Baffling Bayh Missed An Opportunity

The puzzling Evan Bayh is whining about American politics:

In an interview on MSNBC this morning, newly retiring Sen. Evan Bayh declared the American political system "dysfunctional," riddled with "brain-dead partisanship" and permanent campaigning. Flatly denying any possibility that he'd seek the presidency or any other higher office, Bayh argued that the American people needed to deliver a "shock" to Congress by voting incumbents out en masse and replacing them with people interested in reforming the process and governing for the good of the people, rather than deep-pocketed special-interest groups.

Bayh's announcement stunned the American political world, as up until just last week he looked to be well on his way to an easy reelection for a third term in the Senate, and his senior staff was aggressively pursuing that goal.

But Bayh had apparently become increasingly frustrated in the Senate. In this morning's interview he noted that just two weeks ago, Republicans who had co-sponsored a bill with him to rein in the deficit turned around and voted against it for purely political reasons. He also stated repeatedly that members of his own party should be more willing to settle for a compromise rather than holding out for perfection.

"Sometimes half a loaf is better than none," Bayh insisted.

Perhaps we have reached the reducto ad absurdum of the permanent campaign mentality, whereby the only people who can manage the fundraising - the only people who can win office - have absolutely no time left for legislating because fundraising is all they have time for. It's like former Governor Gray Davis (California's amazing fundraising phenomenon, who proved ultimately to be paralyzed in carrying out his chief-executive responsibilities when it really counted), but on the national stage.

The trouble, of course, is that campaigns are almost always won by the candidate who gathers the most money for TV advertising. No form of spending is more important and all other costs pale in comparison.

There is a solution, of course: voluntarily pledge not to do any television advertising in any future campaign. It's something like voluntary nuclear disarmament. It's so risky, of course, but all that energy and time gets released for more productive pursuits. The public might even like it; actually having a legislator!

Evan Bayh could have forged a new path here - he could have been a leader - but instead, he's decided to say the hell with it all.

The absence of leadership at the nation's helm because of excessive campaign fundraising has hidden costs. America's poor leadership is slowly ruining the nation's future. But if folks like Evan Bayh decide that they are more 'the problem' than 'the solution', perhaps it is better that they leave.