he was asked why the Senate hasn't increased fuel efficiency standards for vehicles as one step toward reducing the U.S. demand for foreign oil.

In 2002, Bayh was one of 19 Democrats who sided with the majority of Republicans in killing higher standards, which Bayh said could hurt Indiana's auto industry.

Bayh didn't explain to the New Hampshire Democrats that he had opposed the approach favored by environmentalists and most Democrats.

"There have been a couple of votes in the Senate on that," Bayh said. "Unfortunately, neither approach was successful."

Environmental activists who met privately with Bayh on Monday liked his message that new forms of energy are needed to make the country less reliant on coal. Emissions from coal-fired power plants in Indiana and other Midwestern states have been causing acid rain in New Hampshire.

"He was very well versed on environmental and renewable energy issues. I don't think he said anything that people didn't like," said Kurt Ehrenberg, regional representative for the New Hampshire Sierra Club, who organized the meeting with about 15 activists.

In speeches to most groups, Bayh emphasizes that he's a Democrat who has won five elections in a state that has voted Republican for president in 16 of the past 17 elections.

In his meeting with the environmentalists, Bayh laid out a map of Indiana, showing all the parts of the state where he received a majority of votes last year and the far fewer areas that voted for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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June 2005 Bayh Bulletin

eamon1916 — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:35:50 GMT

This June, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh continued to fight for issues that he has championed throughout his time in the Senate - fair trade, energy independence, tax credits for small business, and a stable vaccine supply. Over the past month, Bayh pushed Congress to pass his legislation to end illegal subsidies and introduced legislation to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil. He tackled the number-one problem confronting small business owners by offering a tax credit to help small businesses with the soaring costs of health care and urged an investigation into China's inappropriate use of a key antiviral drug used to treat avian flu, which may have rendered it useless in humans.

Bayh Pushes for Action on SOS Act

Senator Bayh testified at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on unfair trade practices to urge the Senate to take action on his Stopping Overseas Subsidies (SOS) Act, which would allow the U.S. to use its anti-subsidy laws against cheating companies in China. Senate leadership agreed to discuss Bayh's legislation at this hearing after Bayh's efforts to draw attention to the impact of unfair trade earlier this year. The hearing represented an important step toward enacting Bayh's legislation, providing Bayh and other supporters with the opportunity to make the case for tougher enforcement of U.S. trade laws.

"Initially, the Administration tried to turn a blind eye to cheating from foreign countries and refused to get tough on trade," Senator Bayh said. "So I fought back. I fought back for all the companies I've visited in Indiana, where workers get out of bed every morning with one hand tied behind their back because of unfair trade policies other countries use to their advantage. This hearing was a key step forward, and I will continue to work until we do something to make sure that we stop this cheating and create a level playing field for American workers and businesses."

The SOS Act is seen as a solution to a federal court decision from 1986 that the Commerce Department says prevents it from applying antisubsidy laws to a nonmarket economy such as China. Bayh's legislation provides a straightforward solution to the problem by allowing the Commerce Department to determine whether or not a subsidy exists regardless of whether the country in question is a nonmarket economy. Illegal subsidies have contributed to the loss of nearly three million manufacturing jobs over the last several years and created a record $618 billion trade deficit.

Bayh Offers Amendment to Reduce U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil

With oil prices hitting record highs, Senator Bayh introduced an amendment to the Senate energy bill that would cut oil consumption by 2.5 million barrels a day in 2020. Bayh offered the plan to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and to encourage further development of new fuels and technologies.

"America's dependence on foreign oil is one of the gravest threats to our economy and national security. We cannot confront the challenges of the future without a real strategy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Senator Bayh said. "This amendment will give us a realistic goal for gradually reducing our oil consumption while giving Americans more choices in alternative fuels such as ethanol to power their cars."

Bayh's amendment establishes a coordinated system to plan and monitor America's oil savings, allowing the nation to move toward oil reduction efficiently and systematically. Under the amendment, the U.S. would be expected to reduce oil consumption by 1 million barrels per day by 2015 to 2.5 million barrels in 2020. In addition, the amendment would further enhance the production and use of alternative liquid fuels and would expand fuel choices for consumers by requiring manufacturers to produce more hybrids and vehicles that can use alternative fuels.

The amendment also helps enhance the country's national security and economic stability by reducing our dependence on countries that control most of the world's oil supplies. Sixty-five percent of the world's proven oil reserves are located in the Middle East, a particularly volatile region that is home to many extremist organizations that preach hatred of the United States. America spends $49 billion each year to protect Persian Gulf oil interests, money that could be reduced or redirected at home if the United States produced more of our own energy.

"Recent high gas prices are just one example of the danger of relying on places like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Russia for our energy needs," Bayh said. "Reducing our oil consumption is key to our future national security. We need to make the most of every opportunity to seek out other energy sources in order to decrease our dependence on foreign oil."

Bayh Introduces Legislation to Help Small Businesses With Rising Cost of Health Care

Senator Bayh targeted the number-one problem confronting small business owners by introducing legislation to help small businesses with the soaring costs of providing health care for their employees. Bayh's bill would provide a health care tax credit to small businesses with up to 100 employees and would also allow companies to join purchasing pools so that they can negotiate lower rates with insurance companies.

"Soaring premiums and high administrative costs have forced many small businesses to give up on providing health insurance," Senator Bayh said. "At a time when small businesses are creating 60 to 80 percent of new jobs nationwide, we need to do everything possible to help them and their workers succeed. My legislation hits the health care problem head on, helping employers offer much-needed health coverage to hardworking, middle-class families while continuing to grow their companies."

Providing health insurance is one of the largest problems currently facing small business owners. Bayh's bill provides up to a 50% tax credit to small businesses that currently offer health benefits and includes additional provisions to encourage other small businesses to begin offering coverage. In addition to the tax credit, Bayh's legislation also encourages small businesses to join state-run purchasing pools to increase their bargaining power with health insurance companies. By joining a purchasing pool, small businesses could obtain lower rates and greater options, meaning better health coverage for employees. The legislation could help as many as 114,000 Hoosier small businesses.

Bayh Calls for Investigation into Potential Loss of Avian Flu Antiviral Drug

Senator Bayh urged President Bush to investigate reports of China's inappropriate use of amantadine, a key human antiviral drug for avian flu, on livestock, which may have allowed avian flu strains to develop resistance to the drug, rendering it useless for treating humans. If recent reports are accurate, China's use of the antiviral drug on livestock violated international livestock guidelines and increased the dangers posed by avian flu by undermining our ability to handle a possible avian flu pandemic here at home.

"The possibility of a flu pandemic is one of the most serious threats facing America today," Senator Bayh said. "Losing one of our antiviral drugs is a significant blow to our ability to respond to a flu pandemic. It is essential that we investigate how this happened and make sure that nothing similar occurs in the future."

As the threat of an avian flu pandemic grows more serious by the day, it is especially critical that public health officials have every tool necessary at their disposal, including the ability to use antivirals. In his letter, Senator Bayh urged the President to take every step possible to protect our only remaining effective antiviral and work with China to make sure that their use of antivirals on livestock is stopped. Bayh emphasized the need for global leadership to address the threat of avian flu and pushed Bush to take an aggressive stance to ensure that other countries do not undermine global preparedness efforts.

Bayh Announces Formal Senate Apology to Victims of Lynchings

Senator Bayh announced that the Senate will pass a resolution that formally apologizes to the victims of lynching and their descendants for the Senate's failure to enact anti-lynching legislation. As an original co-sponsor of the resolution, Bayh commended his colleagues for taking this important step towards racial reconciliation. The resolution will be the first time that the Senate recognizes its failure to outlaw a crime that cost thousands of American lives.

"Acknowledging this dark part of our history will enable us to learn from our past mistakes and begin moving forward," Senator Bayh said. "Although this apology is long overdue, I pray that the passage of this resolution will help foster a national reconciliation and continue the dialogue to heal this very old wound."

Bayh was inspired to take a role in the passage of this resolution based in part on his own interaction with a Hoosier lynching survivor. James Cameron, of Marion, Indiana, survived an attempted lynching in 1930, when he was wrongfully accused of assaulting a white couple in Marion. As Governor, Bayh gave Cameron an official pardon from the State of Indiana. Mr. Cameron traveled to Washington, D.C., to be present for the passage of this important amendment.

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Indiana's Sen. Evan Bayh visits NH Democrats

eamon1916 — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 15:54:52 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/dxmpg
Indiana's Sen. Evan Bayh visits NH Democrats

By SCOTT BROOKS
Union Leader Staff

MANCHESTER — Sen. Evan Bayh is not running for President.

At least, not officially.

“I’m doing those practical things that you would expect to keep that open as an option, if it makes sense when the time comes,” said Bayh, an Indiana Democrat who was making his first appearance of the year in the Granite State yesterday.

Bayh, the 49-year-old senator and former governor, kicked off a two-day tour of New Hampshire with a stop at Manchester City Democratic Committee Headquarters on Elm Street. His schedule also included interviews this morning with local radio personalities and a tour of GT Equipment Technologies, a Merrimack manufacturing plant.

The trip marks his first appearance in New Hampshire since 2001, when Bayh attended a fundraiser for Manchester Mayor Robert Baines, according to the senator’s communications director, Dan Pfeiffer.

Already this year, Bayh has spoken with groups from other states with prominent Presidential election roles, including Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“This is the beginning stages,” said Raymond Buckley, vice chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. “People are coming to meet these guys as they’re thinking of running for President, and he’s certainly thinking about it.”

Local Democrats and people associated with Bayh said the senator will be back in New Hampshire this fall for the state’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner. Pfeiffer declined comment.

Bayh, however, hinted at his hopes of spending more time in the Granite State. After Buckley confessed to campaigning for Jimmy Carter, who defeated Bayh’s father in the 1976 Democratic Primary, Bayh told him, “You may have an opportunity to make amends.”

The senator proceeded to introduce himself as an experienced politician who has repeatedly won elections in a state that tends to favor Republican candidates. Bayh was Indiana’s secretary of state and two-term governor before joining the U.S. Senate in 1998.

While fielding questions, Bayh said the U.S. needs a “strategy for success” in Iraq, suggesting the administration should work to keep the Sunnis involved in Iraq’s new government and convince them to stop harboring insurgents. In 2002, Bayh was one of 29 Democrats who voted to authorize the war in Iraq.

“Whether you think it was a wise thing to do or not, we’re there now,” he said yesterday. “We’ve got to try and make this situation as successful as we possibly can.”

Later, in an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader, Bayh said he does not support litmus tests for judicial appointees but would not rule out the possibility of filibustering President Bush’s nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court bench.

“We’re going to play our constitutional role, which is to advise and consent,” he said. “Most of us feel that for something as important as a Supreme Court vacancy, that it should require more than a mere 50-50 vote.”

State Rep. Peter Sullivan, D-Manchester, said Bayh seemed like the sort of Democrat who “represents where the party should be headed over the next few years.”

“The answers are going to have to get shorter, but they’re the right answers,” Sullivan said.

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His handshake at the ready, Bayh hits New Hampshire

eamon1916 — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 15:23:18 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7avws
Senator continues laying groundwork in New Hampshire

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., will have a very campaignlike schedule today and Monday in New Hampshire, home of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

Bayh will meet with top party officials, speak at a fundraiser for state Senate Democrats, appear on radio shows, tour a small manufacturing company, visit with Democrats in the state's largest city and drop into a restaurant in the western part of the state.

Kathy Sullivan, chairwoman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said Bayh's schedule is similar to those of other potential presidential candidates.

Seven potential Republican candidates and three potential Democratic candidates have visited New Hampshire this year.

James Pindell, managing editor of the online political newsletter PoliticsNH.com, said he's been hearing from moderate Democratic activists who are very interested in meeting Bayh.

Bayh has said he is doing the practical things he needs to do in case he decides to seek his party's 2008 nomination. But he said he won't make that decision until after the November 2006 elections.

Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe

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Bayh urges 'consensus' choice for Supreme Court

eamon1916 — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:51:37 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7zcw7
Bayh urges 'consensus' choice for Supreme Court

Indiana senator, other Democrats say Bush should reject any divisive pick.

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said Friday that President Bush's pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor should be a "consensus" candidate.

The president called on the Senate for a "fair" nominating process.

But, in a divided Senate "consensus" and "fair" are in the eyes of the beholder.

"Justice O'Connor's retirement presents the president with an opportunity to break away from the partisan fights that have plagued Washington and produce a nominee with true consensus support," Bayh, D-Ind., said in a statement. Bayh's comments indicate he will not go along with a nominee whom Democrats consider too conservative.

In the Rose Garden, Bush said Friday that "the nation deserves a dignified process of confirmation in the United States Senate, characterized by fair treatment, a fair hearing and a fair vote."

Bayh has a reputation as a moderate. But his statement Friday and actions during the Senate's recent fight on other judicial nominees indicate he is likely to vote against a Supreme Court nominee opposed by more-liberal members of his party.

That's a necessity for Bayh if he wants to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 as he's considering, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.

"Bush is going to play to his base by nominating a strong conservative," Sabato said. "For Bayh, he has to play to the Democratic Party base, which is almost certain to be strongly opposed to a Bush nominee. Party activists, who vote in primaries, will remember this all the way to 2008."

Other potential Democratic presidential candidates -- including New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold -- likewise said Bush should pick a "consensus" nominee. Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, another 2008 hopeful, said O'Connor's replacement should be "someone in her mold."

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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Introductory lines can be a little tricky

eamon1916 — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:49:55 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/8mplw
Introductory lines can be a little tricky

Tracking the possible presidential bid of the Democratic senator from Indiana:U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., always gets a good laugh when he opens a speech by saying he's always surprised when he's introduced "pretty much the way I wrote it."

But that's more than a laugh line. It's also probably true.

When Bayh spoke recently before a group of Iowa business and civic leaders -- a more moderate or, at least, bipartisan -- group, his introducer emphasized Bayh's involvement in moderate groups that try to "find common ground."

When Bayh was the keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Democratic Party's state convention June 10, he was introduced as a successful vote-getter in a Republican state who nonetheless "is not afraid to stand up for our Democratic values."

"That's why he voted against the Bush tax cuts for the rich," said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle.

I guess no one told Doyle that in addition to voting against President Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, Bayh voted for the 2002 and 2004 cuts.

-- Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe

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All America PAC News Alert

eamon1916 — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:43:59 GMT

News Alert!

Bayh Wants More Than 'Bare Minimum' for Court Nominee

"Justice O'Connor's retirement presents the president with an opportunity to break away from the partisan fights that have plagued Washington and produce a nominee with true consensus support. We should strive for more than the bare minimum needed to nominate someone to a lifetime appointment," said Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana.

Bayh Votes Against CAFTA

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh voted against a trade agreement for the first time Thursday, saying the Central American deal didn't do enough to protect workers' rights.

Bayh said in a statement that he would have liked to support an agreement with Caribbean Basin countries, "but in this case cannot."

"This agreement contains a major loophole giving a free pass to foreign companies that ignore international labor standards," Bayh said. "Our trade policy needs more enforcement, not less."

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Bayh says public should hear 'unvarnished' truth

eamon1916 — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 20:28:56 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/bzy2k
Bayh says public should hear 'unvarnished' truth

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Most of Indiana's lawmakers continue to support U.S. efforts in Iraq and back President Bush's decision not to set a timetable for withdrawal of troops.

While some Republicans in the delegation blamed media coverage for dropping public support of the war, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., says Bush needs to level with the American public tonight and present "an unvarnished version of the situation in Iraq."

"The president needs to be clear . . . about the current situation in Iraq and outline a strategy for success with clearly defined goals so that we can succeed and bring our troops home," Bayh said. "We need to hold people accountable when our efforts aren't working, not for scapegoating, but for fixing them and finding a method that works."

Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., said Indiana troops tell him they're frustrated "at the difference between what is actually happening in Iraq and the media coverage that highlights the problems."

"Without sounding too optimistic, freedom and stability will come gradually over time," Souder said. "President Bush needs to point out the successes and the fact that Iraqis are now dying for their own freedom."

Bush's address comes at a time when polls show a majority of the public dissatisfied with his handling of the war in Iraq and eager for U.S. troops to start coming home.

In a CNN/USA Today Gallup Poll out Monday, 58 percent of respondents disapproved of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq. Six in 10 Americans also have told Gallup pollsters that the United States should withdraw some or all of its troops.

A growing and bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for a detailed strategy or a timetable for exiting Iraq.

But the Indiana lawmakers who responded Monday to questions about the war agreed with the president that there should be no timetable for a withdrawal of troops.

"The reality is that a timetable will be dictated by the success of the mission," said Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., a veteran of the Persian Gulf War.

"George Washington didn't take a poll at Valley Forge, nor did General Eisenhower at Normandy to see if they should get out because the going got tough," said Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. "Setting a date for the withdrawal of our troops only allows the enemy to simply wait us out."

Sen. Richard Lugar's spokesman called a timetable a bad idea.

"Lugar believes Iraqi security forces are improving and are taking more responsibility for the country's safety," spokesman Andy Fisher said.

Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met Monday with national security adviser Steve Hadley to talk about Iraq. But Fisher wouldn't say what advice Lugar gave on what Bush needs to do to win both the public's support and the war itself.

Most of Indiana's congressional delegation voted in 2002 to authorize the White House to use force against Iraq.

Those who didn't -- Reps. Julia Carson, D-Ind.; Pete Visclosky, D-Ind.; and John Hostettler, R-Ind. -- did not respond to requests for comment Monday about Bush's address.

Neither did Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who voted for the war, or Rep. Chris Chocola, R-Ind., who was not serving in Congress during the vote but has supported the effort.

Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., also wasn't serving in Congress for the 2002 war vote, although he has said he would have voted for authorizing force.

"The fact is, we are there. We must finish the mission," Sodrel said Monday. "We are committed and must remain so until a democratically elected government, with a new constitution, is firmly in control."

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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Sen. Bayh to step down as DLC chief

eamon1916 — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 18:38:06 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/9j699
Sen. Bayh to step down as DLC chief

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., is stepping down next month as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, a national group that promotes centrist Democratic policies and has served as a breeding ground for candidates from the local level to the White House.

Bayh, who has headed the group since 2001, now will have more time to devote to his exploration of a potential 2008 presidential bid.

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who also is considering a run for the White House, will take over as chairman when the group holds its national meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on July 25.

