Bayh Says Goodbye - We Say Bye to a Liberal

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh (D) shocked the political establishment yesterday by announcing that he will not seek reelection. While the roiling political landscape guaranteed Bayh a tough run, most political analysts gave the two-term senator better than even odds at reelection. Adding to the surprise of Bayhs announcement is that he has the third largest war chest among Senate incumbents with just under $13 million in the bank. None of his Republican challengers is close to having that much cash.

This morning, many pundits are singing Bayhs praises and bemoaning his retirement. I feel compelled to devote some space in this report to debunking the myth of Evan Bayh, the bi-partisan moderate. While Bayh occasionally threw a bone to his conservative Hoosier constituency, his rating with Citizens Against Government Waste is 25%, and 19% with the National Taxpayers Union. Bayhs lifetime pro-family score with Campaign for Working Families is just 18%. Thats pathetic for someone who purportedly represents the moderate center of American politics. Heres a sample of Bayhs voting record:

• FOR socialized medicine.
• FOR hate crimes legislation.
• FOR Obamas pork-barrel spending stimulus bill.
• FOR taxpayer-funding of groups that promote abortion.
• FOR card-check legislation.
• AGAINST English as our national language.
• AGAINST efforts to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
• AGAINST the confirmation of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
• AGAINST domestic oil exploration.

Only in a party dominated by liberals like Barney Frank, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi could a record like that be considered moderate.

With Bayh out of the race, the Indiana Senate seat is virtually guaranteed to go to the GOP. In fact, the idea of a Republican Senate majority emerging from the 2010 elections is no longer laughed at by seasoned political observers. One year ago, most were betting that  the GOP would lose Senate seats in November. Its remarkable how dramatically the winds of change have shifted!
Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. He submitted this article in an email to the ARRA News Service Editor. Bauer was a former Republican presidential candidate and served as President Ronald Reagan’s domestic policy adviser.

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