How embarrassing!
Knowing that a firestorm would erupt in the LTE section of my local paper because of Evan Bayh's Condi vote, I wrote a letter in support of him. I've never been much of a Bayh fan, but I though it was important to stand up for the vote if not the person. I doubted that I would get any ink, but I hoped that my letter would put weight behind the sentiment and perhaps someone's letter would get printed.
Five letters on Bayh's vote were printed today, two for and three against. Mine is one of them. So, this Dean-backing, liberal, reform Democrat is on the record as a Bayh supporter. Sheesh!
More thoughts after the break.
So, a local college professor and I (a SAHM) are the ones to argue for Bayh and our chief reason is the need for accountability. Those who argue against him are concerned because
- He dared vote against an African-American woman. Racist motivations are implied which is particularly rich coming from the letter-writer in Kokomo. (The city has a reputation.)
- The spectre of the lefty is invoked. How can he ally himself with such radicals as Kennedy, Boxer, Bird and Kerry? Someone threatened to teach him the "lesson of Daschle."
- Hoosier values are not represented. No one actually gets around to defining those values but it's clear they've been disrespected. Lacking a clear idea, we can perhaps correlate them to Republican values as one writer reminded us this is a Republican state. That begs the question, what exactly are Republican values?
- One writer is particularly concerned that Bayh is our junior senator and he dared to take this stand. I'll leave it to others to rah-rah Bayh's experience but suffice to say I think he had the wherewithall to make the decision.
That is what passes for defense of opinion in my fair state and, I dare extrapolate, in Red America as well. Call him a racist, impugn his company, question his credibility and invoke amorphous values. Unfortunately, these often work if they fit the frame.
I do think Bayh's vote had more to do with 2008 than any sort of principle. I look forward to seeing his response on upcoming issues such as Gonzalez and SS. He hasn't won me over--my letter was more of a reaction to defend someone unfairly accused--and I don't see that happening as we disagree on some very primary things. I do wonder if it's hypocritical of me to defend him locally while I would campaign against him nationally. Still, he is our Dem senator, a somewhat Democratic voice on that scale.
Just thought I'd share.