In addition to Bayh and Vilsack, other potential 2008 presidential candidates expected to attend the meeting and remain active in the organization include Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and Virginia Gov. Mark Warner.

The Democratic Leadership Council was founded in 1985 by Al From, a South Bend, Ind., native concerned that his party was losing touch with the mainstream.

It was used by then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton -- who headed the group in 1990 and 1991 -- to prepare for his 1992 presidential race.

"It enhances your stature in the party," national political analyst Charlie Cook said about chairing the group. "It gives you a mechanism to travel around the country and meet with party leaders, activists and donors. It's a terrific vehicle to position yourself for a presidential bid."

Bayh was viewed as a potential 2004 candidate when he succeeded former vice presidential candidate and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman as DLC chairman in February 2001. But four months later, Bayh announced a 2004 bid would take him away too much from his 5-year-old twin sons.

Bayh continued to be active as chairman, traveling around the country for DLC gatherings.

Bayh's travel for his potential 2008 presidential bid is now consuming more of his time. He has spoken at Democratic events in Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin so far this year and is heading to New Hampshire in July and Iowa in August.

Bayh's spokesman said Bayh had long planned to give up the DLC chairmanship this year, after a tenure that was second only to Lieberman's in length.

"The time had simply come for someone else to take on that role," spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said.

Pfeiffer said Bayh would continue to remain active in the group.

Hillary Clinton is expected to increase her role in the group. She and Bayh have opposite problems in preparing for potential presidential bids. Clinton has to avoid being perceived as a liberal from the heavily Democratic Northeast who would have trouble winning the general election.

Bayh, whose main attribute is his proven ability to win in Republican territory, needs to reassure Democratic activists that he is not too conservative to deserve their nomination.

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@indystar.com

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Bayh didn't break into top of straw poll

eamon1916 — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 17:20:14 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/a3pxe
Bayh didn't break into top of straw poll

Gannett News Service

It's not that anyone expected Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., to beat Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., in a straw poll asking Wisconsin Democrats to name their preferred 2008 presidential candidate.

But given that Bayh was keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Democratic Party's state convention earlier this month, a few thought he'd do better than fourth.

Bayh, however, ranked behind Feingold, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former vice presidential nominee John Edwards. He did get 15 more votes than John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.

Perhaps most people participating in the voluntary survey -- conducted by WisPolitics.com, a political news service that had a table off the convention floor -- voted before listening to Bayh, who spoke at the end of the night and is not as well-known as Clinton or Edwards.

Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe

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Q & A about Evan Bayh

eamon1916 — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 17:18:06 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/dqs89
A Q & A about Evan bayh

Deficit, energy top speech topics

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

OSHKOSH, Wis. -- Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., was the
keynote speaker Friday at the Wisconsin Democratic
Party state convention. Bayh was invited as a
potential 2008 presidential candidate. As he tests the
waters, more events are likely.

Question: How does this speech help Bayh if he wants
to run for president?

Answer: It gives him exposure to Democratic activists,
generates media coverage, hones his speaking skills
and helps him test themes.

Q: What themes?

A: Bayh has been giving a variation of the same speech
to various groups this year. He criticizes President
Bush for the budget deficit and energy dependence and
for not doing more to tap into the patriotism of the
country after Sept. 11, 2001. He calls for tougher
enforcement of trade laws. He highlights a program he
started as governor to help low-income students pay
for college. And he says the country needs to be less
politically divided and work together.

Q: What other Democratic Party events outside Indiana
has Bayh recently participated in?

A: He spoke to the Butler County, Ohio, Democratic
Party in May and to the Colorado Democratic Party in
March. Although it was not a Democratic Party event,
Bayh last week addressed Iowa business and community
leaders meeting in Washington.

Q: Are such events new for Bayh?

A: Bayh long has sought roles that have helped make
him known to other Democrats, including serving in
1994 as chairman of the Democratic Governors
Association and, since 2001, as chairman of the
Democratic Leadership Council, a group of moderate
Democrats. Bayh was the keynote speaker at the 1996
Democratic National Convention and, during his first
Senate term, participated in local or state Democratic
Party events in New Hampshire, Texas, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, South
Carolina, Missouri, Iowa and Arkansas.

The recent invitations have come his way because he's
viewed as a potential presidential candidate.

Q: Is Bayh doing anything else to prepare for a bid?

A: He has been raising money both through his Senate
campaign committee and his political action committee.
He has made staff changes. And, in contrast with his
first term, he has played less of a role as a Senate
moderate, including not getting involved in
negotiations between the two parties on Social
Security and judicial nominees. Bayh's image as a
moderate likely would help him in a general election
but not necessarily be popular with Democratic primary
voters.

Q: Who else has been to Wisconsin?

A: John Edwards, last year's Democratic vice
presidential candidate, spoke at the party's annual
Founders Day event in April. Sen. Hillary Clinton,
D-N.Y., spoke that same month at the annual
fundraising dinner held by Wisconsin Women in
Government.

Q: Is there anything special about Wisconsin?

A: In 2004, the Wisconsin primary helped seal the
withdrawal of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and keep
alive Edwards' campaign. Sen. John Kerry carried
Wisconsin in the primary election and the general,
when it was heavily targeted by both parties.

All three of the states Bayh has visited -- Wisconsin,
Colorado and Ohio -- could be battleground states in
2008.

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe
at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com.

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Where Sen. Evan Bayh stands on issues

eamon1916 — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 17:16:51 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/cryxc
Where Sen. Evan Bayh stands on issues

Following are quotes from recent speeches by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.:

On the Bush administration and the challenges facing the country: "They're in denial about the facts and the truth, or they're in the thrall of a radical ideology so divorced from the reality of the daily lives of most Americans that they're just not going to get the job done. And that must change."

On energy independence: "If I'd been in charge (after Sept. 11), I would have gone on national TV and I would've said this: 'We need a new declaration of independence in this country, a declaration of energy independence, because it is not right that we are as dependent as we are on places like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and Russia. It's not good for our economy. It's not good for our national security. It's not good for our imbalance of payments and we need to do something about this to set our children free.' "

On the deficit: "The fiscal policies of this administration are immoral. What does it say about us when we are on the cusp of having our principal legacy to our children being our own unpaid bills? ... More than half the money we're borrowing today comes from the Chinese central bank and the Japanese central bank. We'd better remember the old saying that he who pays the piper calls the tunes."

On education and the global economy: "You think they've (the administration) got a strategy to empower our children and workers today to compete in the global economy? You better think again. It starts with education because if you want higher wages, you better have high skills. We need a government that will stand up for our workers and our businesses. ... They start off 20 to 25 to 35 percent behind, not because they don't work as hard, not because they don't think as smart, not because the products they produce aren't as good. But because we allow the government of China to artificially manipulate the value of their money and that's not right."

On partisanship: "All too often, Washington just doesn't operate the way we do in Wisconsin or Indiana. Constant acrimony and fighting rather than focusing on progress ... I can't tell you how often I get up in them morning and go to work and wonder if in fact I'm not really an ambassador to a foreign country."

-- Compiled by Maureen Groppe, Star Washington Bureau reporter

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Bayh priming for primaries

eamon1916 — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 17:06:51 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/a87l6
Bayh priming for primaries

Swing-state stops help build base for possible presidential bid

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

OSHKOSH, Wis. -- Sen. Evan Bayh's message about what he calls Washington's obsession with ideology, rather than a focus on practical issues that will improve people's lives, struck the right chord with Wisconsin Democratic activist Bob Jome.

"He really said a lot of things that the country is anxious to hear: 'Let's get along a little bit,' " Jome said after Bayh's keynote address Friday night at the Wisconsin Democratic Party's state convention. "We're having a lot of trouble with people being at each other's throats."

While Jome, a retired math teacher and former head of the Manitowoc County Democratic Party, was impressed by Bayh's "quiet eloquence," he's not ready to pick Bayh -- or anyone else -- as a favorite for his party's 2008 presidential nomination.

"It's too early, and you need to see which hats actually end up in the ring," Jome said.

Bayh is practicing his toss.

Although he has said he won't make a decision about whether to run until after the 2006 elections, Bayh has acknowledged that he's laying the groundwork.

He has spoken to groups of Democrats in the potential swing states of Wisconsin, Ohio and Colorado. He addressed Iowa business and civic leaders meeting in Washington last week and in August will head back to the state, which has the nation's first presidential caucus. He likely will go later this year to New Hampshire, which holds the nation's first presidential primary.

"I'm doing some of the practical things that you think would be necessary to make that decision (to run) when the time comes," Bayh said, "if it's the appropriate thing to do."

He told about 1,000 Democrats at the Park Plaza Hotel and Convention Center on the banks of the Fox River that lawmakers are embroiled in "constant acrimony and fighting" rather than focusing on ensuring children get the education they need, senior citizens can afford health care and workers aren't losing their jobs to unfair foreign competition.

"All too often, Washington just doesn't operate the way we do in Wisconsin or Indiana," he said. "I can't tell you how often I get up in the morning and go to work and wonder if in fact I'm not really an ambassador to a foreign country."

Bayh's appearances are "what you do," said Chris Gates, the former chairman of the Democratic Party in Colorado, where Bayh spoke in March. "You make friends. You meet people and you make sure you've got a good staff person with you that can collect cards from everybody."

"I guarantee you, if Senator Bayh is the candidate, he made a lot of friends when he came here this early," said Dan Gattermeyer, chairman of the Democratic Party in Butler County, Ohio. Bayh spoke at a May party fundraiser to a crowd of 300, double last year's attendance. "And there'll be more people working for him harder because he did it."

Why so early?

One reason the 49-year-old senator and other potential candidates are gearing up so early is that the 2008 election could be one of the most wide-open in recent history. For the first time since 1952, the job is expected to be open without a vice president in pursuit of it.

More than a dozen Democrats and Republicans are viewed as potential candidates, and many are traveling the circuit. Wisconsin Democrats, for example, earlier this year met with Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who is considering a bid, spoke before Bayh on Friday and got a standing ovation when he said: "Who knows? One of the speakers tonight might be the next Democratic president of the United States."

In Colorado, Gates said, 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry, Edwards and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack are among those who have been "nosing around." New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, another potential candidate, was in New Hampshire last week.

Republicans, too, have been out. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee traveled to New Hampshire in March. Sen. John McCain of Arizona has appeared this year at multiple GOP fundraisers in Michigan, a state whose primary he won in 2000.

Asked whether it's too early for would-be candidates to be out and about, presidential politics scholar George Edwards replied: "Good Lord, no."

"I hate to say it, but it's true," said Edwards, a political science professor at Texas A&M University. "The invisible primary is very long, and particularly (so) for someone who hasn't been really high-profile."

The pollsters are already at it, too. A majority of Americans polled last month in a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll said they are likely to vote for Clinton if she runs for president in 2008.

Bayh was not tested in the poll, and he's not likely to register high on national polls because his name recognition is nowhere near that of Clinton, Kerry and others.

But Bayh, who served two terms as Indiana governor and was re-elected to the Senate last year with 62 percent of the vote, has other attributes.

"He's gotten good press. He's seen as a positive person and a reasonable person and an attractive person," Edwards said. "And he's seen as a Democrat who has done well in a Republican state. If you want to win the presidency, that looks really good. That makes him worth watching."

More than talk

In addition to speaking to Democratic groups, Bayh has been raising money, putting together a potential campaign team and shaping his legislative record.

Bayh, who ended last year's re-election campaign with more than $6.6 million, has conducted fundraisers or met with potential financial supporters so far this year in Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and St. Louis.

Bayh won't have to disclose how much he has raised and spent through his political action committee so far this year until July.

The most recent campaign disclosure report from his Senate campaign shows he raised $255,207 in the first three months of this year.

As a member of the out-of-power party, Bayh lacks a committee chairmanship to help create a record of accomplishment to run on. But he has been particularly vocal on trade issues recently.

Although Bayh has supported free trade agreements -- despite frequent criticism of them by labor unions, a core Democratic constituency -- he told Iowans last week that he is looking with "increased skepticism" at past agreements and their "woeful enforcement."

Bayh is among the growing chorus of federal lawmakers arguing for stronger action against the Chinese for currency practices that help make China's goods cheaper on the world market.

Bayh briefly held up the nomination of President Bush's trade representative to get a vote on a bill targeting China's trade practices. Bayh withdrew his objection after he was promised a hearing on the legislation.

Bayh has said he doesn't know how he will vote on a pending trade agreement with Central America. If he votes for it, he can forget about winning the support of Jennifer Fredrick, a native Hoosier who attended the Wisconsin Democratic convention.

"The Midwest has been hit really hard" by the North American Free Trade Agreement, Fredrick said.

Bayh also has been trying to make a name for himself as an advocate for troops. He is one of the main lawmakers pushing for more funding for armored Humvees, which are made in Indiana, to better protect troops in Iraq.

Bayh, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was one of the earliest Democratic supporters of Bush's decision to invade Iraq. But he since has been critical of the handling of the war. He was one of 13 senators to vote against elevating national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to secretary of state.

Bayh said he did so because the Bush administration has to be held accountable for mistakes in Iraq. Some political observers saw his vote as a way to make himself more appealing to core Democrats, many of whom are critical of the war.

In general, Bayh has strayed from the Democratic Party fold less this year. He has voted with his party on 90.5 percent of the votes in which a majority of Democrats opposed a majority of Republicans. Last year, Bayh voted with his party on 78 percent of the party-line votes.

"There are two elections. The first is the primary election. The second is the general election," Edwards said. "And being a moderate is good for the general, but you've got to get to the second election."

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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May 2005 Bayh Bulletin

eamon1916 — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 15:11:15 GMT

May 2005 Bayh Bulletin

This May, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh traveled across Indiana, announcing key victories in his fight to end illegal trade practices and give Hoosier workers a level playing field. As a result of his efforts to draw attention to the impact of unfair trade practices, Bayh secured a commitment from the new U.S. Trade Representative to get tough on trade and to visit Indiana manufacturers to discuss the impact unfair trade is having on their businesses. Bayh also continued his work supporting our military families by introducing legislation to protect military families facing foreclosure, eviction or loan default due to military service and voted in support of the Highway Bill, which will create thousands of jobs for Hoosiers.

Bayh Pledges to Continue Fight Against Unfair Trade

Senator Bayh traveled across Indiana in the beginning of the month, visiting Hoosier companies to deliver on a promise he made at last summer to take a stand against overseas countries whose unfair trade practices have been hurting Hoosier businesses. Standing alongside dozens of hardworking Hoosiers at companies in Indianapolis, Evansville, Jeffersonville and Kendallville, Bayh announced that his efforts to draw attention to the impact of unfair trade resulted in an agreement to hold a hearing on illegal subsidies and his Stopping Overseas Subsidies (SOS) Act before July 15th and to organize a meeting between the new U.S. Trade Representative and Indiana manufacturers.

"Initially, the Administration tried to turn a blind eye to cheating from foreign countries and refused to get tough on trade," Senator Bayh said. "So I fought back. I fought back for all the companies I've visited in Indiana, where workers get out of bed every morning with one hand tied behind their back because of unfair trade policies other countries use to their advantage. Now, the Administration and Congress are paying attention and Indiana manufacturers will have a seat at the table when we talk about how to stop this cheating and level the playing field for American workers and businesses."

Unfair trade practices allow other countries to illegally gain a competitive advantage over American companies. Bayh's SOS Act would allow the U.S. to apply its anti-subsidy laws to all of our trading partners, regardless of the technical definition of their economy. A twenty-year-old court decision prevents the Commerce Department from taking action against "non-market" economies like China, when they offer companies illegal subsidies. These illegal subsidies have contributed to the loss of nearly 3 million manufacturing jobs over the last several years and created a record $618 billion trade deficit.

"The Hoosier companies I visited are doing everything they can to seek out honest, competitive advantages so they can succeed in today's global economy," Senator Bayh said. "These folks work so hard. They don't want any special treatment; they just want a chance to compete on a level playing field."

Bayh Announces Bill to Protect Military Families from Foreclosure

Senator Bayh announced plans to introduce legislation designed to protect military families who are facing foreclosure, eviction or loan default due to financial hardship because of military service. Many military families are losing their homes, in spite of an existing law protecting them from these situations, because the Administration has failed to properly educate our soldiers about their rights and lenders are either unaware of or ignoring the law. Bayh's Servicemembers Home Protection Act of 2005 would levy fines against financial institutions that ignore this law and would educate families about their rights.

"Even though it violates the law, soldiers are losing their homes while they are fighting on the front lines," Senator Bayh said. "This is unacceptable. My legislation will force the Administration to educate our troops about their rights and will punish lenders who wrongfully take away our troops' homes."

Many military families are unaware that they are currently protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act from foreclosure and eviction, so they do not fight the notices they receive. At the same time, financial institutions are either ignoring the law or claiming they are unaware of its existence. Bayh's bill offers a direct solution to both problems, through educational outreach to military families, fines against financial institutions that violate the law, and the inclusion of information on military families' rights on notices required during the foreclosure process.

"Memorial Day should not be the only time we spend honoring the sacrifices of our service members," Senator Bayh said. "Our troops are doing right by us every day and it's time we do the same. I will continue fighting to provide the equipment our troops need in the field and the support their families deserve at home."

Bayh Wins Battle to Secure Additional Up-Armored Humvees

In response to news that Pentagon officials needed another 1,800 up-armored Humvees, Senator Bayh introduced an amendment to the Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill to provide funding for more up-armored Humvees so that our men and women serving in Iraq have the equipment they need to protect themselves. The amendment, which passed Congress, will help ensure that our troops have the necessary up-armored Humvees in the field and will help protect against future shortfalls. The Pentagon has been forced to revise its requirement for up-armored Humvees in Iraq for the ninth time in two years now.

In the final version of the bill, Bayh’s amendment provides for $150 million to purchase additional up-armored Humvees. It also contains two key reporting requirements for the Secretary of Defense, which Senator Bayh designed to prevent shortfalls from building up over time again. According to the bill, the Secretary of Defense must report more frequently regarding the number of up-armored Humvees needed on the ground and must report on ways to speed shipments of the vehicles to Iraq.

"Our troops do right by us everyday and, by passing my amendment, Congress has now taken a significant step towards doing right by them," Senator Bayh said. "It is our moral obligation to provide our men and women fighting in Iraq with the equipment they need to do their job safely. Our troops should not have to pay the price for the Pentagon’s mistakes."

Senate Approves Highway Bill to Address Nation's Transportation Needs

Senator Bayh voted in support of the Senate Highway bill to authorize an average of $969 million a year - an average increase of $308.6 million over current authorized levels - for Indiana’s transportation needs for the next five years. Bayh said the bill could create as many as 16,000 additional jobs in Indiana and would ensure that more Hoosier tax dollars are returned to Indiana to build better, safer roads at home.

"The Highway bill means more jobs for Hoosier families, safer roads for our drivers, and a better rate of return for taxpayers," Senator Bayh said. "With this bill, Indiana will begin receiving more money back for every dollar we send to Washington for the Highway Trust Fund. It’s a matter of simple fairness - when Hoosiers send a dollar out to repair our nation’s roads, we should get a dollar back. This legislation makes significant progress in getting us to that point, creating thousands of new jobs at the same time."

One of the key provisions in the highway bill ensures that Indiana will receive a better rate of return on the tax dollars it sends to the federal government as part of the Highway Trust Fund each year. Currently, Indiana is one of thirty-two "donor states," which pay more to the Highway Trust Fund than they receive back. A provision in the Senate Highway bill supported by Senator Bayh will begin correcting that imbalance, by increasing Indiana’s rate of return from 90.5 cents to 92 cents over the next five years.

Bayh also authored two amendments which were approved as a part of the bill. Bayh’s Clean School Bus provision will help school districts purchase new, environmentally-friendly buses. Bayh’s ethanol amendment will help reduce American dependence on foreign oil by providing a tax credit to encourage gasoline stations to install or convert pumps that offer E-85 ethanol, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline used by millions of Flexible Fuel Vehicles across the country.

We hope that you found this issue of "The Bayh Bulletin" informative. Please feel free to share with us your opinions on important issues and any other feedback you might have by using one of our forms to contact Senator Bayh available here.

Do you know someone who would like to receive "The Bayh Bulletin"? If so, please direct them to http://bayh.senate.gov/signup.htm.

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Bayh's travel plans point to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

eamon1916 — Thu, 09 Jun 2005 16:50:36 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/8y2k5
Bayh's travel plans point to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Indiana's Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh addressed Iowa business and civic leaders Wednesday, told reporters he'll be traveling to Iowa in August and hinted that a trip to New Hampshire was in his future.

So is he running for president?

"I'm doing the practical things to keep that open as an option," Bayh told more than 150 Iowans participating in the Greater Des Moines Partnership's annual trip to Washington. "But I'm not running today."

Bayh's comments Wednesday were the furthest he's gone in publicly discussing his 2008 ambitions. Last month, Bayh downplayed remarks by his father, former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind., that his son was seriously considering running.

Saturday, before speaking at an Indiana Democratic Party fundraiser, Bayh told The Indianapolis Star that he's laying some groundwork in case he decides to run.

Iowa and New Hampshire are obvious stops for a possible candidate: Iowa has the nation's first presidential caucus, and New Hampshire has the first presidential primary.

"It's obviously natural that there's some significance attached to it," Bayh said of his speech to Iowans.

But, he added, "It's really not an announcement."

Still, Michelle Durand-Adams, who manages mortgage lending for the state of Iowa, said Bayh's address to the Iowa group sounded like a campaign speech to her.

"I can't think of a thing that didn't give me that impression," Durand-Adams said. "He prepared well for today."

Bayh talked about the need to decrease partisanship, reduce the federal deficit, increase energy independence and improve education and research and development to make the nation's businesses more competitive in a global economy.

Durand-Adams, a registered Republican who sometimes votes for a Democrat, said she liked the centrist image Bayh projected and would consider voting for him.

Bayh's ability to appeal to Republicans is a primary reason he's seen as a potential presidential candidate. But he'll have to excite Democrats as well to win his party's nomination in a field that could include Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a top draw at Democratic Party events.

Clinton was last year's luncheon speaker to the Iowa group. She's also been to Wisconsin, where Bayh will head Friday to be the keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Democratic Party state convention.

Bayh already has been the keynote speaker at the Colorado state party's annual fundraising dinner and a fundraising dinner for the Butler County, Ohio, Democratic Party.

"I've always done a few of these things," Bayh said. "I'm doing a few more."

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

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Still not running, Bayh bashes Bush

eamon1916 — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 15:44:28 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/c5u36
Still not running, Bayh bashes Bush

By Matthew Tully
matthew.tully@indystar.com

Sen. Evan Bayh walked past a row of "Bayh '08!" campaign signs as he headed into an Indiana Democratic Party fundraiser Saturday night.

Bayh doesn't have to run for his U.S. Senate seat again until 2010. But the junior senator from Indiana could be on the ballot in 2008 if he decides to run for president.

Such a run was on the minds of many of the roughly 1,100 Democrats who headed to the Marriott Downtown for the party's Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner, where Bayh was the keynote speaker.

But the senator has a message for his curious public: Wait.

This is far too early for a serious candidate to acknowledge a decision to run for president.

This is the time to lay the groundwork for a run but also to play coy. So, as he works to heighten his national profile, Bayh remained coy Saturday.

"You have to do some practical things to be able to make those decisions at the right time," he said in a brief pre-speech interview. "But I have not made any decisions at this point."

A decision, Bayh said, would likely come at some point after the 2006 midterm elections.

While not declaring his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in 2008, Bayh certainly sounded like a man seeking the hearts of the party faithful as he took the stage Saturday evening.

In a speech that lasted more than 30 minutes, he rebuked President Bush's administration on a range of issues, from the federal deficit to the need for energy independence.

"When the history of our time is written," Bayh said, "I believe this president will be judged very harshly."

Bayh said Republicans have divided the country, and Bush failed to summon Americans to "something more" following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The president, he said, should have urged people to accept potentially costly moves to lessen the country's dependence on foreign oil.

Bayh said he would have made such a request "if I'd been president of the United States at that time."

Massive budget deficits threaten future generations, Bayh said, before accusing Bush of not doing enough to respond to the unfair trade actions of other nations.

"We need a government that will stand by our workers," he said, offering a message for unions, a key base of any national Democrat's candidacy. ". . . We need a government that will do something other than roll over and let them down."

Pointing to the Republican Party's symbol, Bayh joked, "The elephant always leads to some unpleasant stuff that you have to clean up."

"Good speech," state Rep. Bob Kuzman, Crown Point, said after Bayh finished talking. "Sounds like he's running for president."

That's possible.

And if Bayh didn't want to leave that impression, he certainly had the wrong person introducing him Saturday -- U.S. Rep. Julia Carson, Indianapolis. Carson wound up the crowd by predicting Bayh would be the nation's next president.

"He's already got the . . . signs up," she joked.

As for those "Bayh '08!" signs filling the room, the state Democratic Party provided them, and Bayh claimed ignorance.

"I didn't even know that sign was there," he said when a reporter pointed to one that he had just walked by.

Call Star reporter Matthew Tully at (317) 444-6033.

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Link to video of Bayh commencement address

allamerica — Wed, 25 May 2005 06:13:28 GMT

mms://law11.law.virginia.edu/news/2004_05/bayh.wmv

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Bayh Calls for American Unity, Patriotism in Commencement Address

allamerica — Wed, 25 May 2005 06:11:09 GMT

Posted May 24, 2005
Bayh Calls for American Unity, Patriotism in Commencement Address
Graduation Awards

Sen. Evan Bayh called for more unity among Americans and summoned the Class of 2005 and their families and friends to a “deeper, more profound level of patriotism” during the May 22 graduation ceremony.

Americans need “more unity, less division, and [an understanding of what] too many of our political leaders today do not want us to understand—that even with all of our superficial differences, the American people have more that unites us than divides us, a single nation with a common heritage forged on a common bond with a common destiny, and it’s about time that we began behaving that way,” said Bayh, a senator from Indiana who graduated from the Law School in 1981. “The great genius of America is not our ability to continue to divide one another to seek short-term political gain. The genius of our country is the crucible in which differences are reconciled, not accentuated.”

Bayh began his commencement address by recalling memories he had of his time at the Law School. On the day of his first-year orientation, then-Dean Hardy Dillard told his class to approach studying law with “exuberant skepticism.”

“I found that not only to be a pretty appropriate perspective for the study of law, but a pretty appropriate perspective for the pursuit of life, in particular the pursuit of public life,” Bayh said. During his first year, his mother passed away from breast cancer a week before exams began, he said, recalling the warmth the school showed him during that difficult time. She had wanted to attend the University when she was a student, but at the time the school didn’t admit women. “It meant a lot to her that I could come,” he said.

Bayh took a break from law school in 1980 to campaign for his father, three-term Sen. Birch Bayh. Although his father lost the campaign, “I came back and graduated with an idea of what I wanted to dedicate my life to.”

After entering private practice in Indianapolis, he was elected Indiana’s Secretary of State in 1986, and served as governor for two terms beginning in 1989. Last year he was elected to his second term as senator.

“I would not be the person that I am, were it not for this Law School, and the faculty of this place, and the values that they instilled in me,” Bayh said, telling graduates that if they return in 20 or 25 years, “you will find that while this place physically means a great deal to you, it is the ethos, it is the spirit embodied by your faculty and contemporaries that you will remember more than anything else.”

After law school Bayh clerked for Judge James Noland of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The new citizenship ceremonies the judge presided over twice a year made a strong impression on Bayh. The immigrants would “always dress up in their finest clothes, they’d have their friends and relatives with them. You could tell this was an important watershed event in their lives.”

The judge would tell the new citizens, “The oath of allegiance that you are about to take is at its core an oath of allegiance to an idea. It’s an idea that promise more hope and opportunities, for everyone who is willing to travel to these shores, and to work hard and sacrifice and dream big so that they can make it happen. It’s an idea that for more than 200 years we have called America.”

Bayh continued, “There is nothing written in stone that says that that idea will be permanent. Nowhere is it written that that will be the case for eternity. It is the case because each generation of Americans, each generation of graduates of this Law School and of this great university, have been willing to meet the challenges of their time, to make the difficult decisions and from time to time the sacrifices, so that it can be so, to keep faith with those who have come before us and to do right by those who will follow, and I say to you, the graduates of the Class of 2005, now is our time.

“We have gathered around us so many challenges to the idea of America, and our ability to meet those challenges will mark us down as either a great generation, or not.”

Bayh pointed to the challenges of globalization, the growth in power and numbers of the Indians and Chinese, and domestically, preparing American citizens “so that they can be economically relevant.

“The growing gap between the haves and have-nots in our country today is very much a skills gap, a knowledge gap, an education gap, and we must close it if our society is going to be the kind of cohesive place that it has always been,” Bayh said.

Other challenges include securing America while ensuring that the values of the Constitution are upheld, and the issues posed by a changing demography. “How do we honor our commitments to our senior citizens, and still do right by our young?” he asked. Furthermore, the change in American families—more households with single parents or two working parents—should be addressed. He noted that 40 percent of Americans felt so disconnected from society that they chose not to vote. “What does that say about the level of apathy, and skepticism, and cynicism?”

Bayh said Americans should understand the words of one of the nation’s great civil rights leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr., who said “We may have arrived on these shores in different ships, but we are all in the same boat now.”

Bayh said in Washington, D.C., “too often I feel like the ambassador to a foreign country.” Government leaders would do well to remember Thomas Jefferson's concerns about human frailty and passion, necessitating the need for separation of powers and balancing power in the majoritarian branch.

“With all of our attempts to instill greater virtue in our people, and all of the progress that we have made, the dangers of passion, the excess of partisanship, the zeal of the majority in the heat of the moment to work its will, will occasionally take us down the wrong path,” he said. “I am very concerned that if we abandon the need for consensus, that when the law and the judiciary are called upon to make decisions that inevitably touch upon the political process, if those who labor in the vineyards of the law are viewed as being excessively ideological or excessively partisan, the respect necessary for the rule of law to govern in this pluralistic society will erode, and America will be the lesser for it.”

Americans also need unity, Bayh said, pointing to the remarks of School of Law graduate Robert F. Kennedy in Indianapolis after King’s assassination; Indiana’s capital was the only major city not to experience an outbreak of violence. From the back of a flatbed truck, Kennedy explained that King was killed and a gasp rose from the crowd.

“For those of you who are tempted to lash out in anger and hate, I can only say that I too had a loved one who was killed. He too, was killed by a white man,” Kennedy told the audience of mostly minorities, and concluded that what Americans need is not more anger and more division, but more reconciliation and compassion.

“It was true in 1968, it’s true in 2005,” Bayh said. “The time has come for us to think about what each and every one of us can do to strengthen this nation.”

Bayh recalled a recent visit to Walter Reed Army Hospital to see soldiers wounded in Iraq.

“You would be so impressed and proud of these young men and women,” Bayh said. “They are some of the finest, most idealistic people this country has to offer.”

After leaving the hospital, “My thought was, look at what they have been willing to sacrifice, because their country has asked them to. What about me? What about each and every one of us? What are we willing to put back into this country, to make it more decent and just? What are we willing to do to strengthen America?”

Bayh noted that Jefferson’s tombstone proclaims “here lies Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, author of the law of religious freedom for the people of Virginia, founder of the University of Virginia.”

He didn’t mention his roles as president, vice president, secretary of state, or ambassador to France, to Jefferson’s friend’s dismay.

Jefferson allegedly told his friend, “I would much prefer to be remembered for what I have been privileged to do for others, rather than what others in this country have so kindly done for me.”

Bayh concluded, “More unity in this country, a deeper sense of patriotism, a devotion in our lives for doing for others, not just for what others can do for us. It is the genius of America, it will be the test of our generation, it is my charge and my challenge to the Class of 2005.”

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Increasing Awareness

eamon1916 — Tue, 24 May 2005 15:35:17 GMT

We've had discussions on how to increase Sen Bayh's national awareness...

Someone had said it's WAY too early to do something like tabling...

well the idea that I've had is to create calling cards... something like business cards, except they're not for a business. Just put on the card a couple of the websites (www.allamericapac.com, www.americansforbayh.com, evanbayh.tribe.net) on one side, maybe a quote (my favorite is "The Democratic Party has an important decision to make. Do we want to vent or do we want to govern."-- Sen Evan Bayh) and leave the other side blank. If you see a car in a parking lot with a democratic bumpersticker, just leave a card and write on it "Check it out..." or something like that...

Just my idea of the day...

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Promoting ethanol not corny to Iowans

eamon1916 — Mon, 23 May 2005 20:47:12 GMT

Promoting ethanol not corny to Iowans
May 22, 2005

Quick! Name another "I" state besides Indiana that also grows a lot of corn.

That's right -- Iowa, the nation's largest producer of corn and ethanol, which also happens to be the site of the first presidential caucuses.

So perhaps there's more than a home-state interest in U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh's promotion of ethanol, the corn-based fuel additive.

Yes, Bayh, D-Ind., has backed ethanol before. But as speculation increases on his interest in running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, so have the news releases he's generated on the topic.

Bayh has touted an ethanol tax credit he co-sponsored that was included in a multiyear transportation bill approved by the Senate.

Bayh recently joined Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, in asking the Energy Department to investigate whether oil refiners are refusing to blend in ethanol. He also backs requiring increased ethanol use.

In March, Bayh praised the Indy Racing League's decision to use ethanol in its Indy cars. "Ethanol is good for the environment, good for the economy and good for our national security," he said.

And, one might add, good for those hoping to be liked by Iowans.

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"Evan Can Wait" Part 4 - Final

eamon1916 — Tue, 17 May 2005 21:15:06 GMT

The VP slow may, in fact, be the best way—the only way—Bayh can reconcile his ambition and his family life. “Since vice presidential candidates aren’t chosen until the party conventions in late summer of the election year,” he writes in his book, “a vice president’s campaign is a relatively short affair, requiring prolonged absence from family for only two or three months.”

Not long after Bayh’s June 2001 press conference announcing his decision not to run for president, Al From, the founder of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, called Bayh the “logical” choice to be the Democrats’ vice-presidential candidate in 2004—no matter who ended up as the party’s nominee to take on George W. Bush.

In the three years since From made that observation, Bayh has only become more prominent as a potential candidate. In 2001, he took over as chairman of the DLC, a job previously held by Joe Lieberman and Bill Clinton. He’s been a regular on the O’Reilly-Late Edition-Hannity & Colmes talking-head tour. He has raised millions of dollars. And he shivved the liberal wing of his own party when its favored candidate, Howard Dean, looked to be steamrollering toward the nomination. “The Democratic Party has an important choice to make,” Bayh said in a speech at a DLC gathering last summer, six months before the first primary. “Do we want to vent or do we want to govern?” At the time, the shot—though undoubtedly scoring points with Dean’s opponents on the campaign trail—made Bayh sound churlish and resentful, like a spurned ex who was going to be dateless for prom. Now it seems prescient.

This spring, after Senator John Kerry locked up the Democratic nomination, Bayh’s name assumed a permanent position on every political reporter’s “possible running mates” list. The calculus behind his consideration has less to do with his national appeal than with electoral math and Kerry’s particular baggage. The election is likely to come down to a small group of undecided voters in a just a handful of states in the South and Midwest. “The partisan voters are locked down like they never have been before,” says Michael Wolf, a political-science professor at Indiana University who studies swing voters. “There is rock-solid support among Democrats who aren’t going to vote for Bush no matter what, and there’s solid support for Bush among Republicans. And because the partisans are so lined up behind their candidate, swing voters are absolutely the king-makers.”

With his middle-of-the-road voting record and his experience as a two-term, fiscally conservative governor, Bayh could help Kerry—a relatively liberal Massachusetts senator who’s spent the last 18 years in Washington—woo those crucial voters. “The Republican machine is going to portray Senator Kerry as a dangerous liberal,” says former Bayh staffer Moreau. “It would be helpful for him to have a moderate on the ticket.” Fred Glass, a prominent local Democrat who worked as Bayh’s chief of staff when he was governor, believes that Bayh would be particularly effective campaigning in key rust-belt states. “The Midwest is going to be where it’s at,” says Glass. “I think his style, his message will really resonate with voters in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania. I think he brings a real regional presence that makes more sense than trying to pick off any one particular state.”

There is also the dream among local Democrats that with Bayh on the ticket, Kerry could win Indiana. That possibility is the principal reason why Larry Sabato, a political-science professor at the University of Virginia best known for predicting the Republican Party’s success in the 2002 midterm elections, believes Bayh should top the VP list. “He projects the right image. He’s got a good chance to carry his state. He has an untouchable reputation. There’s no way for the Bush people to go after him,” Sabato says. “What you want to do is put somebody on your ticket who will not only add to your vote total, but subtract from the other guy’s. Bayh is one of the few guys who can turn a Bush red state into a Democratic blue one. In a close election, Bush has to win Indiana. Just Indiana could deliver the presidency.”

A Bayh candidacy, however, would not be without some colossal liabilities. For one: There are plenty of people who doubt he could carry his own state. No Democrat has carried Indiana in a presidential election since Lyndon Johnson did in 1964. In 1996, Dole won it by five points. In 2000, Bush won it by 16. State Republicans gleefully point out that statewide polls have found President Bush to be significantly more popular in Indiana than in the nation as a whole.

And though the state could, theoretically, play a decisive role in the presidential election, it probably won’t. Former state GOP chairman McDaniel says he would love to see Bayh on the Democratic ticket—if only because it would mean Kerry hadn’t picked someone who could actually help him win. “If they’re counting on Indiana to help John Kerry win, if their strategy is all about us, then I think they’ve made a huge tactical error, which would be okay with me.”

Bayh’s biggest problem may be more basic. He is still in his first term in the Senate, and for all his stature in political circles, he remains relatively unknown to much of the country—including Ohio, the state both the Bush and Kerry campaigns have identified as the campaign’s key battleground. In an election that is going to focus on the economy, war, terrorism, and national security, how many Ohio voters are going to care that Evan Bayh hails from the state next door? Says McDaniel: “I can’t remember ever thinking ‘Boy, I’ll vote for someone because that guy from the neighboring state is on the ticket.’ I think that’s a stretch.”

Local Republicans aren’t the only ones skeptical about a Bayh candidacy. The reasons for his popularity among Hoosiers—his moderation, his plain-vanilla policy priorities, his aw-shucks, school-kid, anti-charisma—are the very reasons some in the Democratic Party would chafe at his inclusion on the ticket. As a senator, Bayh has supported repealing the estate tax. He initially voted for the second round of Bush tax cuts (though he voted against the final version of the bill), and he has staunchly supported the war in Iraq. And for all his discipline and focus, his youth and eloquence, Bayh may be the Democrats least sexy VP prospect. He lacks Dick Gephardt’s ties to organized labor. He doesn’t boast Senator John Edward’s down-home touch. And he can’t match New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s ability to attract Hispanic voters. Indeed, Bayh is best known for being exceedingly uninteresting—the creature from the bland lagoon. Just the prospect of a Bayh-Cheney debate strikes some as coma-inducing. In March, when Time magazine contemplated a Bayh-Kerry ticket, it tagged the idea “Dull and Duller.”

--

Though he’s a year and a half shy of his 50th birthday, Bayh has spent almost two decades in public life, and he long ago mastered the ability to talk at length while revealing nothing he hasn’t already said countless times before. When asked if he wants to be vice president, Bayh says no. Kind of. “The most direct answer is no,” he says. “It’s a tremendous honor to serve the people of Indiana. The vice presidency, it’s not something I’m seeking. There’s only one office I’m seeking—to represent Indiana in the Senate. Anything else is out of my hands.”

Bayh’s interest in the job may, of course, be moot. In late April, Kerry’s hometown paper, The Boston Globe, reported that campaign lawyers had begun conducting background checks on three potential candidates: Gephardt, Edwards and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, whose wife endorsed Kerry early in his Iowa campaign. Though other media outlets continue to report that Bayh was being considered, his name usually appeared somewhere in a paragraph that started, “Among others…”

Bayh may be perfectly happy being a senator, but it’s hard to believe that remaining in the office will satisfy his ambition. “He’s clearly presidential timber,” says Fred Glass. “He’s viewed that way by those I know on the national stage. He has a real network around the country, whether it’s with the DLC or raising money for his colleagues.” The main reason Bayh decided against a campaign in 2004—the age of his twin sons—becomes less of an obstacle with each passing day, and both Evan and Susan Bayh tend to talk about a run for the White House as something that’s simply been delayed, not dismissed. “We thought [our kids] would be better able to handle it if they were a bit older, when we’re not going to be as big a part of their lives,” says Susan. “I think Evan postponed that decision to a time when their lives are going to be less hectic.”

If Bayh does decide to run, his first task may be explaining why he wants the job. In his book, he notes that being president would allow him “to be in he best possible position to advance the policies that I believe are good for Hoosiers and Americans.” When he’s asked the question in person, he pauses, squints, and—using slightly different words—says the same thing: “When you go into public office, I think you’re naturally drawn to wanting to help as many people as you possibly can. As president, you’re in a good position in which you can do the most good for the largest number of people.”

At any given time, there are only a handful of people who can legitimately contemplate a possible future in the White House. Evan Bayh is now one of them, and yet he often seems as though he could do without the fuss. “You can be a healthy, well-adjusted human being and not run for president,” he reminds us in From Father To Son. Point taken. But the argument has its corollary: You can’t be a healthy, well-adjusted human being and run for president. The healthy among us would never put up with the insanity involved in running for president; the well-adjusted do not feel the need to slog through snow in New Hampshire, attend pancake breakfasts all over Iowa, and recite the same speech over and over and over again.

The question Evan Bayh will someday have to answer, then, is which, in the end, he wants to be. The smart money says it is not healthy and well-adjusted.

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"Evan Can Wait" Part 3

eamon1916 — Tue, 17 May 2005 16:14:11 GMT

Bayh is one of the least ideological members of Congress. Much like George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign, he talks a lot about changing the “tone” of Washington, bridging the partisan divide. Unlike the president, Bayh has actually tried to make good on this promise. When he first arrived in the Senate, he made a point of having breakfast or lunch with Republican senators, especially senior ones. He routinely seeks out issues, such as public service and homeland security, that he knows can garner Republican support. “I think I’m views as a Democrat whom Republicans can look to as a reasonable voice to try to cooperate to find solutions to problems,” he says. “I’ve got strong principles and things I believe in, but the thing that matters most to me is results. This shouldn’t be a debating club.”

Since the day he arrived in Washington, in 1999, Bayh has frequently been asked about jobs with the word president in the title. At his first press conference as a senator, the day he was sworn in, a reporter asked if he was planning to run for Bill Clinton’s job. Bayh, not usually a wise-ass, couldn’t resist: “Not today,” he said.

Less than 18 months later, though, Bayh was on the very short list of people—along with senators John Edwards, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman—being considered as a potential running mate for Al Gore. At the time, his resume seemed tailor-made for the job. “The concerns of most people were focused on domestic issues, so his having been a governor was a tremendous calling card,” says Bayh’s wife, Susan. “And the Democratic Party cannot win without at least some states in the Midwest. You can’t just win the coasts. You have to win something in the middle. Evan had been able to win in Indiana after years of the other party dominating.”

Bayh never denied wanting the job. “It’s not the kind of thing you say no to” has long been one of his standard responses to questions on the topic. As soon as it became public that Bayh was on Gore’s short list, however, women’s groups, a constituency the vice president could not ignore, began sounding alarms. The year before, Bayh had been one of 14 Senate Democrats to vote in favor of banning a late-term abortion procedure—the so-called partial-birth abortion—a move that angered pro-choice advocates. “Evan’s record is problematic for us,” the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League’s Alice Germond told The Baltimore Sun. “We want to keep the Democratic Party the party of choice.” Though a group of prominent Indiana Democratic women defended Bayh’s pro-choice credentials, the episode is thought to have scuttled his chances of becoming Gore’s running mate. That August, Gore picked Lieberman.

Not long after the 2000 election, in the pre-9/11 days of the Bush administration, Bayh began to attract increased attention in the political press. He opposed the nomination of John Ashcroft for attorney general, he voted against Gail Norton for secretary of the interior, and he fought the administration’s proposed, and highly controversial, energy policy. In short, he acted like a loyal member of the Democratic Party, and speculation about his future became a favorite pastime among Washington’s pundits. In February, 2001, US News & World Report all but started ordering “Bayh for President” bumper stickers. “History and hunches tell us that Evan Bayh is running for president, even though he won’t say it, or can’t,” the magazine wrote. Actually, he could say, and did: He wasn’t running. In June 2001, at a press conference in Indianapolis, Bayh announced that he would not be a candidate for president in 2004.

The decision, Bayh says, was not a difficult one. A bid for the presidency would have required him to be away from his twin sons, then 5, for the better part of two years, at a point in their lives when he felt it was important to stick around. “There are always going to be political options,” he says. “But I don’t think I could go to my grave thinking I shortchanged my children when I thought they needed me. To the extent that I get to have an impact on who my kids are going to be, I wanted to know I was there for them.” Adds Susan Bayh, “When your kids are this age, when 5, 6, 7, they still like you, they want to hang out with you. They want to be with you all the time. That’s not always going to be the case.”

There is no more cynical explanation for ducking, dodging or quitting a job in politics than the one in which the quitter pins the blame onto those he is presumed to love: “To spend more time with my family” has become the all-purpose excuse, one that can mean everything from “What I really want to do is make a lot more money” to “I was involved in an incident with a Dutch sailor, a spider monkey and a bottle of Wild Turkey that I’d rather not read about in The Washington Post.” Notably, though, Bayh’s decision to pass on 2004 did not set off the cynic alarm, even in cynic-heavy Washington. His devotion to being a father is earnest and conspicuous. His children are the one and perhaps only topic that is a sure-fire way to melt his senatorial reserve. He blocks out time in his Senate schedule for their basketball games. He’s been known to drive home at night to tuck his sons into bed before returning to Capitol Hill. In the main room of his Senate offices, the only thing more striking than the putrid blue shade of the walls is the overwhelming abundance of family pictures; you can’t fall over in the place without knocking into one.

Bayh’s concern about the toll a presidential campaign can take on a family is not an abstract consideration. Though he would later recall his father’s second campaign for president, in 1976, as a positive, “transformative experience,” he is intimately familiar with the potential havoc that results from such lofty ambitions. He witnessed how money woes and time demands during the 1972 race strained his parents’ marriage, to the point at which Marvella quit stumping for Birch. “I saw this presidential campaign as a monster, eating up everything in its path,” his mother wrote of the 1972 run. “The campaign had eaten up our marriage; in my bitterness, I saw it swallowing Birch himself.” Evan wasn’t thrilled with his father’s decision to run, either. When Birch told his son he was entering the race, Marvella writes, Evan replied: “You’re never home now. And if you get to be president, we’ll never, ever be normal again.”

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"Evan Can Wait" Part 2

eamon1916 — Tue, 10 May 2005 19:08:26 GMT

In mid-April, Bayh appeared on Larry King Live to talk about the hearings being conducted by the 9/11 commission, the panel charged with investigating the country’s intelligence failures in the years and months leading up to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Since 9/11, Bayh, a member of the Senate’s armed services and select intelligence committees, has spent a lot of time on the tube, usually talking about national security or the war in Iraq. On Live, as he almost always does when he’s on television, Bayh came across as articulate and accommodating. When King asked him why it was so hard for government officials to admit failure, Bayh passed on the opportunity to slap the Bush administration: “We had a situation where we had good people doing their best,” he told King. “The best wasn’t good enough. And we need to resolve in a bipartisan way to do better next time.” At the end of the show, King thanked his guests. When he got to Bayh, he summed up: “Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana—from a great, by the way, political family.”

In a life filled with advantages, perhaps none has been more beneficial to Evan Bayh than his DNA. He inherited both his father’s name—Birch Evans Bayh III is on his birth certificate—and the looks to go with it: the eyes, the chin, dimples that could store a winter’s worth of sundry. If he showed up to fix your furnace, he would still look like a senator, all square corners and pensive gazes.

Bayh is well-aware of his good fortune. In the pseudo-memoir he released last year, From Father to Son, he is smart enough to avoid expressing any angst about his extraordinary upbringing. When he was 6 he took a trip to the john with Harry Truman; when he was 10 he watched TV in the Lincoln Bedroom. And though he takes pains in the book to talk about his Hoosier roots—born in Shirkieville, summers at Culver MilitaryAcademy, college at IU—he is a child of Washington. From the sixth grade through his senior year in high school, he went to St. Albans, the same private school Al Gore attended.

Of all the things that shaped Bayh, though, none was more important than the fact that he’s the son of not just one politician, but two. Marvella Bayh, his mother, grew up in Dust Bowl Oklahoma to become the first female student-body president of her high school, the governor of Oklahoma Girls’ State and the president of Girls’ Nation. She met Birch at the 1951 Farm Bureau speaking contest, which she, not he, went on to win—the first woman ever to do so. She played a vital role in many of Birch’s campaigns, helping him write speeches and stumping on his behalf. One of the 20th century’s more astute students of politics, Lyndon B. Johnson, considered her a natural. In 1967, he asked her to be vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. (Though desperate to have her own career—she would later write that the invitation was “like offering candy to a starving baby”—she turned Johnson down so she could help Birch campaign in 1968, a decision she regretted for the rest of her life.)

Birch was the back-slapper, a born storyteller who won people over with his warmth and easy charm. Marvella was the rock: stoic, gracious, demanding. She and Birch once got into a fight when she found out that one of his Senate staffers had stashed away six months’ worth of unanswered letters; incensed at such incompetence, Marvella told her husband he needed “to run a tighter ship.” Before she died in 1979, she wrote a memoir that remains a remarkable piece of political writing, a candid account of the joy and frustration of being a senator’s wife. In the book, she admits to being jealous of Birch’s staff, to the frustration of living her life through someone else’s accomplishments, to profound unhappiness in her marriage. At the nadir of her relationship with Birch, during his 1972 presidential campaign, she writes, “I felt our marriage was deeply in trouble, that I could no longer reach Birch. For the first time, I considered leaving him. And I believe he felt the same way.”

To Evan, Marvella passed along the value of decorum, restraint and discipline, traits that have defined his temperament and his career. “I see her in him in many ways,” says Koutsoumpas. “Much of his personality is derived from her: his organizational skills, a lot of his leadership qualities, his drive.” Says Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, who worked as a Bayh aide in the early ‘90s, “He’s not the kind of guy who shoots from the hip. He’s not reckless. In politics, you need to not let your emotions get in the way. Evan understands that.” In one of the more affecting passages of his own book, Bayh admits that the qualities his mother drilled into him as a young man also led him to avoid confronting the emotional fallout from her death. “I was raised to be more stoic,” he writes. “My way of dealing with sadness was to avoid it, and I ended up letting it sit there inside me for years.”

He ran for his first political office, secretary of state, in 1986, when he was 30. Two years later, he became the youngest governor in the nation. In the Statehouse, Bayh was a no-frills leader, a policy wonk with a Zen-like understanding of how government worked and what the public would swallow. Jeff Modisett, Bayh’s issue director during his first term as governor, recalls working for weeks on briefing memos—on the environment, drug enforcement, economic development—before giving them to the governor. “Almost always, he would see something I had failed to see,” he says. “The one thing that was missing.”

Unlike most young politicians, Bayh was never fazed by the vicissitudes of office, whether the media was fawning or fuming, whether voters thought he was genius or the antichrist. “He saw his father live in a fishbowl, and that never bothered him,” says Peterson. “But he also never seemed to be taken by it. He didn’t dislike it, but he didn’t get his self-worth from it.” Peterson remembers one day when Bayh was set to address a friendly crowd at Indianapolis’ convention center. Before the speech, the two were discussing some complex, serious and long-since-forgotten issue. “He goes out to give his speech, and people just go crazy,” says Peterson. “They give him a standing ovation. After he’s done, he comes through the doors, back to where we had been talking, and literally completes the sentence he had started before going out to give the speech. It was if the whole thing, being out in that frenzied environment, had never happened.”

Bayh’s friends and former staffers tend to describe him in terms normally reserved for religious figures and the dead: He reaches out to opponents, he isn’t petty, he sees the big picture. Peterson admits that head to “get over” Bayh when he decided to run for office himself. “He was such a model of what you want in a public leader, and what he did—it looked like nobody else could do it,” he says. “I thought, if this is the standard, there is no way I’m going to make it.”

But Bayh was, and is, a savvy politician, one who hasn’t been above co-opting opponents ideas and circumventing his own party to suit his ends. In 1993, Indiana was facing a budget crisis when Bayh asked the General Assembly to impose a new tax on hospital revenue or increase the tax on cigarettes to keep the state afloat. Republicans in the legislature refused. Instead, they sent Bayh a budget he claimed would bankrupt the state, and he ended up cutting government spending to resolve the impasse. Yet when he ran for Senate five years later he took credit for not raising taxes. “The reason he didn’t raise taxes was because the taxes he proposed raising, the Republicans killed,” says former chairman of the Indiana Republican Party Mike McDaniel. “He proposes it, they kill it, and he runs on ‘I never raised taxes.’ You gotta like that for style points. I mean, it is gutsy.”

By the end of his term as governor, Bayh came to embody, perhaps more than any other politician in the country, the ardently moderate “New Democrat” ethos. Indeed, his way of being a Democrat was so new, one GOP leader referred to Bayh as a “pretty good Republican governor,” and he was widely labeled a Republicrat. He hadn’t raised taxes. He’d signed the largest tax cut in the history of the state. He’d instituted a tough welfare program that limited benefits, required work, denied additional money to women who had additional children and banned those who abused the system. The reforms led to the largest caseload decline in country. Bayh boasted about building prisons and advocating mandatory sentences for kids who commit violent crimes. He supported the death penalty, presiding over three executions while in office. People started to wonder if he was actually related to the guy who’d been US Senator.

But his conservatism proved canny. In the summer of 1996, six months before he would leave office, Bayh was vacationing in Bermuda when he received a phone call from Bill Clinton. The president wanted Bayh to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, the same slot Clinton had been given in 1988, when he was an unknown governor of a small state, harboring presidential ambitions. By almost everyone’s measure, Bayh’s convention speech was a stinker (as was Clinton’s in 1988). It was so bad that Robert Reich, Clinton’s secretary of labor, once quipped that since nobody had paid attention, it was fair to ask if Bayh’s address—like the tree falling in the forest—had ever really happened.

