The primary election is in 3 days; where does it stand now? The race is too close to call. Obama leads nationally and insurmountably, but Clinton presses on, dividing the party and the state of Indiana. Meanwhile John McCain has opened an edge against both Democrats—Old Man McCain of "100 more years in Iraq" fame!
Ryan Nees of the must-read Howey Politics Indiana reported May 1 on Evan Bayh's squeeze job on Democratic county chairs and district chairs to fall in line with Hillary Clinton, or else. It's fascinating reading, and one conclusion I get is that Evan Bayh is no Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, whose party apparatus delivered the Keystone State to Mrs. Clinton.
Since Bayh the Colorless wisely dropped his own presidential bid before it got off the ground, and then jumped on Clinton's turnip truck, he's been pressuring statewide Democrats to endorse her so he can get the veep slot. Heaven knows he needs a mammoth booster shot if he's ever going to become a national figure. (You know that's what he wants; just like George W. Bush, Evan has a need to prove Daddy wrong.)
But what Hoosier Democrat would want Evan Bayh anywhere near the White House? He's the man for whom the "Republicrat" tag was invented.
Turns out, according to the Howey report, that Bayh's Buddies are now threatening to withhold support from on-again, off-again Rep. Baron Hil's re-election campaign for having the audacity to endorse Sen. Obama. Here's the quote from HPI:
The ninth district has become especially volatile. District Chairman Mike Jones sought permission to endorse Clinton from his district’s county chairs at three organizational meetings in a row, getting rebuffed each time, according to Jefferson County Chair Jim Melton. Finally Jones endorsed yesterday anyway, departing on the same day from Baron Hill, the congressman whose interests Jones is primarily tasked with looking after, but who bucked Bayh to announce his endorsement of Obama.Bayh fundraiser Dean Boerste immediately began the retribution against Hill, distributing a mass e-mail to party insiders that angrily accused Hill of "defying all political logic" and threatening "damage to Congressman Hill’s re-election efforts." The message encouraged recipients to call Hill’s office and express their "concerns of [Hill] making any endorsements," advising the congressman to "stay focused on his re-election."
The ninth district has become especially volatile. District Chairman Mike Jones sought permission to endorse Clinton from his district’s county chairs at three organizational meetings in a row, getting rebuffed each time, according to Jefferson County Chair Jim Melton. Finally Jones endorsed yesterday anyway, departing on the same day from Baron Hill, the congressman whose interests Jones is primarily tasked with looking after, but who bucked Bayh to announce his endorsement of Obama.
Bayh fundraiser Dean Boerste immediately began the retribution against Hill, distributing a mass e-mail to party insiders that angrily accused Hill of "defying all political logic" and threatening "damage to Congressman Hill’s re-election efforts." The message encouraged recipients to call Hill’s office and express their "concerns of [Hill] making any endorsements," advising the congressman to "stay focused on his re-election."
Retribution. It's not just Clinton, it's suck-up Evan Bayh too.
But even that wasn't enough to sway Congressman Hill, and it may not be enough for Hoosier Democrats either. This weekend's polls say the presidential primary is tied, and the momentum has swung back to Obama. What could you buy with Hillary's "quarter and a nickel" gas tax pander?
If she loses, so does Bayh. Which reminds me of a post on my personal blog two months ago, warning that he would pull these shenanigans, America be damned.
Face it, Evan, your Daddy (Sen. Birch Bayh) lost in 1976 not because he was too liberal, but because he got beat by a better candidate who understood the post-Watergate times, who said "I will never lie to you." His name was President Jimmy Carter.
This year, it's Barack Obama who understands the times, the people, what's wrong and what can be made right with America again. While Clinton promises four years of bitter partisanship, Obama offers four years of hope, cooperation and problem-solving.
Maybe Hillary will still manage to pull off Indiana; if so it will likely be by the slimmest of margins, no big victory. If she loses here and in North Carolina, she's done.
And Evan Bayh will have his own re-election to worry about.
Three days, folks. Let's end this race in Indiana with some Hoosier common sense.
P.S. One more quote from Howey Politics Indiana which I particularly appreciate, since it quotes the party chair from my county:
Every other chair HPI spoke to echoed the same concerns, fearing party squabbling in a primary would tip the party over a precipice of angry disaster in what has emerged as the most promising Democratic electoral year in decades. "I owe it to the Democrats to allow the candidates to have equal opportunities and equal access," said Boone County Chair Jim Whelan, who expressed optimism at the prospect of the "rebirth" of his county’s party.In Indiana, the Democratic primary is closer than any in recent memory. Yet Clinton has enjoyed near unanimous support from the party’s pure-bred, luring four of the state’s superdelegates almost immediately and leveraging Senator Bayh’s influence to elicit a mind-numbing string of local endorsements. Despite this, Obama continues to keep Indiana within the margin of error in the latest Howey-Gauge poll of the state.Now the optimism expressed by Whelan is waning, and officials like Newton County Chair Terri Pasierb say that damage to the party has already been done as feelings harden and the campaigns grow more personal.
Every other chair HPI spoke to echoed the same concerns, fearing party squabbling in a primary would tip the party over a precipice of angry disaster in what has emerged as the most promising Democratic electoral year in decades. "I owe it to the Democrats to allow the candidates to have equal opportunities and equal access," said Boone County Chair Jim Whelan, who expressed optimism at the prospect of the "rebirth" of his county’s party.
In Indiana, the Democratic primary is closer than any in recent memory. Yet Clinton has enjoyed near unanimous support from the party’s pure-bred, luring four of the state’s superdelegates almost immediately and leveraging Senator Bayh’s influence to elicit a mind-numbing string of local endorsements. Despite this, Obama continues to keep Indiana within the margin of error in the latest Howey-Gauge poll of the state.
Now the optimism expressed by Whelan is waning, and officials like Newton County Chair Terri Pasierb say that damage to the party has already been done as feelings harden and the campaigns grow more personal.
Local voters, please vote for former Newton County Sheriff Myron Sutton as he seeks a rematch with the abysmal Republican State Rep. Don Lehe in District 15. In 2006 the Sutton-Lehe race was so close it took a two-week recount before Lehe finally hung on. With Barack Obama at the top of the ticket, Sutton has a good chance of doing something really important: keeping the state House Democratic.
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