[viagraman]

Weird. He wasn't vulnerable. Maybe he was just tired of being a Senator.

At a tactical level, this is a big blow to the Dems.

[RichardHaads]

I know that everybody's just speculating, but running against Obama seems like a pretty dumb thing to do. Maybe in a half year, it will look like a better proposition, but I'm skeptical.

Besides, running on a platform of bipartisanship seems dumb to me. Bipartisanship doesn't make a good stump speech, to be sure.

[Loovikeillilen]

I chose to run because I believed that the size of these challenges had outgrown the capacity of our broken and divided politics to solve them; because I believed that Americans of every political stripe were hungry for a new kind of politics ...

Most of all, I believed in the power of the American people to be the real agents of change in this country – because we are not as divided as our politics suggests ...

You know that we can't afford four more years of the same divisive food fight in Washington that's about scoring political points instead of solving problems; that's about tearing your opponents down instead of lifting this country up. ...

The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result. And that's a risk we can't take. Not this year. Not when the stakes are this high.

In this election, it is time to turn the page. In seven days, it is time to stand for change. ...

It's change that won't just come from more anger at Washington or turning up the heat on Republicans. There's no shortage of anger and bluster and bitter partisanship out there. We don't need more heat. We need more light. I've learned in my life that you can stand firm in your principles while still reaching out to those who might not always agree with you. And although the Republican operatives in Washington might not be interested in hearing what we have to say, I think Republican and independent voters outside of Washington are. That's the once-in-a-generation opportunity we have in this election.

For the first time in a long time, we have the chance to build a new majority of not just Democrats, but Independents and Republicans who've lost faith in their Washington leaders but want to believe again – who desperately want something new.

We can change the electoral math that's been all about division and make it about addition – about building a coalition for change and progress that stretches through Blue States and Red States. That's how I won some of the reddest, most Republican counties in Illinois. That's why the polls show that I do best against the Republicans running for President – because we're attracting more support from Independents and Republicans than any other candidate. That's how we'll win in November and that's how we'll change this country over the next four years. ...

They said we wouldn't have a chance in this campaign unless we resorted to the same old negative attacks. But we resisted, even when we were written off, and ran a positive campaign that pointed out real differences and rejected the politics of slash and burn.

http://thepage.time.com/obamas-new-stump-speech/


Bipartisanship is stump speech gold.

[socialkiiii]

I think it more likely he's headed for the hills before we find out he was diddling his pages or something.

The guy had a 20-point lead on his most likely challenger, it wasn't like he wasn't going to be re-elected.

[artkolkovk]

Why can't we have a strong, viable third party that is strong on civil rights and more moderate in spending while still supportive of essential reforms?

[AlexDatig]

Why can't we have a strong, viable third party that is strong on civil rights and more moderate in spending while still supportive of essential reforms? I believe the Democrat party is for you. Are they not far enough to the left?

[lE3l6Lgn]

Parts bolded for Oggie, it ain't just the left that frustrates him.

Disillusioned Bayh advocates electoral “shock” to broken system
Tue Feb 16, 7:35 pm ET


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.

It's no secret that the Senate has struggled to take action this year. With the two major parties unusually far apart in their substantive proposals for the direction of the country, even finding half a loaf to agree on has been difficult. Though the Democrats have had a substantial majority in the Senate for the last year, Republicans have escalated their threats to use filibusters (by forcing a cloture vote, see the graph below) to force Democrats to come up with 60 votes to pass any major legislation. And after Scott Brown's election to the Senate last month gave Republicans a 41st seat, health-care reform and other Democratic goals were stopped dead in their tracks.

Bayh blamed the current atmosphere of intense partisanship on the need for senators to constantly campaign to be reelected to another six-year term. Citing his father, a popular liberal senator in the '60s and '70s, he noted that "back in the day they used to have the saying: 'You campaign for 2 years and you legislate for 4.' Now you campaign for 6!" He noted that the need for constant fundraising made it nearly impossible to focus on passing legislation.

Frustration over the increasing amount of money being spent on political campaigns isn't exactly a new thing, as spending by candidates in the 2008 presidential election nearly quadrupled the amount of money spent by candidates in the 2000 election. Additionally, winners of House races in 2000 spent an average of $849,158 to do so, while House winners in 2008 spent an average of $1,372,591. Enhancing the concerns of many on the left and the right has been a recent Supreme Court decision to strike down the country's existing campaign finance laws. Put simply, the ruling opens the door for an even greater influence of money by allowing corporations spend money directly on campaigns.

Meanwhile, voter frustration is high, making the fight for campaign cash all the more crucial to politicians hoping to remain in office. A recent poll found that 44% of Americans believe incumbents should be voted out of office.

However, reforms of Congress appear unlikely. There doesn't appear to be any significant momentum at this time behind efforts to change the rules that govern passing legislation or Congress's need to constantly campaign and fundraise. With an election year beginning, it's also unlikely that congressional leaders will begin to see eye to eye more often on major legislation.

Perhaps a "shock" is indeed called for in order to change that.

[C7JjVczP]

Frank is the very definition of a pugilistic partisan.

[parishilton]

Bayh

[JacksHH]

Well obviously he has tried. He has been there for 12 years. I'm sure this didn't just dawn on him yesterday. He figures he can make more change from the outside. For that:

[soonahonsefalh]

Unfortunately the likely result will probably be a republican taking his place, without any changes. Oh well.

Which is why I'm pissed off (even as I agree with Bayh about extreme partisanship).

[Adollobdeb]

okay, fine