Breaking- Evan Bayh to retire

Wow. Holy Wow- MSNBC announcing. More when I get it. Wow. UPDATE- Indy Star has it.

Sen. Evan Bayh will not run for re-election, a decision that will shock Democrats and Republicans alike in Indiana.

In prepared remarks, Bayh, 54, cited excessive partisanship that makes progress on public policy difficult to achieve as the motivation for his decision.
Advertisement

“After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so in Congress has waned,” he said.

“My decision was not motivated by political concern,” he added. “Even in the current challenging environment, I am confident in my prospects for re-election.”

Bayh had never lost an election, from his first win in 1986 as secretary of state, his wins for governor in 1988 and 1992 and his election to the U.S. Senate in 1998 and 2004.

“But running for the sake of winning an election, just to remain in public office, is not good enough,” Bayh said. “And it has never been what motivates me. At this time I simply believe I can best contribute to society in another way: creating jobs by helping grow a business, helping guide an institution of higher learning or helping run a worthy charitable endeavor.”

As McJoan notes, good old Evan just gave the Democratic Party a big old poop sandwich to chew on for '10. Oh man, this really takes the cake-

Update: And it gets even better. Hotline reminds us that the deadline for filing in the race is Feb. 19--yes, this Friday.