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GROAN! BALLARD TALKS OF SELLING OFF PARKS: Indianapolis Mayor Mayor Greg Ballard told the Indianapolis Star editorial board that he might sell city parks (Tully, Indianapolis Star). The city’s budget process, which is marked by lagging revenue and more needs than there is money for, might be even more painful. The parks, Ballard said, are "really just a drain" on the city’s $1.1 billion annual budget because they must be maintained but produce no revenue. "I love green space as much as the next person," Ballard said. But, he added, the city needs "to see what value we can get out of" those pesky little parks.
BAYH ‘AGGRESSIVELY WRONG’ ON WAR SAYS CRITIC: As the Senate debate on the use of force against Iraq neared its climax in October 2002, Senator John McCain turned on the floor to Senator Evan Bayh to ask what had led him to take such “a visible, as well as important” role in seeking Congressional consent for military action (Hulse, New York Times). Mr. Bayh, a cautious Indiana Democrat, acknowledged it had not been an easy decision. .jpg)
“There is reluctance in my heart, as I know there is in the other senators, to contemplate the use of force,” Mr. Bayh said, adding that he concluded “we were simply left with no other credible alternative to protect the safety and well-being of the American people.” Six years later, Mr. Bayh is one of the leading candidates to be the running mate of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama, associates of Mr. Obama say. But Mr. Bayh’s advocacy for the war could complicate his prospects for getting on the ticket. Mr. Bayh, 52, is a telegenic moderate Democrat, a father of twins entering their teens, an experienced politician who in 2006 briefly flirted with a presidential run before endorsing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. The son of a senator, Mr. Bayh was a popular two-term governor who could make Indiana, typically rock-solid Republican in presidential contests, a competitive state and appeal to blue-collar Democrats who have been slow to embrace Mr. Obama. Mr. Bayh’s support of authorizing force in Iraq stands in sharp contrast to Mr. Obama’s oft-stated view that he showed the good judgment to oppose the conflict from the start. After his vote, Mr. Bayh in early 2003 joined Mr. McCain as an honorary co-chairman of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which made regime change in Iraq its central cause. “He was not only wrong, he was aggressively wrong,” said Tom Andrews, national director of the Win Without War coalition, referring to Mr. Bayh. “In my view, he would contradict if not undermine the Obama message of change, turning a new page on foreign policy and national security.” Eli Pariser, the executive director of the antiwar group MoveOn.org, said that Mr. Obama had a variety of factors to weigh in making a choice and that he was not ready to say that Mr. Bayh should be ruled out because of his views at the start of the war. “We are not going to get into which particular person is good or bad,” Mr. Pariser said. “We hope that emphasizing Senator Obama’s judgment against the war is something they consider in making their pick.” Mr. Bayh’s political allies say he now concedes his vote on the war was a mistake, the product of personal assurances from George J. Tenet, the central intelligence director, to Mr. Bayh, a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, that Iraq possessed unconventional weapons.
BAYH, TPAW TO DO ‘FACE THE NATION’ SUNDAY: Perhaps the best way to think about the vice presidential sweepstakes is as an extended — and very public — job interview (Cillizza, Washington Post). If the job you are applying for is vice president of the United States, then your best chance to show your stuff is on the closely-watched Sunday talk shows. Succeed in advocating for the nominee and/or pushing back against attacks on him by your rival guest and boost your stock. Bomb out and watch the buzz around you — and your chances at being the pick — peter out. This is clearly a high wire act that nearly every candidate mentioned seriously as a potential pick by either John McCain or Barack Obama has performed over the past few weekends and will continue on until the choices are made. In the last two weeks, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) has stopped by "Meet the Press" and "Fox News Sunday," Gov. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has appeared on "Face the Nation" as have Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I). Govs. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) and Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) as well as former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-Pa.) have stopped by the "This Week with George Stephanapoulos" set. (We know we missed a few appearances. It was not intentional. We love all vice presidential candidates and all Sunday shows equally.) And now comes word that Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) — the vice presidential frontrunners for their respective parties — will square off this weekend on "Face the Nation."
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