Ugghhh... Evan Bayh Is Back

Evan Bayh, son of a much admired progressive Indiana senator, Birch Bayh (1963-1981), served as governor of Indiana from 1989 'til 1997 and then ran for his father's old Senate seat. He voluntarily retired in 2010, fearful of being defeated in a building GOP wave, saying at the time "I want to be engaged in an honorable line of work" but instead he became a big time DC lobbyist (and Fox News contributor). He was one of the 2 or 3 most right-wing Democrats in the Senate, was one of Bush's biggest Democratic backers for both his attack on Iraq and for his TARP bankster bailout. Bayh the Younger served as a chair of the DLC and was one of the founders of the New Dem Coalition.

This morning the DSCC web site still had a tepid endorsement up for Indiana's even more right-wing Democratic Senate candidate, Baron Hill, who they describe as "A devoted public servant and a proud Hoosier, Baron Hill is a committed fighter for Indiana’s middle class families. We are proud to endorse him in Indiana’s Senate race." As of the April 13 FEC filing deadline, Hill had only managed to raise $978,761 compared to $3,716,924 that his GOP opponent, Todd Young, had raised. Young has approximately 3 times more cash on hand and no one thought the race would be remotely competitive.

The Indiana primary was May 3 and Hill, a former top Blue Dog, ran unopposed. His general election campaign has been a total bust and a non-starter and Schumer was able to persuade Bayh-- who is sitting on a $9,983,284 cash hoard-- to run and the hapless Hill to step aside. No one knows if Schumer wrote his withdrawal letter for him, but Hill sent out his message to his small handful of supporters this morning: "Democrats have a very real chance at winning this Senate seat, especially with a strong nominee who has the money, name identification and resources to win. I do not want to stand in the way of Democrats winning Indiana and the U.S. Senate. That would not be fair to my party or my state. And, the stakes are far too high in this election not to put my country above my own political ambitions." Bayh's two biggest career-long contributors have been Goldman Sachs and Eli Lilly. Is there anything else you need to know? Other than how Mike Pence on the Trumpy The Clown ticket plays into this.

Chuck Schumer is redefining the Democratic Party in his own image-- more conservative, more corrupt