It didn’t matter. Two years later, Bayh ran for his father’s old Senate seat against Paul Helmke, promising to promote “fiscal sanity” in Washington and uphold “traditional Hoosier values.” His ads famously failed to mention that he was a Democrat. He won with 64 percent of the vote.

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"Evan Can Wait" Part 1 - June 2004 Indianapolis Monthly

eamon1916 — Tue, 10 May 2005 15:59:06 GMT

An excellent biographical article from June 2004, Indianapolis Monthly...

Will be posted in parts...

Evan Can Wait

Never mind if he’s not of the Democratic presidential ticket this year. Evan Bayh’s ambition for higher office isn’t going away.

By Andrew Putz

Indianapolis Monthly, June 2004

Bill Moreau was on the phone when he realized the senator had arrived. At 52, Birch Bayh looked like Hollywood’s version of a politician: rangy, handsome, with clear blue eyes and a jaw as square as a miter box. During his 18 years in the US Senate, Bayh had authored three constitutional amendments, fathered Title IX and tirelessly advocated his liberal vision for the country, championing civil rights and women’s rights, fighting for the elderly and the poor. He had won three elections, launched two bids for the White House, survived a plane crash and—less than two years earlier—endured the death of his wife to cancer. To the 28-year-old Moreau, who’d joined Bayh’s Senate staff right out of law school, he was nothing less than a hero.

But on this night, November 4, 1980, Moreau saw Birch Bayh as he’d never seen him before—in defeat. All summer and fall of that year, Bayh’s opponent in the Senate election, Dan Quayle, had tried to paint the incumbent as a man who’d spent too much time in Washington, who was out of touch with “mainstream” Hoosier values. Bayh had fended off such attacks in previous elections, against opponents who had seemed far more formidable. But this time, this year, it stuck. Riding an anti-incumbent tide that would sweep Ronald Reagan into the White House and help defeat other icons of the Senate—Idaho’s Frank Church, South Dakota’s George McGovern—Quayle buried Bayh. The contest wasn’t even close.

Moreau was incredulous, outraged that voters would kick someone like Birch Bayh out of office. And as Bayh made his way across the campaign’s cavernous 16th Street headquarters—a god-awful dump of a building that once had been a car dealership—Moreau looked up to catch the senator’s gaze. “That’s when I just lost it,” says Moreau, now and attorney with Barnes & Thornburg. “I can’t remember what I ate this morning, but I remember that—vividly. Those wounds remained fresh for years.”

Moreau would not be the only one who took away bitter lessons from the defeat. After the drubbing by Quayle, Birch Bayh told the New York Times that he thought his campaign chairman, his 25-year-old son Evan, had taken the loss even harder than he had. In the weeks and months after the election, Evan Bayh would later admit, he came “close to being disillusioned by the political process.”

Evan Bayh, of course, didn’t retreat from politics. He didn’t fall back in a job with a white-shoe law firm and a nice spread in Carmel. Instead, over the next several years, he and a group of loyal followers, many of whom had worked for his father, distilled a notion of how a Democrat could win, and govern, in a reliably Republican state: Run a lean campaign. Convince voters that they could trust you with their money. Don’t get cornered into debating culture wars. And, most importantly, keep close tabs on your constituents. It was a straightforward, pragmatic formula, both a reaction to his father’s defeat and a tacit rejection of the old man’s legacy. “There was a period toward the end of Birch’s final campaign when a lot of people said that he had begun to lose touch,” says Tom Koutsoumpas, a longtime friend of Evan Bayh who would on Birch’s Senate staff for 11 years. “I think it was more that he was swept away in the Reagan landslide, but it really reintroduced in Evan’s mind that the most important thing is politics was the people you represent. He picked that up very clearly, understands that and believes that.”

Bayh’s approach has made him among the most successful politicians in Indiana history. After 18 years in one public office or another, he has yet to lose an election. In 1996, after two terms as governor, he left office with a 79 percent approval rating. Two years later, in 1998, he won his father’s old seat in the US Senate by almost 30 points.

His success in Indiana made him a star within the Democratic Party, if not yet a politician with a national profile. In 1996, he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. That same year, a former Clinton advisor called him “the future of the Democratic Party.” In 2000, less than 18 months into his first Senate term, he was one of four finalists for the VP spot on Al Gore’s ticket. And even before Senator John Kerry sewed up the Democratic nomination this year, Bayh was again being mentioned as a possible running mate.

Few politicians have risen so far, so fast, with so much ease. But for all his skill and promise, the 48-year-old Bayh remains the object of zealous indifference for most voters, even in Indiana. He inspires none of the passion behind Howard Dean, none of the loyalty or loathing toward George W. Bush. In an age of polarizing debate and 24/7 political coverage, he is a curious species: Our most successful, least fascinating public figure—Wonder Bread with a voting record. And yet no one who as paid any attention to his career doubts that the central question in Bayh’s future is when, not if, he’ll appear on a presidential ticket—and not as the No. 2.

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Father: Bayh considering White House run

eamon1916 — Sun, 01 May 2005 01:06:17 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/7buxx

Father: Bayh considering White House run

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Sen. Evan Bayh is giving “serious consideration” to running for president, according to his father, former Sen. Birch Bayh.

The younger Bayh has received considerable mention as a possible Democratic presidential hopeful in 2008, but his father’s words Friday appeared to be the strongest indication that a White House run may be planned.

“I think he’s giving that serious consideration,” Birch Bayh told about 200 people at Ivy Tech State College’s second annual O’Bannon Institute for Community Service.

The elder Bayh, who served as senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981, sought the Democratic nomination himself in 1976, but lost to Jimmy Carter.

Bayh that his son is more serious and more conservative than he was.

“I thought I could speak to the young people who were concerned about Vietnam and the hard hats who were concerned about making a living,” he said.

The former senator was the featured speaker for the two day conference on student activism and leadership named for late Gov. Frank O’Bannon.

Bayh encouraged students and young people to put their abilities to use in politics and civic life.

“I think young people want to believe they can make a difference,” he said. “God help us if a generation of young people come along that don’t think they can make a difference.”

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Bayh threatens to block Bush's choice for USTR

eamon1916 — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:56:14 GMT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7478947/

Democrat threatens to block Bush's choice for USTR

By Doug Palmer

Updated: 6:29 p.m. ET April 12, 2005

A U.S. Senate Democrat threatened Tuesday to block President Bush's choice for U.S. trade representative unless leaders allow a vote on a bipartisan bill aimed at slapping duties on subsidized imports from China.

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"I decided to take this step because I cannot sit idly by while American workers and companies continue to be victimized by foreign countries who violate our trade agreements with impunity," Sen. Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, said in a statement.

"Everyday American workers get up in the morning and already have one hand tied behind their backs because of illegal Chinese subsidies."

The threat came as new Commerce Department figures released Tuesday showed the U.S. trade deficit reached a record $61 billion in February, 33 percent higher than the same month last year. China accounts for about 25 percent of the overall U.S. trade shortfall.

Bush has nominated Rep. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, to be his chief trade negotiator. Robert Zoellick, the U.S. trade representative during Bush's first term, is now deputy U.S. secretary of state. Senate rules allow senators to effectively block nominations by placing a "hold" on them.

Bayh wants Senate leaders to allow a vote on his Stopping Overseas Subsidies Act in exchange for dropping his hold on the nomination. He told reporters he was raising the issue now in the hopes it could be resolved before Portman's nomination reaches the Senate floor, possibly this month.

The bill offered by Bayh and Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, reserves a long-standing trade provision that has prevented the Commerce Department from imposing countervailing duties against "non-market economies" like China.

Manufacturers complain that leaves them unprotected against subsidized Chinese competition even though they are still free to bring anti-dumping cases against China.

Bayh accused congressional leaders and the Bush administration of indifference to the bill despite support from the National Association of Manufacturers and more than 50 lawmakers. Rep. Phil English, an Pennsylvania Republican, and Rep. Artur Davis, an Alabama Democrat, have introduced an identical bill in the House.

The Senate Finance Committee hopes to hold a hearing on Portman's nomination next week if the White House sends up the necessary paperwork in time, committee aides said.

There was no immediate comment from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office on Bayh's demand for a vote on his bill.

A White House spokeswoman said the Bush administration would work with Congress to ensure Portman's confirmation.

posted in Evan Bayh - 2 replies

Bayh likes sound of 'president'

eamon1916 — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 16:22:46 GMT

Bayh likes sound of 'president'

Although the $6.8 million in U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh's campaign fund is more than most of his colleagues have on hand, Bayh continues to cross the country to raise more, according to his most recent campaign disclosure report.

The Indiana Democrat won't say whether he's preparing for a potential presidential bid in 2008. But he apparently doesn't mind joking about the possibility.

Before talking Tuesday at the Mortgage Bankers Association conference in Washington, Bayh was introduced by Michael Petrie, the chairman of the group and president of P/R Mortgage and Investment Corp. of Carmel.

Bayh told Petrie he liked his title.

"A president from Indiana," Bayh said. "It kind of has a little resonance to it."

http://tinyurl.com/9q454

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

4:15:33

eamon1916 — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 15:15:55 GMT

That's the time for our favorite Senator from Indiana in this year's Big Sur Marathon!

WTG!

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

And so it begins...

eamon1916 — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 17:22:23 GMT

"Evan Bayh President 2008"

Evan Bayh for President in 2008! Bayh 2008 your goal?
Build momentum for the Evan Bayh 2008 campaign now!
Buy several Evan Bayh 2008 items for yourself and your friends.

http://www.cafepress.com/beatbushgear/456309

posted in Evan Bayh - 1 reply

Bayh working to raise political profile

eamon1916 — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 19:59:37 GMT

Bayh's PAC's website, AllAmericaPAC.com, has this article on their website, but it isn't accessible anymore... So here it is...

--------------------------------------------------

Bayh working to raise political profile

Changes to staff and PAC could mark start of a possible 2008 bid for the presidency.

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau
March 1, 2005

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh is making staff and fund-raising changes that some interpret as laying the groundwork for a potential presidential bid.

The most noticeable changes are to his leadership political action committee, a fund-raising tool often used by presidential hopefuls to help fund campaign explorations.

Bayh's PAC has a new name -- the All America PAC -- and its first director, Steve Bouchard, who has worked for previous Democratic presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire, the site of the first primary.

Bayh, D-Ind., met with potential donors in California and Chicago last week, and his PAC is paying for him to travel this weekend to Colorado, where he'll be the keynote speaker for the state Democratic Party's fund-raiser.

"A pre-presidential campaign is a thousand-piece puzzle and, gradually, he's filling in the pieces," said Larry Sabato, political-science professor at the University of Virginia. "You need to have a PAC. You need to raise money. You need to have staffers with national presidential experience.

"Bayh is a cautious fellow," Sabato said. "But most of these decisions and travel are signals that he is, in fact, running."

But Bayh's spokesman said Bayh's new PAC director, along with other staff changes, shouldn't be seen as preparations for a potential '08 presidential bid.

"This is building on his efforts from the day he got to the Senate where he became very active in doing what he could to help the party and help elect Democrats who share his views," said spokesman Dan Pfeiffer.

Bayh's potential presidential ambitions are one reason the Colorado Democratic Party asked him to be the keynote speaker for its fund-raiser Saturday.

"He's definitely one of the names that are mentioned (for 2008)," said Julie DeWoody, the state party's executive director. "People are interested in hearing what he has to say."

Pfeiffer said Bayh's willingness to help other Democrats isn't new. He spoke at a dinner in Kentucky last year, appeared at an Arkansas dinner in 2003 and campaigned for candidates in Iowa, Louisiana and Montana in 2002.

"There is absolutely no question that in Senator Bayh's second term, he intends to play a larger role within the Democratic Party and help meet the challenges that face our country," Pfeiffer said.

Among other recent changes:

• Deputy chief of staff Linda Moore Forbes, a veteran of the Clinton White House, recently returned to Bayh's staff after working on John Kerry's presidential campaign.

• Pfeiffer, who worked for then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, recently joined Bayh's staff to replace the former communications director who left to work on the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign.

• Bayh hired former Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean's pollster, Paul Maslin, to replace Mark Penn, who was Bill Clinton's pollster and is expected to do the same for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Penn's wife,
fund-raiser Nancy Jacobson, is still on Bayh's team.

Bouchard, the new, full-time director of Bayh's PAC, was the Ohio state director for America Coming Together, an independent group that tried to defeat President Bush. Before that, he was former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark's state director in New Hampshire.

Bayh's spokesman said Bouchard's presidential campaign ties do not mean Bayh is running for president.

"Steve is one of the most well-respected people in the Democratic Party, and he's worked all over the country," Pfeiffer said.

The new faces, along with his longtime advisers Anita Dunn, who specializes in media, and informal adviser Ron Klain, an Indianapolis native who was Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff, show that Bayh "has the makings of a first-rate inner circle for a presidential campaign," said political consultant Chris Sautter.

Most have presidential campaign experience and worked for various candidates, he said.

"It's pretty obvious," Sautter said, "that he's put together a team for the long run."

Bayh's leadership PAC will be his main vehicle in the next few years to explore any run.

A PAC lets Bayh raise additional money, including from contributors who have given the maximum allowed by law to his re-election campaign.

He can contribute the funds to other candidates and party committees, racking up chits and increasing his influence within the party. He can also use the money to hire staff, travel and raise more money.

Bayh has had a political action committee since 1999. He has raised about $1.5 million and spent about $1.1 million since then.

Of that, about $490,000 was given to other Democratic candidates and the Democratic Party. A slightly lesser amount was spent on fund raising and legal and accounting consultants. More than $70,000 went for airfare, hotels and other travel expenses. More than $50,000 went for meals and catering expenses.

Bayh was not among the top 10 direct contributors to other Democrats in either the 2002 or 2004 elections, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

But that only takes into account what Bayh's PAC gave directly to candidates and the party.

He also raised more than $480,000 in indirect contributions by soliciting funds that went straight to a candidate, rather than passing through Bayh's PAC.

Bayh's office wouldn't say how much money he has raised since revamping the PAC or divulge how many other meetings he's had with potential supporters.

"It takes an awful lot of money (to run for president), and he's only got three years until the primaries start," Sabato said. "It seems like forever, but it's actually a very compressed schedule."

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at mgroppe@gns.gannett.com.

posted in Evan Bayh - 0 replies

Colorado Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

eamon1916 — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:29:31 GMT

Keynote speech
Democratic Party of Colorado Jefferson-Jackson Dinner
March 5, 2005

Thank You very, very much for that warm Colorado welcome, and to my friend Ken Salazar, I want to thank you for that very generous introduction. All those many nice things you had to say, Ken. You know, I’m always still a little bit surprised when I am introduced pretty much the way I wrote it. So I’m grateful to you for all those wonderful things you were kind enough to recount there. You know it’s a team sport – I stand here today on the shoulders of many, many people – and so they deserve a lion’s share of the credit for all those things as well.

I’ve learned not to take kind introductions like Ken’s for granted. You know, as he’d mentioned, I’d been privileged to serve my state for 8 years as our Governor. I served with Roy Romer all 8 of those years; a wonderful man he and Bea. And here I’d just left the Governorship and I was running for the United States Senate, and I’d been out of town, and I flew back, Ken, to Indianapolis, Indiana and I got off the plane and I’m walking through the airport, and I hear these footsteps, you know, coming up behind me, pounding in the terminal, and finally this voice says “Wait, wait!” And I kind of stop and turn around, and I think, well, one of my constituents has recognized me and they want to have a word or two – of course I’ll stop for this good citizen. So I stopped, and he was all out of breath, and he said, “I know you….I know you…you’re Dan Quayle!” Talk about putting your ego right in check, I’ll tell you what. So Ken, thanks - no cases of mistaken identity tonight. I’m very, very grateful for that.

You know I’d like to echo the words of thanks that have been said for so many deserving people here tonight – and in some ways this is like a walk down memory lane for me. When I was privileged to be elected Governor for the first time in 1988, we hadn’t had a Democratic Governor in Indiana for 20 years. We didn’t have a majority in either house of our state legislature – and I had been the only statewide elected Democrat. But we began to change that by a lot of work from folks just like you here tonight – people who preceded me up to the dais. We elected a Lieutenant Governor along with me, we elected an Attorney General – not once, but twice. We became the first state since reconstruction to elect not one, but two African Americans to statewide office. We elected a majority in our House of Representatives and began to provide good governance to the people of our state.

So I’d like to congratulate your legislative leaders – Andrew Romanoff, Joan Fitzgerald for their successes. They’re going to do a great job leading the state of Colorado and I know this is just laying the foundation, Ken, for electing that Governor in 2 years you referred to and then we’ll really move Colorado forward into the 21st Century in the way that we need to.

I want to congratulate your Congressional delegation. You know I had the privilege of meeting a little bit earlier with Mark Udall and his wife Maggie, you know I think the world of Mark Udall…there’s only one thing that sticks in my craw. I just can’t understand how people would use a well-known name to seek high public office. Just something about that bothers me. He’s a wonderful person, and I tell you what…nothing would make me happier than to see him join Ken and me in the United States Senate. You got half the job done last year, let’s finish the job in 2008!

John Salazar is with us. John, is it true that all over Colorado people are changing their last name to Salazar to run for office? John, I want to congratulate you. You know, you will be a breath of fresh air in the House of Representatives. We need to work on getting you a majority – and we intend to do what we can in Indiana to make that happen. So good luck to you.

Diana couldn’t be with us tonight, but she’s putting here best foot forward by having her husband and her daughter with us so I want to give them some recognition.

To Pat Waak, I want to congratulate you on your election, and to, Chris, I want to say to you, “Job well done.” You know, what Ken was saying is true – we may occasionally have differences of opinion but when we obsess on our few differences the only people we make happy are those on the other side – with whom there is a yawning chasm - the Karl Roves of the world. So let’s bring this Party together. Let’s move forward together. Let’s move Colorado together. Let’s move forward from tonight and do that.

I’d like to, for just a few moments…have a conversation about the future of our country and the future of our party and what we can do together to move both in a better direction.

But here at the beginning I’ll take just a couple of seconds to share with you something about me because I think its important to know a few things about who it is you’re having that conversation with.

I’ve had four defining moments in my life.

