The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

I can't stop laughing at this. Evan Bayh thought he had the system beat by becoming a conservative Democrat (the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, which is actually a feat), but apparently that doesn't satisfy the wingnuts out there. Whodathunkit?

Business-owner-turned-Tea-Party-leader, Richard Behney, announced Friday he is forming a campaign committee to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Evan Bayh.

"This campaign will be about what I am for, not what I am against," Behney said. "But I won't hesitate to draw a sharp contrast between the positions on the freedom I hold dear and those pilfered away every day in Washington, D.C." Behney stated that Evan Bayh has supported unsustainable government growth and the takeover of private business. "Bayh's positions have taken more and more tax dollars away from Indiana," Behney added.[...]

"Government should work for us, not the other way around," Behney said. And this government is too big and takes too much of our money and energy. We are quickly becoming a nation of debtors. This has to stop now."

"If you like the way this economy is working and the way things are in Washington, then Evan Bayh is your candidate. But if you want a government that gets out of your way and heeds its Constitutional limits, then I'm your candidate," Behney said.

Behney, 45, said his campaign will focus on three key themes:

• Limited government
• Fiscal responsibility
• Strong national security

The father of three said he will campaign for the next 15 months with an eye toward the general election match-up with Sen. Bayh. Behney says he looks forward to meeting Hoosiers and listening to their ideas. "Hoosiers don't need the federal government to bail them out. We need the federal government to get their hands out of our pockets and to step out of the way."

Well, it looks like Bayh's attempts to eviscerate every moderately sane law that's presented to the Senate has been paying back in spades. Who would have thought that adopting rightwing positions wouldn't stop him from being tarred and feathered as a spendthrift librul by the base? (And Behney happens to be from Carmel, where I'm from. What a surprising word we live in.)

This should be a warning to other so-called moderate Democrats out there: opposing good policy because you want to appease your conservative voters just won't work. They'll hate you anyway, so you might as well try to do some good and see where the chips fall.