TANNARA YELLAND
Opinions Writer

On Feb. 15, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana announced he will not seek a third term. His speech was a disappointing and disheartening reminder to those of us trying to hold out hope for a more bipartisan America.

Bayh represented bipartisanship in more ways than one: he is well known in Washington and around the country for holding moderate politics and he was almost chosen by Barack Obama as his running mate before the spot went to Joe Biden. Perhaps most important of all in the fiercely divided political climate swallowing America, though, is that Bayh was a much-liked and respected Democrat who was elected to two terms in a mostly Republican state.

Despite the fact that “bipartisan” is probably one of the most common terms in American political argot today, it is extremely rare in actuality.

Until Republican Scott Brown won late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat last month, Obama had been relying on the Democratic Party’s supermajority in the Senate to get most of his bills passed. This seems to have been out of sheer necessity more than out of any petty hatred of Republicans — after all, policies that seem too right-wing to me are derided by the Republicans as part of Obama’s “socialist agenda” before they staunchly refuse to vote in favour of them.

Even as most of the news coming to us in Canada seems bleakly depressing, we try to have faith that there are still some of those quiet, industrious types working behind the scenes, motivated by a desire to effect positive change rather than a craving to enforce a particular ideology on the entire country.

Bayh was one of those. He has few noteworthy legislative achievements to his name, but has gained a reputation for his moderate brand of politics. In the speech he gave to announce his impending retirement, Bayh said, “I am not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology.”

That, right there, is exactly why America needs Bayh and those like him. Politicians who are more interested in working for change than in sticking to their guns or blocking any legislation they do not agree with are few and far between in any country, but it seems like a problem America suffers from more than most, where firebrands, demagogues and ideologues seem to run rampant.

For example, while millions of Americans sit at home unable for any number of reasons to get or pay for medical insurance, senators and representatives continue to fight Obama’s health-care reforms, calling him a socialist for wanting to include the much-politicized “public option,” similar to Canada’s system of universal health care, but only for those too poor to pay for costly American health insurance.

If Republicans and Democrats alike were able to phrase their criticisms in a different light that made it obvious their goal was to work for positive change rather than simply to sling more mud than the last representative at the podium then those concerns could be addressed. But all too often, elected officials ignore what is best for their constituents and instead make decisions “for short-term political reasons,” as Bayh himself said.

It is harsh partisan wrangling like this that led Bayh to claim: “I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress.”

The people of Indiana, who would likely have voted the popular senator in for a third term, are at least as surprised and upset as I am by this sad lesson in the efficacy of partisanship. It may not get the job done in terms of allowing politicians to work for the betterment of the people they serve, but in a political world where getting one’s talking points on CNN is more important than passing important legislation, flagrantly one-sided arguments are far more helpful than reasoned logic.

And in this extremist, dumbed-down world, there is no room for people like Bayh to get honest work done.

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