The first, as Ken mentioned, was growing up in a family that honored public service. From my parents I’d learned that the important thing in life is not what you take out of it, but what you put back. What’s important is not who helps you, but what you can do to help other people. That’s what makes life, really, worth living. I was privileged to be elected Governor of our state, with good people, to try to move Indiana forward. To create jobs for people who wanted to work for a living and provide for their families. To expand healthcare for pregnant women and newborn infants. To raise our environmental standards. To improve our schools. And I learned from that experience that this great enterprise that we call public service, is not some theory, its not political science, its not the editorial writers. It’s a practical undertaking that we can do together to improve the quality of opportunity in the daily lives of people across your state and mine who count on us to do exactly that.

The second thing is when my mother, at age 39, got breast cancer, and seven years later passed on. I learned from that experience that life can be very short and sometimes it can be awfully harsh, and you never know what lies just around the bend. So you better live it to its fullest. You better appreciate every day and hold those that you love tight.

The third thing was, 20 years ago next month, Ken. I married a wonderful woman. She’s a wonderful mother, she’s been a great wife, and for 8 years she was a fantastic First Lady. She made her cause the cause of fighting adult illiteracy. When I became Governor, in my state, our largest employer was General Motors. We still make more steel than any state in the United States of America, and US Steel was our 2nd largest employer. Do you know that more than half of the employees at both General Motors and US Steel were functionally illiterate? Well my wife set out to try to break that pattern of ignorance – to teach people to read…so their children could read. She did a wonderful job. She waited tables for 7 years to put herself through college and through law school. In our first few years of marriage we saved money to pay off our student loans. I admire her more than I could say and I wouldn’t be here tonight without her.

The fourth thing I’ll mention, because I think it’s a god segue-way into everything else that matters – is to mention the birth of my children. We have twin nine year old boys, and they’re the most important people on the face of this earth. And I’d like to tell you the story of the day they were born – because I’ll never forget it as long as I live, and I suspect that those of you that have children feel the same way.

It wasn’t always easy for us…we had a miscarriage the first time Susan was pregnant, but we kept going, and finally we were told that we’d been blessed doubly. This was a big deal in our state. I was the first sitting Governor since 1830 to have kids while in office, so you want to talk about the loss of privacy in public life, try sitting there in the maternity room watching the 6 o’clock news where live, live, I’m not making this up, live, they were reporting how often my wife was having contractions. And I look at Susan and say, “How the hell do they know?” Well she was in labor for 25 hours and, finally, the doctors tell her, “Look, your blood pressure’s up, so we’ve got to do something about this.” So we headed to have a “C” section. And the doctors go to work and we had decided to be surprised by the gender of our children. So after a while the doctor holds up our first child and says, “You have a healthy baby son.” And Susan looks at him and says, “Oh, he’s so beautiful.” And in other couple of moments he holds up our second child and he says, “And he’s got a healthy baby brother.” And he cleaned our boys off, and they wrapped them up and placed them in my arms. And I remember looking down at them and thinking to myself, “You know what? I’m one of the first things in life that they’re going to see.” And the sense of profound responsibility that swept over me is more than I could possibly describe. And my desire to do right by those boys and to give them the opportunity to make the most of their god given talents and abilities and to live my life in a way that would be worthy for them is something that is going to go with me all the way to the very end.

And you know what? That, in a very profound way, is the genius of America. Each generation trying to do right by those who will follow in our footsteps. To try and give them more opportunity and more freedom, more hope, more security – so that they can have a better way of life. And I’m here in Denver Colorado tonight, I can tell you that I am deeply concerned – deeply concerned, that if we don’t do something to head our nation in a better direction, that we’re on the cusp of becoming the first generation in the history of this nation to not keep faith with those boys and the children of Colorado and the children of Indiana and we can not let that happen.

Our future is being shaped, today, by powerful forces that, if we don’t address, are going to shape it for us, whether we like it or not. The globalization of the economy and what we have to do to compete with people in places like India and China who are willing to work for 2 or 3 dollars a day. Now how are we going to do that? How are we going to prepare our children to do that. The changing demographics and the aging population have put us in a position of honoring our commitment to our parents and grandparents but also doing right by our children to make sure that they inherit from us something other than our unpaid bills.

Try to strengthen families across this country, strengthen families so many of whom are struggling to make ends meet, with two incomes, or single parents, who are working harder than ever before for a standard of living that just doesn’t seem to be quite the same as our parents enjoyed. How are we going to give them the time to spend with their children they need to give them values that we would like to see them have? How are we going to do that in the future, in the twenty-first century? The changing security situation that we know challenges following nine-eleven, and, in some ways, the apathy and the cynicism at the heart of our politics that involves people not in this room here tonight. I wish everybody was here. But folks who in this last election, forty percent of the American people, who we couldn’t convince even to take the most elementary act of citizenship, going to the polls to vote, because they were so disconnected with our democracy they just didn’t think that it mattered. How can we reach out to them and reenlist them in the cause of shaping their own destiny? Those are the challenges that face us.

And on each and every one of those challenges, the administration in Washington is heading down the wrong path. They’re in denial about the facts and the truth, and of the flaw of a radical ideology so divorced from the reality of the daily lives of most Americans that they’re just not going to get the job done. And that must change.

It’s gonna change, my friends, when we go to the American public, and convince them that its going to take all of us to move this country forward. Young and old, rich and poor, rural and urban, black and white. Because in the words of the civil rights leader I had the privilege to listen to, about 20 years ago now, “We may have arrived in this country in different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.” That’s right. And we need to tell the American people the truth, the truth the other side doesn’t want them to hear. You know, those folks, Karl Rove and that crowd, they’re so good, they’re so good at dividing this country, dividing this country along lines of race or ethnicity, or religion or orientation, for cheap short-term political gain. But it hurts this country. It hurts this country. We need to do better than that. We need to be better than that. By reconciling differences, by building bridges across the divide, by reminding the American people of the truth that we realize here in Colorado here tonight, that we’re one people, with a common heritage, forged from a common bond, with a common destiny. That’s the truth. That’s the truth.

When the history books are written, I predict, that one of the most serious indictments of this administration will be, you remember, that he ran as a “uniter not a divider” but the last four years he’s governed in a way that has divided this country in a way more seriously than at any time in the last generation. That must change.

It was one thing Bobby Kennedy had right. He was in my state, he was in my state, the day Martin Luther King was assassinated. You know, Indianapolis, Indiana, was the only major city in this country that didn’t have an outbreak of violence that day. And most people credit it to Robert Kennedy. Because he was given the news, and he was traveling to a rally of several thousand people, in our inner city. And he climbed up on the back of a truck and he looked out at that crowd and he said, “I’m sorry to tell you, but I’ve got bad news to report, Martin Luther King was shot and killed earlier today.” And you could hear the gasps in the crowd.

And Kennedy continued, he said, “And those of you who are tempted to lash out in anger or violence, I can only say that I too had a relative who was killed. He, too, was killed by a white man.” He continued on in that vein, and here’s what he concluded, by saying, he said, “What America needs today, what America so desperately needs today, is not more anger or more division or more hatred, what America needs today is more compassion, more brotherhood, more common ground, and yes, more love for one another.” It was true then, it’s true today.

And we’re going to achieve that unity by appealing to the better instincts of the American people, not their more baser instincts. By calling them to a higher mission beyond self-interest. It’s what I like to think of as a new, broader, deeper, more meaningful patriotism - something some of the crowd in Washington that runs things today, I think, can barely comprehend.

You know, of course, we need to support our troops. Absolutely. By the way, you might be interested to know something, we’re debating a bankruptcy bill, in Washington, today. And this crowd that likes to talk about supporting the troops, when Senator Durbin and I submitted an amendment Ken Salazar supported, that said that when National Guards men and women are called up to duty or when reservists are called up to duty, and because of that and the loss of income they suffered, they’re forced to file for bankruptcy, that we shouldn’t let that happen, that we ought to give them a pass? Those folks who claim to support the troops voted against that.

We need to lift those soldiers up and do right by them. Not force those willing to take the oath of physical sacrifice to deal with financial sacrifice too. It’s just not right.

We need to call the American people to a deeper kind of patriotism. You know, I was in Iraq in December. And you would be proud of those young men and women. Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two. You can tell that they’re there for what they believe, in their heart, to be all the right reasons. And they’re putting it on the line each and every day. And too many of them have ended up in places like Walter Reed Army Hospital, where I went to about nine months ago with some of my colleagues. And we’d go from room to room, and here were these, mostly young men, in the prime of their lives, trained almost as athletes. Early twenties. And here an arm is missing and there a leg. They’re trying to keep it together and their families are there, but you can tell that it’s just hard. It’s just hard. And I left the hospital that day, thinking to myself, these people have made the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice…what about us? What are we doing to strengthen this country? What are we doing to make it more secure? What has our president called upon all of us to do to defend America?

I don’t know about in Colorado, but I know that in Indiana, following nine-eleven, I had folks talking to me on the street, saying, you know, “What can I do? What can I do?” Can you remember when the President of the United States was asked that question? There was about a week’s worth of silence, and then do you know what he said? “Go to the mall, go shopping.” That’s what they assigned America to do, that’s what they call leadership, but it is not. We can do better than that.

If I’d been in charge, if I’d been in charge, I would have gone on national teevee, and I would have said this, “We need a new declaration of independence in this country.” A declaration of energy independence. Because it’s not right, that we’re as dependent as we are on places like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia. It’s not good for our economy, its not good for our nation’s security, it’s not good for our imbalance of payments, and we need to do something about this to set our children free.

This isn’t pie in the sky stuff. We’re experimenting with new high strength, low weight alloys now that can reduce the weight of a motor vehicle by 30, 40, maybe even 50% some day. Fuel additives that might get 20 to 30 percent more miles per gallon. Cars that for the first 30 miles will operate on electric battery until they switch over to gasoline. Most folks don’t drive more than 30 miles in a day. And other things that can make a real difference. And this administration has just dropped the ball. Just dropped the ball.

I think about what will summon people to that deeper patriotism. To do right by our country. We’ll get’em there when we have an agenda that convinces them that we have some ideas that will resonate in the course of their daily lives. I think about the economic challenges that I mentioned. You know I was in India with Susan, I’d never been there before, we went in December. That was a real eye-opener, my friends. They have hundreds of millions of people, in India, who are willing to work for next to nothing. We’re competing with those people today. But you know what? They’ve got folks who are engineers now, and scientists now. GE employs 6,000 people in this state, you know where GE’s global innovation center is? Bangalore, India. That’s the competition we’re up against.

You know, I look at the economic policy of this administration, it reminds me of that old saying, Mark: “Don’t know where you’re going, well, any road will take you there.”

You know, if you think they’ve got a strategy to empower our children and workers to compete in a global economy then you’d better think again. It starts with education because if you want high wages you better have high skills. We passed this no child left behind deal but then didn’t fund it. We need a president that will be committed to improving the quality of education, not just when the bill passes, but when its implemented, to make common cause with our teachers, and parents to lift our school children up so that they can fill their god-given potential.

I’m sometimes asked, of all the things I had the privilege to work on as governor, what I’m proudest of. And I’ll tell you what it is. In 1992, we passed something called the 21st Century Scholars. Every child growing up in our state today whose family qualifies for the free lunch program in the public schools, if they graduate from high school with passing grades, and they sign our pledge to not experiment with illegal drugs, every one of those children are entitled to a full college scholarship to the public college of their choice. That’s the kind of commitment we need in our country.

I think about the fiscal challenges that face our country, and the deficits these folks have run up, and you know, the fiscal policies of this administration are immoral. What does it say about us when we are on the cusp of handing our principal legacy to our children being our own unpaid bills. What does that say? We need to do better by them than that. And you know, half the money we’re borrowing today doesn’t come from Americans. More than half the money we’re borrowing today, doesn’t come from other Americans, comes from the Chinese central bank, and the Japanese central bank. We better remember the old saying that he who pays the piper calls the tune. I don’t want our children having to go to those folks with hat in hand and or on bended knee, but that’s the road we’re heading down if we don’t change course right now.

Final thing I’ll say about that. You know it reminds me of the elephant act in the circus. They always leave a heck of a mess to clean up after them. That’s the same situation we’ve got in Washington DC with this crowd.

Well, there’s lots of other things I could say about our nation’s security, and mending families, so that we instill in our kids the right and the values. About our security situation, I’ll only say this, you know, we still have our work cut out for us. Too many Americans just aren’t there yet in terms of believing that we will stand up and defend this country, when that is necessary. There was a poll taken about six weeks before the election. When asked the basic question: “Who do you trust to defend America?” “Who do you trust, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party? Even with everything that had gone wrong, all the problems that have gone on in Iraq, for which this administration should be held accountable, by two to one the American people still said the Republican Party.

And that’s not right, because it is not true. But if that’s the perception, then it’s a perception that we must change. And the good news is that we have a long and honorable heritage of defending this country and standing for freedom. Standing against oppression, whether it’s in apartheid South Africa, or Augusto Pinochet’s Chile. Or fascism. Or communism. Standing, for freedom, across the world. The freedom to benefit from the fruits of your labors, the freedom to choose your own elected officials, the freedom to worship your own god as you see fit and associate with those of your own choosing. That’s the heritage of the Democratic Party.

It was John Kennedy who called upon this country to pay any price and bear any burden. It was Harry Truman who drew the line in the sand against the spread of global communism. It was Franklin Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson who led this nation, and this world, through two world wars to make the planet safe for democracy. That’s the heritage we need to remind the American people of.

Let me conclude, by thanking you for your hospitality. And sharing, with you, another story that I think back to from time to time. Because it’s always meant a lot to me and I think it says a lot about what this country is really all about, and what are party is really all about, and why we’re all here tonight. My first job, after law school, was clerking for a federal judge in the southern district of Indiana. Four generations of my family have lived in southern Indiana. It’s the heartland of America. That’s our state motto – we’re the crossroads of America – we’re in the heartland, the middle of America. The highlight of our year, every year, is when we would have in the new applicants to be sworn in as US citizens. You owe it to yourself to go at least once. I always look forward to it.

They come in eighty, or ninety, or a hundred people, dressed up in their finest clothes, surrounded by their loved ones and their family members. And you could tell that they were just proud as they could be, about to become, something that too many of the rest of us take for granted: Americans. I’d hand each and every one of them a little American flag. And when the judge would come in, I’d ask them to rise and they would. And the judge would ask them to raise their right hand and repeat the oath of allegiance. But before he did that he took a couple of minutes to tell them what he thought the oath of allegiance was really all about.

He said, “The oath that you are about to take, unlike in a lot of other places, is not an oath to a political party or a racial group or a religion. Or an ethnic group. It’s not really even an oath to a particular geographic area. The oath of allegiance that you are about to take is an oath of allegiance to an idea. It’s an idea that we call ‘America.’ Which for more than two-hundred years has held out the promise of more hope and more opportunity, and more freedom for everyone willing to come to this country and work hard and sacrifice and make it so. Both for them and those who will follow. And that is the genius of America: keeping faith with those who have come before and doing right for those who will follow. And the crucible of that progress has always been the Democratic Party. And now the challenge of keeping that idea alive and vibrant is now the challenge of our generation.

With your help, and the right kind of leadership, and god willing, I’m confident that we’ll get the job done.

And thank you to the Democrats of Colorado for helping to lead the way.

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March Bayh Bulletin

eamon1916 — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:03:13 GMT

March 2005 Bayh Bulletin

This March, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh introduced legislation to end the Patriot Penalty, the pay cut faced by Guard and Reserve families when members are called to active duty and lose their civilian salary. Bayh also introduced legislation to put some teeth into US trade laws, joined the IRL to promote greater ethanol use and took action to protect Indiana’s Do Not Call Law. In addition, Bayh saw a key victory in his work to promote responsible fatherhood when the Senate Finance Committee approved $75 million for his Fatherhood initiative.

* Bayh Introduces Legislation to Eliminate the Patriot Penalty

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh introduced legislation to eliminate the Patriot Penalty, a pay cut many National Guard and Reserve members face when they are called to duty and lose their civilian salaries. Since first outlining the details of his proposal, Bayh has spent the last month working with the Reserve Officers Association and others to ensure that his plan will effectively target the pay cut hurting Reservists and dragging down recruitment numbers in the National Guard.

"It's not right to force the men and women in the Guard and Reserves to choose between love of country and love for their family," Senator Bayh said. "The Patriot Penalty is hurting the heroes of our country and threatening the strength of our military. Our Guard and Reserve families make countless sacrifices when a loved one is deployed - financial hardship because of their service should not be one of them."

Bayh's Patriot Penalty Elimination Act would fully compensate 99 percent of Guard and Reserve members who have suffered a pay cut while serving their country and help ensure that no one serving will face a pay cut in the future. According to a Pentagon study, more than 40 percent of all Reservists reported a loss in income when they were called up for active duty, though the impact is likely much higher today, given the longer and more frequent deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ending the Patriot Penalty would make service in the National Guard and Reserves a more attractive choice by removing concerns over pay for those now contemplating service to their country, helping stem the recent recruitment losses.

* Bayh Offers New Weapon to Fight Unfair Trade

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to announce the introduction of the Stopping Overseas Subsidies (SOS) Act, which will allow the United States to fully enforce its antisubsidy laws and greatly increase the ability of companies in Indiana and across the nation to fight unfair trade from overseas. Endorsed by the National Assocation of Manufacturers, the SOS Act was written as a solution to a federal court decision from 1986 that the Commerce Department says prevents it from applying antisubsidy laws to nonmarket countries such as China, which are using this decision to gain an unfair trade advantage.

“I’ve met with many Hoosier manufacturers during my trips home who tell me about products they’ve seen from Chinese companies that cost less than the materials used to make them,” Senator Bayh said. “That’s not right. This legislation stops the legal hairsplitting and cuts through the red tape to help level the playing field for American workers.”

The SOS Act provides needed flexibility and greater fairness in addressing countries like China that are swiftly transitioning into market economies. With this legislation, the Commerce Department would be able to take direct action against China and other nonmarket economies that use illegal subsidies to support an aggressive export policy.

* Finance Committee Allots $75 Million for Bayh’s Fatherhood Initiative

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh announced that the Senate Finance Committee has included $50 million in mandatory funding and $25 million in discretionary funding to promote responsible fatherhood in the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a crucial step in Bayh’s decade-long effort to end the epidemic of absentee fathers in America. Bayh has called on men to share the responsibility of raising their children since his time as Governor of Indiana and most recently wrote to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee urging them to include funding in this year’s reauthorization. The funding was approved by the Committee with bipartisan support.

