There has been a lot of buzz lately about Sen. Evan Bayh’s chances of winding up at Obama’s VP. Along with that buzz has come a lot of grumbling from the NetRoots about Bayh’s centrism and DLC past. That makes today’s post from stathead Nate Silver a must-read. Money quote:
Bayh is considerably more liberal than you would expect of a Democrat from Indiana. The most conservative states to presently have elected Democratic senators are Indiana, Nebraska, and Arkansas (which has two Democrats). Bayh is notably more liberal than either Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, or Arkansas’ Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln. The next-most conservative states with Democratic senators are Louisiana and South Dakota; Bayh is more liberal than Tim Johnson or Mary Landrieu. Put differently, there is no senator more liberal than Bayh in any state more conservative than Indiana.
Cross-posted from Facebook
Ozier Mohammed/The New York Times