It seems like Evan Bayh saw the writing on the wall and decided to cut and run before his party could embarrass him.
I'm not going to pretend to know all of the little tid-bits regarding the inner circles and personal problems that Democrats have with each other; it's time consuming enough to worry about the Republicans in that respect. But this particular "bickering", which parties are able to (usually) keep to their own rank and file with, has become a front page spectacle.
First, it was discovered that Indiana Democrats may have forged signatures in order to put Barrack Obama on the ballot in 2008. This was big news, and though it wouldn't matter particularly in the sense that Obama would still have enough electoral votes to be President, it's corruption by Democrats in Indiana (or rather, MORE corruption). The story was big enough to make it to the national news channels, and just added to the piling on of negative news stories about Democrats over the past couple of years in our state. It started with Dem's walking out and hiding in Urbana, Illinois, it continued with Philpot being indicted in Lake County, and now this? To help make matters worse, and helped to make everyone pretty well KNOW that those signatures were fake, Indiana Democrat Chairman Dan Parker decided to put forth his resignation.
This looked bad enough, but the fact that Tim Jeffers was supposed to be the top pick by Gregg (former Speaker of the House and Democrat who is running for Governor) was another negative notch. While the Republican party in Indiana has been advocating forward momentum and has pushed towards progress, the Democrats are continually reaching into the past to try and make things work. Gregg is considered an unelectable relic by many Democrats in the state, and the choice of Jeffers would continue this theme of "We have no idea what to do!"
Although this looked bad, it looked even worse when, after the realization that Jeffers would not enough votes, he decided to drop out. THEN Parker PULLED his resignation! Many angry Democrats walked out, eliminating the possibility for quorum (and though there is a joke there about Democrats always walking out, in this instance I don't blame them).
So, whats to come out of all of this? In a time where Democrats are facing a number of troubles in this state, particularly with a lot of pressure from their core base regarding their ability to combat right to work legislation, they can't afford to have unorganized leadership. With the 2012 elections rolling around the corner, and poll numbers showing that the odds of Indiana going blue again are highly unlikely, it seems that Indiana is going to turn an even brighter shade of red. What we, as Republicans have to remember, now, is that voters don't like to see the winner wallowing in the victory. There are still a lot of Republicans who have to (and are more than willing to) work with Democrats in different areas; I'm one of them. I'm one R on a council with D's, and I have a good relationship with every one of them. We have to continue, at the state level, to treat the minority party fairly, because it shows good working relationships and helps those of us that are the minority in other areas. Just let the Democrats who are running the show keep doing what they are doing, while we just smile and stay positive.