The number of children growing up in homes without fathers has more than quadrupled over the past 40 years, from five million children in 1960 to more than 24 million today. At the same time, studies show that these children are five times more likely to live in poverty, twice as likely to commit a crime, twice as likely to drop out of school or abuse drugs or alcohol, and more likely to commit a crime, commit suicide or become pregnant as a teenager.

“This funding represents a significant step in our efforts to end the epidemic of absentee fathers in America,” Senator Bayh said. “This has been a long fight and there is more work to do, but the rewards will be well worth the effort if we can begin reversing the trend of fatherless families to encourage healthier children and stronger communities.”

* Bayh Joins Indy Racing League to Promote Greater Ethanol Use

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh praised the Indy Racing League’s decision to use ethanol in its IndyCars at a press conference outside Union Station sponsored by the IRL. Bayh, a longtime advocate for ethanol, said the move sent a strong message about the benefits of using ethanol and that he hoped the IRL’s decision would encourage more people to use renewable fuels.

“Ethanol is good for the environment, good for the economy, and good for our national security,” Bayh said. “With its decision to use ethanol as the fuel for the IndyCar series, the IRL is leading the way to encourage greater public use of renewable fuels. After all, if a high performance vehicle running on ethanol can win the Brickyard, surely ethanol is good enough for the family minivan, too.”

Beginning in 2006, all IndyCars will race on an ethanol-blend before switching to a 100 percent ethanol fuel the following year. Ethanol, a non-toxic, biodegradable fuel, will deliver the same power drivers rely on today, only without harmful air pollution. With this decision, the Indy Racing League has set a new standard for better energy efficiency, encouraging industry and the public to match its support for renewable fuels such as ethanol.

* Bayh Joins Lugar in Defending Indiana’s Do-Not-Call Law

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh joined Senator Richard Lugar this month to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect Indiana’s successful “Do-Not-Call” law from attempts to weaken it by pre-empting its protections with a weaker federal law.

In a letter to the FCC, Bayh and Lugar point out that Indiana’s “Do-Not-Call” registry is the most widely used consumer protection law in Indiana’s history. More than three million Hoosiers have joined Indiana’s “Do-Not-Call” list since it was started to protect Hoosiers from telemarketers’ constant calls. Indiana’s “Do-Not-Call” law is considered one of the strongest in the nation and was in place before the federal “Do-Not-Call” law was passed.

“Hoosiers have demonstrated overwhelming support for our state’s “Do-Not-Call” law and have a right to the protection it offers,” Senator Bayh said. “Federal law should not be used to water-down our consumer rights for the benefit of telemarketers.”

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The Conversation: IMM & Evan Bayh

eamon1916 — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:30:46 GMT

The Conversation: IMM & Evan Bayh

Indy Men’s Magazine, April 2005

IMM: When you arrived in Washington, DC, as a newly elected senator, was there someone assigned to show you around? I mean, who teaches you the secret handshake?

EB: Well there’s really no process. A lot of it is just trial and error. Although there is a three-day orientation session in November where they take you through some of the customs of the Senate and that kind of thing. And that’s interesting, particularly the history of the place. Sen. Byrd, who is the longest-serving senator, gives a speech about the US Senate and even the Roman Senate, and it’s not uncommon for a lot of the other senators who aren’t new to show up just to listen to him because it’s so fascinating. But a lot of it is just picking it up as you go along.

IMM: A lot different than life in Indiana, I imagine.

EB: Washington is not the real world. You learn that pretty quickly. My reaction was a lot like Dorothy’s in Oz when she looked at Toto and said, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” We prefer Indiana. In fact, there are many days I consider myself to be an ambassador to a foreign country.

IMM: And to make matters more difficult, I would guess, your arrival here in the Senate coincided with the Clinton impeachment proceedings. How did seeing person after person stand up and denounce a sitting President just a few days after you arrived impact your feeling about Washington?

EB: Well, the impeachment started my first day. And it’s symbolic of a broader problem that exists in Washington, and that is an unrelenting partisanship. A constant fighting over political power that I don’t believe serves the country well. People need to put that aside and, instead, focus on what we have in common. Try and reconcile differences, rather than to accentuate them for short-term political gain. We have major challenges facing our country: fiscal, economic, national security—and if we are going to meet those challenges, I don’t think we can afford the luxury of this constant bickering So I viewed the impeachment and a lot of other things that go on around here as symptomatic of a deeper problem, as too much partisanship and not enough working together. Not enough common sense.

IMM: What, in your view, would make the system work better?

EB: You know, it’s not allowed, but what I think would actually work better is if members of Congress were allowed to stay home and vote electronically. There’s something to be said for gathering and mingling and all that, but I think people in Indiana aren’t stridently partisan. There’s no reason why people in Washington, DC, should be but often they are.

IMM: What advantages would that kind of voting allow?

EB: Well I think you’d spend a lot less time in Washington, which itself would be good. I think distance lends perspective, and I enjoy getting home as often as I can.

IMM: Speaking of Hoosier roots and their relationship to Washington, should you run for President, as it has been widely rumored, what choices that you made when you were governor of our state do you feel will have an impact—or will be exploited—on your potential presidential candidacy?

EB: You know, I haven’t given that much thought. So you probably ought to ask somebody other than me. I’m sure there will be both if something like that were to happen. But I just simply haven’t focused on it.

IMM: Does that mean you really don’t listen to what the pundits have to say?

EB: Well, I’m human, like anybody else. I like it when people say good things and don’t when people say critical things. But I always try to take criticism as an opportunity to learn. And I think it’s important, if you can, to take your critics seriously but not personally. Unfortunately, in public life these days, some people do cross the line into personal attacks, and I think that’s unfortunate. But we live in a free country. People are allowed to have their say. Folks criticized George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Why shouldn’t they criticize me?

IMM: Some pundits were very vocal about your vote against Condi Rice for Secretary of State being motivated more by politics than substance. How do you respond to that?

EB: My vote was a matter of principle, not politics. The most politically expedient thing probably would have been to say nothing and go with the flow. But I believe so strongly that we need to be successful in Iraq. And I believe strongly that mistakes have been made that have jeopardized our troops and our prospects for success there. I had to stand for accountability. To say, “Look we’re trying to do the right thing. It’s a noble thing. But if people make mistakes, they have to be held to account for that. Not for the purpose of laying blame or pointing fingers, but for the purpose of doing better so that we can succeed.” And so this whole business in Washington of pretending that problems don’t exist, I don’t think is good enough in a time of war. So it was nothing political or personal. A couple of my colleagues called Dr. Rice a liar, and I strongly disagree with that. We need to show our resiliency and our fortitude by seeing this through to a successful conclusion.

IMM: You were Iraq recently. Tell me about your time there and what you hoped to accomplish.

EB: My two most important take-aways from the trip were, number one: We can be so proud of our troops. They are the most idealistic, selfless group of Americans I think I have ever met. They are there for all the right reasons. They want to bring freedom and opportunity to people who haven’t had it. I had dinner one nigh with Hoosiers from the First Cavalry Division, including the chaplain, and it was just uplifting being with them. We should do everything we can to support our troops in every conceivable way. Number two: This is going to be hard. The election was a great moment. We can all be very proud about that, and the fact that without the courage of our American troops it would never have happened. Trying to build a democracy where there’s no history of any, particularly with significant racial and ethnic differences and neighbors being hostile to the process and suicidal terrorists there—this is going to be tough, and the American people need to recognize that. We need to show our resiliency and our fortitude by seeing this through to a successful conclusion.

IMM: When a senator is giving a long-winded speech that you don’t agree with, ever want to shake him by the lapel and say, “What do you know? You were never a governor?”

EB: I think it’s important to be polite, because I’ve got to work with these people. But sure, having run a state and being responsible for results and not just giving speeches and casting votes is a very good background. You can really tell the difference between people who’ve had to run something at some point in their lives and people who haven’t—whether it’s a state, a city or a business. With those who have, there’s much more focus on the bottom line. Accountability for results. Is this practical? How will this work? Can’t we find common ground to get something done rather than just shouting at each other? Occasionally I’ll offer my observations in that vein. But I always try to do it in a way that doesn’t appear like I’m a know-it-all. At heart I’m still much more a governor than a senator. I always try to think in terms of “what would people at home think about this?”

IMM: What was the upside and downside of having a father in politics?

EB: Fortunately, my parents did everything they could to make sure that I had a normal upbringing. So I never really looked at my father as a political figure; he was just my dad. Of course I went to some political functions and that kid of thing. But mostly I found his commitment to be inspirational. And I might not be doing what I’m doing today if I wasn’t inspired by both my parents’ examples. But I always looked at my dad first and foremost as a dad, and I hope that’s how my sons look at me. They’re aware of what I do. But more than anything else, I want them to know that they are the most important thing in my life.

IMM: Speaking of your twin boys, do they have raging crushes on the Bush twins?

EB: Well, the Bush twins are a bit old for my boys. They are only 9 [laughs]. My boys are at an age where, if they even notice girls, they don’t admit it.

IMM: At least not to Mom and Dad.

EB: I know that will come someday. Their mother sets the bar pretty high. So they have a pretty high standard to beat once they start dating.

IMM: Speaking of your wife: Again, if you decide to run for President, it seems like this country isn’t clear on what it wants from a First Lady. In this day and age, d you think voters prefer a candidate married to a stay-at-home-mom type, or one with an active career?

EB: Again, I’m not a very good person to ask about that. I haven’t thought about it much. I think the main thing is there are any possible number of approaches a First Lady can take to be successful. I don’t think there is any one mold. And the role of women in our society has changed over the last several generations, and that’s a good thing. Every First Lady has had certain strengths, and it’s important to focus on those. Although I’m a bit biased in that I think Susan was a great first lady for eight years for our state. I’m constantly having people tell me that they support Susan’s husband.

IMM: A good portion of the country saw Presidents Clinton and Bush together in the Super Bowl, speaking about their role in helping with the tsunami relief efforts. If those guys were driving across country together, who do you think would get to control the radio?

EB: That’s a good question. [Long pause.] I gotta tell you, you’ve stumped me.

IMM: Well, I’m glad that I can do what Tim Russert can’t.

EB: My impression is that whatever tensions existed as a result of the election that they had against each other has dissipated. And particularly with this tsunami relief effort that they are in with one another, they have formed a bond. So it seems like maybe they’d fine a country-Western station and they would both be happy with that.

IMM: How much difference does it make if a state has two Republican senators, two Democrats, or one of each?

EB: I have a great deal of respect and a very good working relationship with Dick Lugar. And the nice thing about that is that it allows us to represent Indiana on both sides of the aisle. So we can both work together without partisan affiliation to do what’s right for Indiana. Political alignments in Washington come and go. But the interests of Indiana are permanent. And so I think our relationship has been good for the state.

IMM: Speaking of your relationship with Indiana, when you ran for Secretary of State in 1986, there were some critics who balked at the notion that you were truly a Hoosier since you had grown up, essentially, in Washington.

EB: I’m the fifth generation of my family to be born in Indiana. That’s about as Hoosier as it gets. When my father was elected to represent our state, I was 7 years old—which I think was a little bit young to move out and get an apartment on my own. My family took me with them. But as soon as I was old enough to make a decision about where I wanted to live, I came home to Indiana and went to IU. My first job was in Indiana, clerking for a judge in the federal building in downtown Indianapolis. Our first home was in Indianapolis. Our children were born in Indianapolis. So I think those concerns really didn’t reflect a deep knowledge of my background.

IMM: Let’s talk about your Indiana background, then. When you’re home, and you and Susan have a free evening, where ya eatin’?

EB: I hope it doesn’t disappoint your readers, but our tastes are not particularly fancy. We like to eat at Shapiro’s. What’s not to like? The food is great, the portions are large and the prices are reasonable. We like pizza from Bazbeaux. The Original Pancake House. I’ve gotta keep running if I’m going to eat there, though. Steak ‘n Shake, of course. I like the Working Man’s Friend, too. Double cheeseburger and those onion rings. That’s strong.

IMM: If you had to go bowling with one of the following people, whom are you going to choose: Christ Matthews, Larry King, Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity?

EB: Read me the list again. Is bowling alone an option? Ay yi. You know… process of elimination I would say Bill O’Reilly, because you never know what to expect. But my first temptation would be to form a league. Get them all out there.

IMM: How important to life in Washington is being a frequent guest on political chat shows?

EB: Those shows are often as much about shouting about something for entertainment as they are about news. That’s not really what I’m about. If they want to talk about a particular topic I’m interested in, occasionally I’ll go on. The people who book those shows know I’m not much of a screamer, and so they usually look elsewhere for entertainment value. That’s fine by me. I don’t view important public issues as a matter of entertainment.

IMM: Was there much Monday morning quarterbacking after your 1996 Clinton nomination speech? If you could go back and relive that, would you do anything different now?

EB: I’m not a big one for crying over spilled milk. There were some adverse circumstances there that I had nothing to do with that made the situation much more difficult. But look, I learned from the experience and moved on. The silver lining of that cloud is that although in the hall it did not play well—because people had thought the convention was over before I came on to speak and so were literally leaving—on TV, people had no idea. Because the convention was running a little bit late all over the East Coast, folks who tuned in at 11:00 to get their local news instead saw me speaking. And so the audience was actually a lot larger, and it played a lot better on TV than it did in the hall. You learn from experiences. But in Monday morning quarterbacking, I’m not big on recriminations.

IMM: Better movie president: Harrison Ford in Air Force One or Michael Douglas in The American President?

EB: I’m kind of an action movie guy, so I’ve got to go with Harrison Ford.

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Thinking '08? Indiana could have an answer

eamon1916 — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 14:33:14 GMT

MARIANNE MEANS: Thinking '08? Indiana could have an answer

March 28, 2005

"It's a joy to get out of the nation's capital," President George W. Bush told a cheering Republican audience in New Mexico last week.

Wait a minute. Whose Washington is it anyway? His party controls the White House, the Senate, the House -- and is plotting to stack the courts. Even the city's famous cherry blossoms look Republican this year.

It was an odd, politically inappropriate comment for a fellow whose ruthless re-election campaign last year stopped at nothing to keep him in town. The days when he could pretend to be an outsider are long gone. But Bush's second term isn't going as well as he had envisioned.

The dog-whistle politics that worked in the campaign are not working when it comes to governing. (The British use the expression to describe a high-pitched political message that excites a receptive audience but is unintelligible to the rest of us.)

The dog whistle, in fact, was heard by lots of voters when Bush and congressional Republicans pandered to the religious right with an intrusive governmental intervention to prolong brain-damaged Terri Schiavo's suffering. And the vast majority of the public didn't like it.

Bush's campaign to scare voters about an exaggerated "crisis" in Social Security is not working either, to grease the way for partially privatizing Social Security.

There are many facts demonstrating that his information about this is as misleading as the inaccurate stuff he provided about imaginary weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. His own Social Security trustees reported this week, after throwing out some inventive alarmist numbers, that under normal analysis the system ought to be able to pay full benefits until 2041, hardly an imminent disaster. Medicare, in fact, is in far more financial distress, but much of that is due to Bush's new drugs benefit.

His own congressional Republicans refused to provide the heavy domestic spending cuts he demanded to try to reduce the deficit. Those cuts are too painful, even for them. Under present budget guidelines, with both tax and spending cuts, he will have no chance of meeting his professed goal of staunching the red ink.

Finally, the Democrats sniff springtime in the air and are rising from the dead. They still have only minimal political power, but there is the future to be considered. To judge from the number of potential Democratic presidential candidates out making speeches and raising money, the 2008 primary campaign has begun.

Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York will have plenty of company when she runs. Among the most prominent potential candidates are Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, defeated 2004 Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and his running mate, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. All three are looking a bit shop-worn, and party officials are lusting for new blood.

One alternative is Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, a former governor re-elected last year in a Republican state with 62 percent while Bush won the Hoosier State with 60 percent. Bayh has a centrist image, and he's organizing a presidential campaign team. He's a fiscal conservative, a foreign policy hawk, backer of a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning and against late-term abortions.

But he voted against confirming John Ashcroft as attorney general and Condoleezza Rice as secretary of State, against the Bush tax cuts, against oil drilling in the Arctic and for requiring gun-show background checks.

The biggest rap against him so far is that he is a boring speaker with no juice. His keynote speech at the 1996 Democratic convention was a dud, reminiscent of Bill Clinton's aimless, verbose convention keynote speech in 1988. Clinton learned from his mistake and pepped up his style and disciplined his tongue; Bayh seems to be in the process of doing the same.

At a Jackson-Jefferson day dinner in Colorado, Bayh put on a boffo performance. He is working on the personality problem. He told homey, self-deprecating jokes, talked intimately about his family, attacked the Bush administration for being on the "wrong path," and called for a stronger sense of patriotism. If Bayh can keep that up, Hillary better watch out.

MARIANNE MEANS is a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. Write to her at means@hearstdc.com or at Suite 610, 1701 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20006.

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Bayh working to raise political profile

eamon1916 — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:24:59 GMT

Bayh working to raise political profile

By Maureen Groppe, Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON -- Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh is making staff and fund-raising changes that some interpret as laying the groundwork for a potential presidential bid.

The most noticeable changes are to his political action committee, a fund-raising tool often used by presidential hopefuls to help fund campaign explorations.

Bayh's PAC has a new name -- the All America PAC -- and its first director, Steve Bouchard, who has worked for previous presidential candidates in New Hampshire, the site of the first primary.

Bayh met with potential donors in California and Chicago last month and his PAC paid for him to travel to Colorado over the weekend where he was the keynote speaker for the Colorado Democratic Party's annual fund-raiser.

"A pre-presidential campaign is a thousand-piece puzzle and, gradually, he's filling in the pieces," said Larry Sabato, political science professor at the University of Virginia. "You need to have a PAC. You need to raise money. You need to have staffers with national presidential experience."

"Bayh is a cautious fellow," Sabato said. "But most of these decisions and travel are signals that he is, in fact, running."

But Bayh's spokesman said Bayh's new PAC director, along with other staff changes, shouldn't be seen as preparations for a potential presidential bid in 2008.

"This is building on his efforts from the day he got to the Senate where he became very active in doing what he could to help the party and help elect Democrats who share his views," said spokesman Dan Pfeiffer.

