Thank you Evan Bayh, for not being a total a-hole - Political Forum

W.E.B. Du Bois · #1 (**permalink**) 04-14-2008, 12:43 AM

Is Evan Bayh just not a dumb Hillary surrogate, or is he saying to himself, I better not totally slam our next Presidential nominee?

Either way, at least he's not being a complete douchebag and towing the Hillary attack against Obama. That's very good for me, because I used to like Evan Bayh a lot, as a Democrat centrist. Evan Bayh is the most conservative Democrat in the Senate by his voting record. A senator from Indiana and former governor of Indiana, he supports Hillary and had thought about jumping into the 2008 race back in 2007, until he saw that he had no chance with Hillary and Obama "sucking the oxygen out of the room."

Political Radar: Evan Bayh Doesnâ€™t Think Obama is an Elitist

Quote:

Evan Bayh Doesn’t Think Obama is an Elitist
April 12, 2008 5:27 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper reports: Sen. Evan Bayh said today he doesn't believe that Sen. Barack Obama is an elitist, despite his much criticized comments about small town working class voters, but he said the remarks would come back to haunt Obama should he win the Democratic nomination.

Bayh, speaking after Sen. Hillary Clinton’s town hall meeting in Indianapolis today, said he didn't agree with Clinton’s assertion that Obama’s comments were elitist, but said that doesn't mean the remarks won't hurt Obama.

"I don’t believe he is an elitist," Bayh said "His comments were open to interpretation, that’s the problem and the Republicans will use that ruthlessly against him, that’s the problem.

"I'm concerned that statements like this, even if they are taken out of context, can be used very effectively by the other side to keep us from getting the change that we need," Bayh said.

He cited former Vice President Al Gore as an example.

"Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize now an Oscar and that kind of thing -- they made him look like he was a serial fibber," Bayh said.

When asked why Republicans wouldn’t do the same to Clinton because of her Bosnia story and others, Bayh responded that because she has a stronger record than Obama, she is less vulnerable.

"For starters, she has a strong record of delivering on the things that people care about, and actions are more important than all of the statements that have been taken out of context," he said. "Secondly, I mean this is not the time or place to have a debate on whether Bosnia was a dangerous place. I know that other people on the trip were concerned about safety and all those kind of things, but she will take it on and show that she has a long record to bring the costs of healthcare down, create jobs, deal with the underlying problems."

"Any time you are new and more undefined, you are more susceptible to those kinds of attacks," Bayh added.

emptypepsi · #2 (**permalink**) 04-14-2008, 07:56 AM

In my eyes, Hillary aligned herself with Republicans after that statement the other day. If that didn't prove her "I'll get my spot or take you all down" attitude, I don't know what will. The fact that anyone reasonable follows her after something like that seriously astounds me.

lifesaver · #3 (**permalink**) 04-14-2008, 01:36 PM

A-MEN to that brother--i bet lots of folks there at the bar wishes they could afford a shot of CROWN ROYAL----I do hope she had to pay cash for it,cause her credit is no good.

Troianii · #4 (**permalink**) 04-14-2008, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emptypepsi

In my eyes, Hillary aligned herself with Republicans after that statement the other day. If that didn't prove her "I'll get my spot or take you all down" attitude, I don't know what will. The fact that anyone reasonable follows her after something like that seriously astounds me.

It was certainly a more conservative kind of statement, but for some very odd reason beyond me it didn't come as a shock to me.

I was quite literally watching it and thinking to myself, why isn't this shocking to me?

Anyway, I'm assuming that you're talking about her counter to Obama's "bitter" statements. She certainly took a more conservative stance, but I think that it's going a bit far to say that she aligned herself with Republicans. She seemed to align herself with the general public, as Obama's statements that were FAR to the left, if you take them wholly seriously and believe he actually meant them (which he has, more or less, said he chose the "wrong words").

Just for some general references on religion, here are some links. 34% of Americans believe that the Bible is the word of God to be taken literally, and another 48% believe that it is the inspired word of God, but not everything should be taken literally. Do the math, and you'll see that even the majority of non-Republicans believe that it is the word of God, and I'm sure many would take offense to the idea that their attending church and are growing in their faith because they are bitter.

Religion News: Poll: Americans Go to Church More Regularly Than Canadians
Provocative Church: Do Americans Go to Church?

The numbers on guns aren't as strong, but paint a similar picture that the majority of Americans might take offense to his comments. Over 50% of Americans have guns, and guns are kept in some 70 million American households. I'm citing wikipedia, but I'm assuming your ok with that.

To put it simply, Hillary wasn't really aligning herself with Republicans, she was aligning herself with the majority of the American public. If she gets the nomination on the offchance then this will probably be great for the Democratic party. The Republicans are clearly perceived as the party of faith, family values and guns (a little contradiction

), but the majority of Americans side with Republicans on those issues. If the Democrats can nullify their differences on such issues, then they should be able to take the election since they are aligned with the public on many other issues.

Gun politics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia