Breaking new from Illinois: Democratic Lt. Governor nominee steps down amid charges that he 1) abused steroids in the past and 2) tried to kill his girlfriend.
What the Hell have the politicians in Illinois been drinking?
Between this, Rod Blagojevich (who will be on the new edition of the Celebrity Apprentice in March), and the antics of the Chicago thugs that are currently in the White House, Illinois is running the risk of replacing Louisiana as America's own little third world nation.
Perhaps that's why Republican Mark Kirk appears to be poised to win President Obama's old seat in the U.S. Senate in November.
Considering how popular Bayh has been in the past (and that previously conservative Indiana pretty much rejected the Republicans in both 2006 and 2008), Republicans have to be salivating at the thought of knocking him off in 2010. Certainly, if Bayh did lose, it would be almost entirely due to the fact that he's a member of Barack Obama's Democratic Party.
It would also bring to mind what happened in 1980 when Evan's father, Birch Bayh (who, like Evan, entered politics at a young age and had obvious presidential ambitions), was defeated by future Vice President J. Danforth Quayle.
Strangely enough, the front-runner for the Republican nomination right now is Dan Coats, the man who succeeded Quayle after the Bush/Quayle ticket won the 1988 presidential election.
That said, one has to wonder if -- in this year when the grassroots are angry and professional politicians are about as popular as child molesters -- Dan Coats is really as a strong a primary candidate as many pundits are observing.
2010 seems poised to be the Year of the Political Upset and Coats is joining a primary field that already has four candidates in it.
The main risk for Republicans in Indiana is that the nomination will be won by former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, who lost his seat in 2006 and who has a reputation for being something of a odd duck. While Hostettler has never been all that impressive, he is the type of angry politician who -- much like George Wallace or Barack Obama in the past -- is uniquely suited to capitalize on misguided anger. He also is a candidate who could probably be counted on to blow a rare chance to knock Evan Bayh out of the U.S. Senate.
Voters in Indiana have a chance to "send 'em a message." Strangely enough, the best way to send that message might be by voting for a professional politician.
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