Bye-Bye Bayh - Indiana Senator Resigns

Anyone tracking U.S. politics by now knows that Senator Evan Bayh, considered a "moderate" Democrat, announced two days ago that he planned to resign from the Senate, mainly (he claims) because he isn't happy with the lack of bipartisanship in Congress.  So...Congress is broken, but we've known that for many years. 

Bayh ought to have seen it twelve years ago when he first ran for the Senate -- if he did, I suppose we should give him credit for persisting in trying (?) to improve a bad situation; if he didn't, and is just seeing it now, let's give him a low grade for political savvy and a lower one for gold ol' Midwestern stick-to-it-iveness. 

All of which is to say, I can't completely buy Bayh's stated reasons for resigning.  Not, at least, without intermingling a few other thoughts.  Bayh's chance of reelection is more doubtful than it was just a few months ago:

• Because the popularity of Democrats is on a downslope, especially as the President's own approval ratings decline, and Bayh is a Democrat in a Republican state.
• Because pseudo-grass-roots "movements" like the Tea Party reflect a broad dissatisfaction with incumbents of any party these days.
• Because apparently his wife sits on several corporation boards, and this threatened to become an issue in the campaign.
• Because he supported energy reform and health care/insurance reform; the same corporate America that fights these efforts tooth and nail has recently been freed by the Supreme Court from limits on its spending in direct support of candidates for office.

In short: Bayh faced a difficult reelection campaign, and I have to think that's the real reason for his resignation, perhaps with a little concern for family aspects thrown in.  He doesn't appear to have the passion for politics that would sustain a Bayh dynasty in Indiana (and there are interesting parallels here with the Kennedy clan).  I applaud him for trying to strike a blow for bipartisanship on his way out the door, but I also fault him for giving up in the face of a fight, when professional pols opine that he is well-funded enough, and well-known enough, to have fought his way through the challenge.