Bayh's potential presidential ambitions are one reason the Colorado Democratic Party asked Bayh to be the keynote speaker.

"He's definitely one of the names that are mentioned," said Julie DeWoody, the Colorado party's executive director. "People are interested in hearing what he has to say."

Pfeiffer said Bayh's willingness to help other Democrats isn't new. He spoke at a Democratic dinner in Kentucky last year, appeared at an Arkansas Democratic dinner in 2003, and campaigned for Democrats in Montana, Iowa and Louisiana in 2002.

Bayh, who was handily re-elected in November with 62 percent of the vote, will be stepping up his party activities.

"There is absolutely no question that in Senator Bayh's second term he intends to play a larger role within the Democratic Party and help meet the challenges that face our country," Pfeiffer said.

Among the other changes Bayh has made recently:

* Deputy chief of staff Linda Moore Forbes, a veteran of the Clinton White House, recently returned to Bayh's staff after working on the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

* Pfeiffer, who worked for former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, recently joined Bayh's staff to replace the former communications director who left to work on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign.

* Bayh hired former Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean's pollster, Paul Maslin, to replace Mark Penn, who was Bill Clinton's pollster and is expected to do the same for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Penn's wife, fund-raiser Nancy Jacobson, is still on Bayh's team.

Bouchard was the Ohio state director for America Coming Together, an independent group that tried to defeat President Bush.

Before that, he was former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark's state director in New Hampshire.

When former Sen. Bob Kerrey was exploring a 2000 presidential bid, Bouchard was the New Hampshire director for Kerrey's political action committee.

Bayh's spokesman said Bouchard's presidential connections do not mean Bayh is running.

"Steve is one of the most well respected people in the Democratic Party and he's worked all over the country," Pfeiffer said.

The new faces, along with his longtime advisers Anita Dunn, who specializes in media, and informal adviser Ron Klain, an Indianapolis native who was former Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff, show that Bayh "has the makings of a first-rate inner circle for a presidential campaign," said political consultant Chris Sautter.

Most have presidential campaign experience and have worked for a variety of candidates, he said.

"It's pretty obvious," Sautter said, "that he's put together a team for the long run."

Bayh's PAC will be his main vehicle over the next few years for an exploration of any run.

A PAC allows Bayh to raise additional money, including from contributors who have given the maximum allowed by law to his re-election campaign. He can contribute the funds to other candidates and party committees, racking up chits and increasing his influence within the party. He can also use the money to hire staff, travel and raise more money.

Nine months before former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards officially announced his presidential campaign in 2003, he'd already spent nearly $3 million through his PAC. A chunk of that paid for 176 personal computers for the Democratic parties in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Bayh has had a political action committee since 1999. He has raised about $1.5 million and spent about $1.1 million since then.

Of that, about $490,000 was given to other Democratic candidates and parties.

Bayh was not among the top 10 direct contributors to his fellow Democrats in either the 2002 or 2004 elections. Hillary Rodham Clinton, by contrast, ranked second and seventh in those years, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

But those rankings only take into account what Bayh's PAC gave directly to candidates and parties. He also raised more than $480,000 in indirect contributions by soliciting funds that went straight to a candidate, rather than passing through Bayh's PAC.

Two of the top recipients of such funds were Daschle, who was defeated last year, and former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen who unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in 2002. Shaheen was the national chairwoman of Kerry's 2004 campaign.

Bayh's office wouldn't say how much money he has raised since revamping the PAC. He won't have to publicly report the PAC's fund-raising and expenses for the first six months of this year until July.

"It takes an awful lot of money (to run for president) and he's only got three years until the primaries start," Sabato said. "It seems like forever, but it's actually a very compressed schedule."

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February Bayh Bulletin

eamon1916 — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 20:54:48 GMT

February 2005 Bayh Bulletin

This February, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh worked with the Reserve Officers Association and other military leaders to develop a way to end the Patriot Penalty, the pay-cut faced by Guard and Reserve families when members are called to active duty and lose their civilian salary. Bayh also continued his work to strengthen America's vaccine supply to help prevent future pandemics, including Avian flu, and introduced legislation to level the playing field for Hoosier workers competing against Chinese companies.

Bayh Demands an End to Patriot Penalty

Citing the story of a Hoosier family unable to meet its mortgage payments or pay for childcare when the husband was called to active duty, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh called for an end to the Patriot Penalty, a pay cut many National Guard and Reserve members must endure when they are called to active duty and lose their civilian salary. Bayh announced plans to introduce legislation to remove the penalty, to ensure that no family is left unable to pay their bills because of service to our country. "No one should take a pay cut for serving their country," Senator Bayh said. "Our Guard and Reserve families make countless sacrifices when a loved one is deployed—financial hardship because of their service should not be one of them. This Patriot Penalty hurts the heroes of our country at a time when we should be doing everything possible to thank them for their service." According to a Pentagon study, more than 40 percent of all guard members reported a loss in income when they are called up for active duty. The loss in income creates an immediate, additional burden on families struggling with the absence of a loved one, making it more difficult to pay bills and buy groceries. Bayh's proposal would end the Patriot Penalty by fully compensating 99 percent of the Guard and Reserve members who have suffered a pay cut while serving their country and help ensure that no one serving will face a pay cut in the future.

Bayh's legislation would also help ensure a stronger military in the future, removing concerns over pay for those now contemplating joining the Guard or Reserves. Currently, the National Guard is not meeting its recruitment goals, and last week, Chief of Army Reserves Lt. General Ron Helmly wrote that current demands on the Army Reserves were putting his command in "grave danger."

Bayh Thanks Hoosier Companies for Helping End Patriot Penalty

Several Indiana companies have voluntarily helped make up the wage difference or otherwise supported their guard member-employees called to active duty. Under Bayh's proposal, companies like these would receive tax benefits for addressing the Patriot Penalty on their own.

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh introduced a resolution in the Senate this month praising Hoosier companies that are helping to end the Patriot Penalty by volunteering to pay the difference between the civilian and National Guard and Reserve salaries of their employees. Cummins, Daimler Chrysler and Raytheon were among the companies Bayh thanked for playing a crucial role in making sure Reservists could serve their country without exposing their family to financial hardship. As he recognized these patriotic companies for their generosity, Bayh urged his colleagues to help him end the Patriot Penalty for all Guard and Reserve members who have been called to active duty, so that no family is left unable to pay its bills because of service to their country. Indiana currently has 5,315 Reservists on active-duty service.

"These companies deserve to be recognized for doing the right thing without being asked or hoping for special praise," Senator Bayh said. "Thanks to their generosity, Hoosier Reservists are able to go to Iraq and Afghanistan with the knowledge that their family will not suffer financially because of their service. I hope more companies will follow their lead. In the meantime, I will continue fighting to end the Patriot Penalty for all guard families."

Bayh Targets Avian Flu Threat with New Flu Protection Act

As health officials met this month to determine what flu strains should be included in next year's vaccine, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh introduced legislation to strengthen the nation's vaccine supply. Bayh's Flu Protection Act is a comprehensive solution targeting the problems that have led to shortages for the past two years and would help develop procedures to combat a flu pandemic, such as one caused by Avian flu. Last week, health officials described Avian flu as the "most important threat we are facing right now."

"We simply cannot keep putting off a long-term solution to these problems," Senator Bayh said. "The Flu Protection Act offers a blueprint to stabilize our supply. It is critical that we enact these reforms in time to make a difference for next year's flu season."

This year, Bayh included an additional $50 million in his Flu Protection Act specifically for research and development to help prevent a future flu pandemic, including one caused by the Avian flu. In addition, Bayh's legislation will help ensure an adequate number of vaccines are produced each year by enacting a buy-back program and encouraging greater U.S. vaccine production, two key steps that will greatly reduce the risk of another vaccine shortage.

Bayh Fights to Level Playing Field for Hoosier Workers

This February, Senator Bayh introduced legislation to ensure a level playing field for Hoosier workers in light of charges that China is intentionally undervaluing its currency, the yuan, to give its businesses an unfair advantage over U.S. companies. Bayh's legislation, which he introduced with Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), calls for a tariff increase for all products from China to negate the country's artificial currency advantage until its government agrees to value its currency at a more accurate level. This artificial undervaluation is a factor in the current job crisis facing Indiana's manufacturing industry.

"America's workers are the greatest in the world, but they need a level playing field to compete," Senator Bayh said. "While we wait for the Chinese to do the right thing, this tariff will ensure that our workers can compete with companies from overseas. If a country is using unfair trade practices that are hurting American workers and closing American companies, we should use every available resource to go after them."

The 27.5 percent tariff included in Bayh's legislation represents the estimated advantage China gains from its currency undervaluation. The tariff would be applied to all products from China and would be applied on top of any current tariffs that are already in place, though President Bush would be able to remove the tariff once he believes that China has moved to a fair, market-based currency.

Economists estimated that China's currency may be undervalued from anywhere between 15 percent and 40 percent. If this proves true, it means that Chinese manufacturing companies effectively receive a 15 percent to 40 percent subsidy on their exports, creating a false subsidy that U.S. companies cannot match.

"Chinese companies are benefiting from rigged competition that puts Hoosier workers 15 percent to 40 percent behind before they even step out of the door on their way to work each day," Senator Bayh said. "This tariff isn't meant to punish China, but simply to ensure a level playing field for American workers until the Chinese government corrects its currency levels."

We hope that you found this issue of "The Bayh Bulletin" informative. Please feel free to share with us your opinions on important issues and any other feedback you might have by using one of our forms to contact Senator Bayh available here.

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Sen.: Eliminate 'Patriot Penalty'

eamon1916 — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 15:41:13 GMT

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147506,00.html

Sen.: Eliminate 'Patriot Penalty'

Monday, February 14, 2005

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — When duty called him to Afghanistan, Dr. Anthony Carter closed his family medical practice in the tiny Kentucky town of Tompkinsville and laid off his 10 employees.

The Army reservist relished the chance to treat wounded soldiers. But Carter worried about mounting bills, his children in college and his former workers.

Many soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from the so-called "patriot penalty" — the gap between what deployed Guard and Reserve troops are paid and their civilian salaries. Legislation being proposed would eliminate that penalty by reimbursing troops for up to $50,000 of their lost income.

For Carter, the difference was in the tens of thousands of dollars, and it meant having to borrow money to reopen his practice after nine months away in 2003.

"I was glad to do it. I'm proud I did it, but financially it was a hardship," said Carter, 47.

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat, is proposing a measure to eliminate the "patriot penalty" and offer tax breaks up to $15,000 annually to corporations that supplement the incomes of employees called to service.

Bayh said he would offer his plan as an amendment to President Bush's proposal to boost government payments to families of U.S. troops killed at war.

About half of all troops in Iraq are in the Guard and Reserves. Based on a Pentagon study, Bayh estimates 40 percent of those troops make less money while deployed.

"These families are trying to do the right thing for our country, and it's not right they should be struggling when we're in the right position to help them out," Bayh said.

But some question whether his program — costing about $250 million a year — is the best use of resources.

"This is a difficult environment right now and there are so many needs," said John Goheen, spokesman for the National Guard Association of the United States. "It becomes difficult to say yes, we support it, or whether we don't. It's a real tough issue."

Bayh said most payouts would be a few thousand dollars — a small amount "compared to the tens of billions we're spending annually in Iraq." He believes they could help with recruiting and re-enlistment efforts at a time when the Guard is stretched thin.

Not all troops would qualify. Some make more in the battlefield than in the civilian sector. Those who are single often come home with thousands in savings.

But those who don't reap the benefits need the help, said David Carlson, an Evansville surgeon and Army reservist who spent three months in Iraq in 2004.

"A lot of them with families didn't have the savings or wherewithal to weather it very well," Carlson said of his fellow troops.

Roger Stradley of USA Cares, a Radcliff, Ky.-based group that works to help military families in crisis, said many are embarrassed to seek financial help.

"They're discouraged. They feel like they're all by themselves and they're not," said Stradley, whose group has provided military families $300,000 in food vouchers since the start of the Iraq war.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Carter and his wife, Teresa, a nurse who works as his office manager, are still feeling his loss of income.

Though her husband's salary supports their three children, ages 13 to 23, and pays expenses like malpractice insurance and payroll, Teresa Carter said many of those bills piled up while his practice was closed.

"If he got the $50,000 additional thing ... it would all be paying things back. I could see it going to zero really quickly," she said.

Carter's practice has rebounded and he has rehired his employees. But his wife said it will take two to three years to fully recover.

"I'm so proud of what he did that it's worth it," Teresa Carter said.

She worries, though, about young, less established Guard and Reserve families who might not have the background the couple did in handling money.

"For somebody who did not know about finances or things, it would be such a shock for them," she said. "I think it would be really tough."

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my view: Evan Bayh - Vote against Rice based on principle

eamon1916 — Fri, 04 Feb 2005 15:31:17 GMT

my view: Evan Bayh
Vote against Rice based on principle

February 4, 2005

I read with interest Andrea Neal's Feb. 2 column suggesting that my vote against promoting Dr. Condoleezza Rice to secretary of state could not be based on principle, that I had changed my priorities on Iraq, that no serious policy errors have been made for which the decision-makers should be held to account, and that my motives could only be a sign of larger political ambition.

This must be a case of mistaken identity, because her assertions did not accurately reflect my motivation, my reasoning, or my position on our mission in Iraq.

I have been unwavering in my support for freedom in Iraq. I was one of the original sponsors of the resolution to remove Saddam Hussein, and I have always voted to give the troops the money and equipment they need.

Because I believe strongly that we must succeed, I am particularly troubled by serious policy errors that have made the situation in Iraq much more difficult and undermined our chances for success. It is not too much to say that our troops and the cause of freedom have been endangered by these mistakes.

From the very beginning, this administration violated a fundamental tenet of war. Instead of planning for the worst and hoping for the best, the administration has all too often planned for the best and reaped the worst. Ignoring the warnings of people like Sen. John McCain, we did not go in with the troops or the equipment necessary for the difficult task of nation building. We never had a realistic plan for what came after Saddam was deposed. The State Department and others, including Sen. Lugar, urged the administration to plan for the reconstruction of Iraq, but they were ignored. Those in charge must be held accountable for those mistakes. Our success in Iraq depends on learning from them and correcting them.

During my recent trip to Iraq, a top U.S. official told me that things would be "100 percent" better on the ground if we had not dismissed the Iraqi army. The lack of stability in the early days after Saddam led to looting and lawlessness that spawned the insurgency we face today. The leaders and the human rights violators should be prosecuted, but many of the rank-and-file soldiers could have helped us provide stability. Instead of fighting with us, they are now fighting against us.

These problems were further compounded when we disqualified even low-level former Baathists from serving in the Iraqi government. They could have helped us run the nation by keeping the lights on, the water running, and the economy functioning. They could've helped us reassure the Sunni community that we wanted to incorporate them in the future of Iraq.

When the stakes are this high and the consequences this profound, accountability is important. Holding people accountable for grave errors may be an odd concept in Washington, but business as usual isn't good enough anymore. My stand wasn't based on partisanship, but on errors in judgment that I don't believe warranted a promotion.

Finally, Neal suggested that Dr. Rice is the only person who can effectively serve as secretary of state and therefore my opposition to her must be rooted in pure partisanship and ambition. In fact, there is an obvious alternative for secretary of state. A man who is superbly qualified, a man who is committed to success in Iraq, who foresaw and may have prevented many of the problems we now face. A man I would recommend based not on partisanship or ambition, but on demonstrated judgment. That man?

Indiana's own Dick Lugar.

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Biography of Evan Bayh

eamon1916 — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:37:01 GMT

From: http://bayh.senate.gov/index1.html

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh is focused on providing hardworking Hoosier families with the tools and opportunities they need to succeed today. From his work growing small businesses to his fight to make higher education more affordable, Senator Bayh is cutting through the partisan gridlock of Washington to help more Hoosiers make a better life for themselves and their children. His commitment to making real progress in the midst of potential political showdowns has set Bayh apart as a leader on a wide range of important issues facing our country.

Elected to his second term in November 2004, Senator Bayh has proven he is “more concerned with reflecting what he believes is right for Indiana citizens than with playing to the Beltway crowd,” says the Indianapolis Star. His signature legislative efforts seek to strengthen our national security, create more jobs through the growth of small businesses, encourage responsible fatherhood and provide tax-relief for families struggling with the rising costs of college, retirement and the long-term care of a loved one. To help win the war on terror, Bayh has taken the lead in providing our troops with the armored vehicles they need and has visited Baghdad for a firsthand look at the progress on-the-ground.

Bayh currently serves on five Senate committees: Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, on which he is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance; Armed Services; the Select Committee on Intelligence; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Small Business Committee.

Bayh is a leader of the New Democrat movement. At a time when partisanship is threatening progress on the nation’s most pressing issues, Bayh is spearheading the creation of the Third Way, an organization designed to build consensus around legislation that would otherwise remain bogged down in political turf wars. Bayh also serves as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a national group that offers support for Democratic elected officials and community leaders who offer a progressive approach on issues. Bayh is a member of the Senate Centrist Coalition, a group of moderate senators from both parties who meet regularly and work together to find common ground. He helped establish the New Democrat Coalition, a new and growing group of senators who are committed to sensible bipartisan progress. Bayh also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy, a non-partisan group that works to promote and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide.

Before his election to the Senate, Bayh served two terms as Governor of Indiana, where he established the state as one of the strongest, most financially secure economies in the nation. “Mr. Bayh’s record,” reported the Wall Street Journal in 1992, “is one of a genuinely fiscally conservative Democrat.” Stressing fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, job creation and lean government, then-Governor Bayh’s list of achievements are remarkable: eight years without raising taxes; the greatest single tax cut and largest budget surplus in state history; national leadership in moving people from welfare to work; more dollars for schools every year; high academic standards and new college opportunities; over 350,000 new jobs; tougher laws; and improved environmental quality.

Bayh was born in Shirkieville, Indiana. He graduated with honors in business economics from Indiana University in 1978, and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1981. After clerking for a federal court judge and entering private law practice in Indianapolis, he was elected Indiana’s Secretary of State in 1986.

Senator Bayh counts as his most important role and greatest responsibility a position he assumed in November 1995: proud father of twin sons Beau and Nicholas - a joy he shares daily with his wife, Susan.

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