Bayh under fire from the left....First Read, MSNBC

[madfloridian]

I had forgotten what he said in 2003 about Howard Dean when he was running for president. Tom Curry reminds us today.

Bayh has a history of sparring with the left in his party. As chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council in 2003, he warned of then-rising presidential campaign of Howard Dean. “The Democratic Party is at risk of being taken over by the far left,” he told DLC members in 2003. “We have an important choice to make: Do we want to vent, or do we want to govern?”

More from Tom Curry at First Read. He speaks of the groups organizing to target his new group of centrist Democrats who plan to oppose much of Obama's agenda.

Bayh under fire from the left

Bayh was one of seven Democratic senators to sign a letter opposing the idea of using the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority vote rather than 60 votes, to pass a climate change cap-and-trade bill.

Bayh is running for a third term next year in a state that Obama barely carried last November, though Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win it since 1964. Bayh has never lost in five statewide elections (as secretary of state, governor, and senator).

Borosage said Bayh was wrong to oppose the use of the reconciliation process to enact Obama’s agenda. “Giving (reconciliation) away preemptively reduces your ability to negotiate,” Borosage said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “We might end up with a set of policies that have majority support with the public, majority support in the House, majority support in the Senate, and yet fail” because some Democrats oppose using reconciliation as the vehicle to pass them.

Borosage also ripped Bayh as “simply wrong-headed” for calling for the federal government to restrain its spending. America is “on the verge of a depression,” Borosage said. “We need the federal government to be doing more, not less.”

Good for Robert Borosage and Campaign for America's Future as they pursue their Dog the Dogs campaign.

[LakeSamish706]

1. I hope they put some major blocks in front of Bayh's reelection bid....

He spells trouble and has for a very long time.

[Warpy]

5. Yeah, he definitely needs to go

but I doubt Indiana will replace him with anything better.

However, even a GOP would go in as a junior Senator and lack the power Bayh has amassed.

[roguevalley]

14. his little bitch dem club is his presidential platform.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. If Howard Dean is the far left. He must consider Ted Kennedy a communist. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. I have little doubt he does. nt

[msongs]

3. Bayh needs a real democrat primary oponent next year nt

[provis99]

4. has Evan Bayh got daddy issues?

This little nut fell a long ways away from the Birch (sorry for the pun, I couldn't resist).

[tularetom]

6. Bayh is the Dems version of mittens romney

Every hair in place and nothing inside to keep pushing the hair out.

[Divine Discontent]

7. that made me lol... good 1.

[madfloridian]

8. Ha Ha

:rofl:

[FLAprogressive]

9. They even LOOK like Republicans.

[DCKit]

10. Is there a difference between a DLCer and a Republic?

I can't tell.

They may be more liberal on social issues, but so are moderate Republicans.

[Individualist]

11. The DLCer has a D after his name

Other than that, there's no significant difference.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

13. I happily let him have...

a serious piece of my mind last week.

It was fun. :)

[madfloridian]

15. New link for the Dog the Dogs campaign.

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009031218/time-dog-dogs

They changed it. Feeling the pressure from Harry Reid?

[madfloridian]

16. “The Democratic Party is at risk of being taken over by the far left”

Those are unforgivable words.

[HughMoran]

17. The real enemy emerges and we're too busy fighting each other to fight the real fight

It's difficult for me to not feel like we're losing focus here as we spin out of control discussing Obugman.