Senator Bayh meets local bloggers

TorporIndy and other Indiana bloggers were invited to meet Senator Bayh at a luncheon today at Shapiro's Deli. He sat down with a somewhat bi-partisan group of approximately 12 bloggers over lunch and told us that he was not going to give a speech, but rather he opened the floor for questions for a little over an hour.

I came with a few prepared questions, but these were quickly covered by the other bloggers. A Little Left of Centrist had a slyly crafted question where he asked the Senator about his Presidential aspirations by noting that both he and our current President are the father of twins. The Senator responded that he was currently doing everything that a prospective candidate would do. He even joked that former Virginia Governor Mark Warner and he would make a solid Indiana ticket as Warner was born in Indianapolis, but said they might disagree who should be running for the Vice-Presidency.

He also spoke of his time as two-term Governor of Indiana, where he was often described as a moderate or even conservative because of his fiscal policy measures, which resulted in a budget surplus when he left office. He laughed as someone in Iowa called him an ultra-liberal. He also declared he was not an ideologue and decried the dysfunctional political culture in Washington. He said this partisan culture has caused politcians to ignore our nation's energy, healthcare and budget problems for too long.

All of the bloggers that I spoke with were impressed he took time from his busy schedule to meet with us. I am sure he is conducting these meetings with bloggers from Iowa and New Hampshire as well.

Hoosierplew has audio from the event, other bloggers from Bilerico, Progressive Indiana, Reverent and Free, Advance Indiana, Left of Centrist, Fort Wayne Observed, In the Agora, Indiana Blog Review, Taking Down Words, and Shakespeare’s Sister have or surely will have coverage. If I have forgotten anyone, then please let me know.

One final note, he really likes the Lemon cake from Shapiro's as he took some with him for the road.