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"It's nothing new to the Hoosier blogosphere, but a big story in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has brought public attention to and focused new light on the shady dealings of Evan Bayh and his wife," wrote The Hoosierpundit blogger back in December of 2007. In the wake of all the excitement and speculation over Sen Bayh's abrupt announcement yesterday that he would not run for reelection next November, we googled "bayh scandal" just for fun and stumbled upon this gem of a potential troublemaker for an incumbent running in a Tea-Party-fueled, throw-the-bums-out election year:We just noticed someone from Susan-Bayh-connected public relations powerhouse APCO Worldwide (DC HQ) lurking in our Site Meter stats this afternoon checking out our latest Instalinked post, "It's not the people's seat, it's the Bayh seat!" According to SourceWatch, APCO describes itself as a "global communication consultancy" specializing in "influencing decisionmakers and shaping public opinion by crafting compelling messages and recruiting effective allies."
Susan Bayh, as you may or may not know, has as her primary occupation sitting on the boards of directors of companies that her husband frequently votes in the Senate to impact.
Unsurprisingly, it's very lucrative to sit on the board of directors of some big company, and more lucrative still when your husband is voting in ways that can favorably benefit the juicy stock options that you are about to exercise.
Given that there have already been ethics complaints about this brought before a United States District Court, it is actually rather surprising (and conspicuously unsettling) that this hasn't gotten any press at all in Indiana much sooner.
This being said, since it has already been swept under the rug once before when it came before an actual court, I am highly skeptical that this story will manage to grow legs this time around.
A Muckety.com search for "susan bayh apco" shows a connection between the Senator's wife and APCO via Wellpoint Inc and Donald W. Riegle Jr of Keating Five fame, APCO Worldwide chairman of government affairs. Corruptocrats never step down. They just change job descriptions. According to Wikipedia, "On behalf of the tobacco industry and other corporate clients, [APCO Worldwide] has created a number of industry front groups … and many state and local branches of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, or CALAs, which are fake grassroots groups that agitate for tort reform." Nothing wrong with that. They all do it, right? Not unrelatedly, some chatterers are suggesting Sen Bayh may be headed for K Street when he leaves Capitol Hill.
Bayh attributed his decision to disenchantment with Congressional gridlock, and who are we to not take him at his word? Still, given the current clean-out-the-Augean-Stables political climate and our desire to get a glimpse of what's really going on behind the curtain, are we entering crackpot territory to suggest that concerns about the viability of those twice-suppressed ethical questions may have figured in the Senator's decision to lie low for awhile until political winds shift?
Related: WaPo's The Fix handicaps "Winners and losers from Evan Bayh's retirement" and concludes "it takes what would have been a competitive seat where Democrats were favored and turns it into a competitive seat where Republicans are favored."
Update: Instalanche! Thank you, Professor Reynolds.
Update II: Someone from APCO top client Philip Morris USA drops by.
"Run Away" seems like a Democrat battle cry.
After tax, spend, appease, lie, cheat, steal.
If only they were searching the mighty SISU for some answers, they might learn a few things.
Corruption has forced the retirement?
Utter rejection of the most vapid collectivist offering?
The mindless incompetence of the unethical Democratic Party in power?
Whatever was the reason, it is welcome to see, and we hope the rest of the Democratic Partisans do the same.
It would be nice for Pelosi to step down, Biden to do the same, Reid to exit the stage, Hillary to take a permanent vacation from Public Service (maybe spending a few years in prison), etc., etc.
Of course, wouldn't bring a joy to all Americans to hear Mr. Obama say, "In my first year, I made a complete disaster, with my amazing persona and trusty teleprompter, now it is time for CHANGE to call it day. YES, I CAN resign, and I HOPE you will forgive my embarrassing Administration for acting stupidly."
Posted by: brooklyn | February 17, 2010 at 01:01 AM
Nothing to see here . . . move along peasant.
Posted by: Nick Reynolds | February 17, 2010 at 09:53 AM
"....are we entering crackpot territory to suggest that concerns about the viability of those twice-suppressed ethical questions may have figured in the Senator's decision to lie low for awhile until political winds shift?"
It seems to me that if you are able to question whether you are entering crackpot territory then the answer is a definite no, you are not.
Posted by: Takemetoyourlizard.blogspot.com | February 17, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Brooklyn do you realize that President Obama's resignation would mean that an incompetent ideologue president would be followed by an ignorant incoherent president. Talk about the devil and the deep blue sea. One thing you gotta say for Obama he knew what he was doing when he picked his running mate.
Posted by: Zain | February 17, 2010 at 10:41 AM
Smart move on The One's part, picking Joe "Insurance" Biden...
Posted by: Phil | February 17, 2010 at 10:57 AM
Susan Bayh sitting on the boards of several primarily medical corporations is not new news here in Indiana. The story never gets traction for several reasons.
It is easy for people who aren't from Indiana to think that Susan Bayh is some shadowy, behind the scenes figure raking in cash by capitalizing on her husbands position. But actually she is probably our most popular First Lady of all time.
She is a lawyer, and obviously given her experience (and connections) there are good
reasons why stock holders would want her on their board of directors, other than politcal kickbacks. At the same time many others of those in Congress have spouses who are making big bucks as lobbyists when they have no training or experience in the field.
I had been planning on campaigning hard against Bayh this election (as I did against his father), but Susan Bayh being on several corporate boards had nothing to do with it
Posted by: HoosierHawk | February 17, 2010 at 11:05 AM
HoosierHawk sounds like someone from the Bayh family, when have you ever heard of someone standing up for a politician or their wives unless related. You see a lot of this on the various websites where some malignant cancer on the body politic gets hosannahs rather than a tar and feathering. "...but Susan Bayh being on several corporate boards had nothing to do with it." Sure it didn't.
Posted by: ronnorman@gmail.com | February 17, 2010 at 11:24 AM
One other reason that this story never goes anywhere is that Bayh's image here in Indiana is as clean as can be. You can make the case that he is too liberal or whatever, but convincing Hoosiers that Bayh is corrupt would be a steep uphill climb.
It must be realized that when Bayh is in Indiana, he talks a good conservative line, but then he goes to Washington and votes the liberal party line. Hoosiers listened to his talk, and weren't really aware of his votes.
Once there were exactly 60 votes and important issues were being voted on, we could tell how Bayh was voting. The media reported on the few senators who were crossing over and determining the outcomes, it wasn't ever Bayh.
We heard him putting out the blue dog moderate democrat talking points, but every vote was with the Lib's. Bayh lost his "moderate" cover story and got flushed out into open. Hoosiers wanted the admin's agenda stopped and Bayh wasn't doing it.
Posted by: HoosierHawk | February 17, 2010 at 11:28 AM
"Caesar's wife must be above suspicion." :)
Posted by: M. Report | February 17, 2010 at 01:37 PM
Ron Norman writes "HoosierHawk sounds like someone from the Bayh family, when have you ever heard of someone standing up for a politician or their wives unless related."
HoosierHawk is a Palin supporting Tea Partier. It's just that trying to scare up a scandal concerning Susan Bayh earning a living that she is very qualified for demeans the situation.
Bayh doesn't stand for what Hoosiers want, and in the current climate, he can't hide it anymore. I think that he was going to have a very difficult time getting reelected. There is nothing worse for a red state dem than having an incompetent liberal in the White House.
Birch Bayh (Evan's Dad) lost his senate seat to Dan Quayle because of Carter. The Bayhs probably vote Republican for President
Posted by: HoosierHawk | February 17, 2010 at 02:12 PM