Not his father's son

Good riddance to Evan Bayh, who set out to be every Republican's favorite Democrat -- and mostly succeeded

Steve Kornacki
Salon.com
Feb. 15, 2010

Evan Bayh learned early that liberalism and ambition don't always mix in a red state like Indiana.

It was 30 years ago that Bayh, then a 24-year-old law school student, helped run the re-election campaign of his father, Senator Birch Bayh. An unrepentant liberal with national aspirations (he'd run for president in 1976), the elder Bayh was targeted by a then-emerging network of "New Right" activists and fundraisers, who pilloried him as a big spender and slammed his support for abortion rights, gay rights and school busing.

As expedient as it might have been, Birch Bayh refused to back down from his principles in that campaign, an honorable stand that hastened his demise. On Election Day, he was defeated -- handily. By Dan Quayle. At 52, his political career was over.

His son, it seems, was taking notes.

(More here.)