Bye Bayh Baby, Baby Goodbye

More scoop on the Bayh, from a reporter who knew him in Indiana.  (Sounds alot like our own former Senator, John Edwards, just without the adultery.)

Democrat Evan Bayh is exiting the U.S. Senate in the same capacity he has served the past 12 years -- an embarrassment to his constituents, his party and an affront to democracy.

The Indiana senator's surrender will be remembered for two sound bites: He said he has loved serving Hoosier citizens, but he doesn't like Congress anymore. Less noticed but far more newsworthy was the antidemocratic manner in which he announced his retirement.

Bayh's claim that he loves serving the people of Indiana was a jaw-dropper for anyone remotely familiar with his political history. As a neophyte reporter at the Bloomington Herald-Telephone in 1986, when the son of former Sen. Birch Bayh was elected Secretary of State, I quickly learned what Evan Bayh was about -- Evan Bayh, and Evan Bayh only.

Bloomington Democrats in 1986 railed at me over Bayh's self-absorbed political style. The clear future of the Indiana Democratic Party, they said, offered no support for the party, no support for fellow candidates, nothing for anyone but himself. That shouldn't have been a surprise, given that princely young Evan hadn't ever really lived in the state. For his career, he owed only his pedigree and his looks.

Not coincidentally, while Bayh's political (and personal) fortunes have soared these past 24 years, through his terms as Secretary of State, Governor and Senator, the quality of Hoosier lives from one corner to the next have declined precipitously. So, when the vapid pretty-boy professed his love of serving the citizens, disingenuous was the most charitable term that leapt to mind.

A clue to the truth lay in the visual image his announcement afforded -- standing by her man, wife Susan, whom The Indianapolis Star says at times has earned more than a million dollars a year serving on the boards of outlaw corporations like WellPoint and other "health care companies." While we Hoosiers suffer and die due to the cost of health care, Susan Bayh earns $330,000 a year, twice Evan's salary as a senator, just for sitting on WellPoint's Board of Directors.