Bayh Withdrawal A Gain For Progressives
News staggers Indiana Democrats, reads today’s article from the Indianapolis Star about Evan Bayh’s announcement that he will not seek re-election. The news would not have been staggering to anyone paying attention to Evan Bayh’s limping re-election campaign, however. Neither should Indiana Democratic voters be upset about Bayh’s decision to leave the U.S. Senate. Now they have the opportunity to try to elect a progressive candidate who actually represents Democratic voters.
Evan Bayh has most certainly not been a progressive voice in the United States Senate. For the current session of Congress, Bayh’s conservative political rating is higher than his progressive rating. Bayh’s legislative record is the most right wing of any Democrat in the U.S. Senate right now – even more regressive than Ben Nelson’s record.
This right wing stance is not a recent development, either. Two years ago, we reported that Senator Bayh was counted as further to the right than many Senate Republicans. Democratic voters have never forgiven Bayh for helping George W. Bush and John McCain rush toward an unnecessary invasion of Iraq.
Months ago, Tamrya D’Ippolito began a progressive campaign against Evan Bayh for the Democratic nomination. Unlike Bayh, D’Ippolito opposed the Iraq War from the start, and marched for peace just yesterday, explaining, “A country should never go in to war lightly it lacks principal. I marched in Washington D.C. with a million other people that felt that same way I did before we entered Iraq. I march today in opposition of the wars we are currently engaged in costing us a fortune in money and American lives.”
It appears that D’Ippolito may be within reach of the 4,500 petitions needed to gain a place on the ballot for the Democratic Senate nomination. No other candidate will be able to easily gain that many petitions by the deadline this Friday. If D’Ippolito can gain the required number of signatures, she’s likely to be the Democratic nominee. If she can’t get her petitions filled, the Indiana Democratic Party’s central committee will merely appoint a nominee.
D’Ippolito seems determined to run a straight-talking campaign, saying that she’s talking to the press as a citizen, “not as a politician”. She may be a thorn in the side of Indiana Democratic establishment, warning them today, “If you believe you are going to appoint someone that has the same agenda as Evan Bayh with a different face I believe you will be sadly mistaken on election day in Indiana.”
Follow the D’Ippolito for Senate campaign closely this week to get updates on the rapidly changing political campaign of Democratic Indiana.
[...] be within reach of gaining the necessary signatures. If she can get her petitions filled in time, D’Ippolito could be the only Democrat to run in the party’s Senate primary, and the Indiana Democratic Party insiders couldn’t do a thing to prevent her from being the [...]
[...] democratic process from the voters of Indiana, Senator Evan Bayh announced today that he will be calling off his re-election bid. It’s just one day before the deadline for candidates to submit petitions for the right to [...]