Last Friday evening, I finished the day watching FOX News. To my surprise, there was Evan Bayh, Democratic Senator from Indiana, doing an interview with Sean Hannity.
A confession is in order. I worked for Evan Bayh’s father 31 years ago when Birch Bayh was the Junior Senator from Indiana. Indiana is my home state. Birch Bayh and my father were classmates at Purdue, have been lifelong friends, and I’ve always had a special affinity for Birch, who gave me a job in the U.S. Senate when I was 23. Perhaps because of the connections, and family history, and Hoosier roots, I’ve followed closely the career of Evan.
Evan is not his father. Birch was a new deal liberal, wore it on his sleeve and was never hesitant to dive into an ideological fight. He won three close statewide elections in 1962, 1968 and 1974, never faced an easy opponent, never won by more than 75,000 votes. He became Presidential stock when he led the successful fight to defeat two of Richard Nixon’s Supreme Court nominees, a gutsy thing to do considering that few states gave Nixon greater margins than Indiana in 1968 or 1972. He stopped cold legislative efforts to water down or overturn the Roe v Wade decision. He advocated price controls on petroleum, and during the 1974 reelection campaign advocated that oil prices be rolled back. When he ran for President in 1976, he ran even further to the left. To the extent that Hoosiers had any doubts about just how liberal Birch Bayh was, there were none at the campaign’s conclusion. The Presidential campaign of 1976 cost Birch Bayh his Senate seat in 1980 because Hoosiers came to the conclusion that Birch was too liberal. Yes, it was a Reagan year, but Dan Quayle was also the weakest candidate Birch ever faced in a statewide election, to whom he lost.
Evan, on the other hand, has not had a close election since running for Secretary of State in 1986. He was elected Governor in 1992 and reelected in 1996. Elected to the Senate in 1998 and handily reelected in 2004 during a year that Bush easily carried Indiana. Why runaway victories for Evan, and razor close elections for his father? Evan is not a risk-taker. He keeps his cards close, seldom revealing what he thinks unless he has to. He stays away from ideological fights and has aligned himself with centrist democrats in the Senate. He wears his moderation on his sleeve. His father was a far more gregarious campaigner, but Evan has always had a much better handle on the pulse of the electorate.
Which is why what he said on FOX caught my attention. Three times Hannity asked him what we are going to do for the uninsured. Three times Bayh responded that we first have to make sure that what is done is acceptable to the people who already have health insurance. That is not the Obama line, and it is not the line of the House liberals or the line of Harry Reid. If Evan Bayh is any indication, Obamacare is in for some very rough sledding in the U.S. Senate. And unlike his father, Evan will not fall on an ideological sword. For anyone.
