Garcia Media Life

Sarah Palin did it.  Evan Bayh is about to.  In an era in which being an incumbent is becoming a serious liability, the road to political success appears to be- leaving office.   

In Palin’s case, she resigned as Alaska Governor and promptly wrote a best-seller, went on a barn-storming tour and has become more visible than ever.  No pesky, parochial Alaska issues to deal with- just crowds of adoring fans at Daytona and elsewhere.  Though polls show most Americans, including a significant majority of independents, don’t consider her qualified for the White House, they also find she is the top contender for the Republican nomination at this point.

As conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer sees it, Indiana Democratic Senator, Evan Bayh’s announcement that he will not be seeking re-election allows him to avoid taking increasingly difficult political stands that would either force him to support an agenda that would make him unpopular at home or oppose the White House and become increasingly unpopular with his colleagues.  That, says Krauthammer, paves the way for a potentially successful Presidential run in 2016 free of any controversial baggage.

The Palin and Bayh motivations and actions are polar opposites.  Palin is hyper-partisan.  Bayh says he’s leaving because he’s fed up with partisanship. But it would appear that with an American economy in tatters and Washington gridlocked into paralysis on the critical issues of our times, the best way to position yourself as an outsider these days- is to actually be one. 

It is rather paradoxical, of course.  If the trend continues, there won’t be any need to “throw the bums out.”  They will have all thrown themselves out.  For now.