The rewards of being in the elite class

Evan Bayh sent shock waves through Washington last week when he announced that he would not run for a third term as Democratic senator from Indiana, citing “brain-dead partisanship” in Congress. Bayh, a rising star in the Democratic Party, said that while he loved serving the people of Indiana, partisan politics got in the way of getting the people’s business done.

The Bayh name is golden in Indiana. Evan’s father, Birch Bayh, was a senator for over 20 years. Evan served two terms as governor and was on the short list to be Barack Obama’s vice president. Yet down-and-dirty partisanship and an increasingly negative legislative process sickened the moderate Democrat to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore.

I can’t say I know how Bayh feels. When I was in the Senate, I loved every minute of it. Most important, there was a sprit of bipartisanship. I had several friends from both sides of the aisle and relished the time I spent with them, ironing out tough legislation.

Now, from where I sit, I see a dramatically changed Washington, and it’s not pretty. If I were in Bayh’s shoes, I can’t say I would have stayed.

Democrats and Republicans are naturally intolerant of one another. In 1981, when I entered the Senate, the GOP was exuberant. Ronald Reagan had been elected president, and we had won back control of Congress with a 53-46 majority. We were ready to work with Democrats to produce legislation to benefit the nation.

For example, even though we were from different parties, I had an especially close friendship with my New York counterpart, the great Sen. Pat Moynihan. In October 1992, I stood on the Senate floor for almost 20 hours and held one of the longest filibusters in Senate history. The issue involved Smith-Corona’s plans to move 875 jobs from its plant in upstate New York to Mexico. My intention was to amend the tax bill and impose customs duties on foreign-manufactured items, forcing foreign companies to raise their prices and create a fair market.