Legal Commentary

Fingerpointing

By Big Tent Democrat

In a fairly banal and not as bad as I expected Op-Ed, Evan Bayh pleases the Beltway with this line:

[Dems]were too deferential to our most zealous supporters. During election season, Congress sought to placate those on the extreme left and motivate the base — but that meant that our final efforts before the election focused on trying to allow gays in the military, change our immigration system and repeal the George W. Bush-era tax cuts. These are legitimate issues but unlikely to resonate with moderate swing voters in a season of economic discontent.

(Emphasis supplied.) There are two interesting points about this passage. First Bayh is arguing that motivating your base during election season is bad politics. Instead persuading "moderate swing voters" is the way to go. I think that's wrong, but it is an argument. Second, Bayh seems to not see a connection between governing performance and electoral results. He thinks it is all about appearances. That is just plain stupid. And of course, with regard to "placating those on the extreme left," Paul Krugman says it best:

So, we’re already getting the expected punditry: Obama needs to end his leftist policies, which consist of … well, there weren’t any, but he should stop them anyway.

Anyway, Evan Bayh is running for President in 2016. Hillary Clinton can stop him though.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on November 03, 2010 (boomark / email).