Birch Bayh supports Donnelly

Birch is still going strong at 78, and is supporting Joe Donnelly for Congress! From the South Bend Tribune:

Back in Birch Bayh’s day, there was hope and confidence.

At least that’s the sense that John F. Kennedy instilled when he was elected president in 1961, said Bayh, who was stumping in Plymouth Sunday for Democrat Joe Donnelly, who’s running for Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.

Bayh, father of Sen. Evan Bayh, served as an U.S. senator from 1963 to 1981.

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He continues to practice law in Indiana, he said.

When he was in Washington, Bayh said the environment was positive.

"I try not to judge others without walking in their shoes," he said before a speech before the Marshall County Democratic Party in Plymouth.

But he said he’s talked to many Hoosiers in truck stops, diners, churches and assisted living centers, who believe the "environment in Washington is rotten.”

“I think there’s a sense of selfishness and arrogance and a disregard for different opinions," Bayh said.

What made the country great was leadership and a willingness to work together.

Bayh said he served along with Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican who remains in the Senate, and calls Lugar his friend — an example of working together.

He said he wishes more attention would’ve been paid to Lugar’s viewpoints about the Iraq war than what was paid.

Despite that, if Donnelly is elected, he will be going in at a good time so that Democrats can bring a new leadership into the United States, Bayh said.

But the challenge is that Democrats not fall into the traps that Bayh said many Republicans have fallen into, which he called a "majority of the majority."

He said it’s important to continue to work together and "instead of making war, making peace."

It will be up to those elected to "restore hope and confidence in the government institution," said Bayh.

While he said he sees the current government as selfish, he does know there are some good senators like his son and Lugar.

And the advice he has for those wishing to run or serve in an elected office is: "Don’t blame other people for your problems. You can make a difference."

Donnelly said he felt fortunate to have Birch Bayh in his corner, noting that Bayh, just as he, believes the country needs a "change and a new direction for this country."