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Senator Evan Bayh's departure sparks debate about partisanship in Congress
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Washington Post
Posted: February 23rd, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02...
[Sen. Evan] Bayh dealt a triple blow to his Democratic Party and to President Obama with his announcement ... that he is sick of the partisanship in Washington and will not seek a third term. But it was as much Bayh's stated reasons for leaving as the consequences that stirred controversy. "If in fact he believed that the Senate was broken and dysfunctional, then he had a responsibility to stand and man the pumps rather than run for the lifeboat," said Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University. Baker said Bayh's depiction of Congress overstates the case that lawmakers are dealing with something unprecedented in American politics. "I won't say it's cyclical, but from time to time . . . even the Senate goes berserk," he said. He cited the red-baiting era of the early 1950s, saying, "The McCarthy period was a terrible time, in which reputations were ruined, senators attacked each other and questioned each other's motives." Bayh has $13 million in his campaign account and, despite a determined effort by the GOP to mount a serious challenge to his reelection prospects, was leading in early polls. His decision could be taken by other Democrats as one more piece of evidence that the energy so far this year is on the right.
Note: If the people of the U.S. stopped falling for the polarization agendas of the power elite and fighting against each other, maybe the elected representatives would start working together for the good of all.
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