[captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> evan bayh recently announced his decision not to seek another term in the senate. he also served two terms as governor of indiana. he joins us tonight from capitol hill. it is always good to have you back on the program. >> good to be with you. tavis: for those who did not see the "the new york times" piece you wrote last sunday, which

caller: i am sorry to see evan bayh leave the senate.of the senators that does indeed have integrity. and i think both the congress and the senate is totally broken. we as a nation, the united states, not well served by our washington representatives and i think it would be good if we could get term limits for them so we could really vote them out. like i say, i am extremely frustrated with the process and we are losing many good people because it is just a total stalemate up there. i am almost to the radical opinion that we need to abolish the supreme court, take the constitution and start over again. host: what would you say to the folks who say the elected officials terms are limited by the voters and if they are not doing a good job of the voters will take the modern office? caller: the problem is they are so well funded from lobbyists that new people don't have a prayer chance of getting in. i can give you an example in jacksonville with green and brown and the way they gerrymandered -- i am sorry, excuse me, the way they gerrymande

that was too much for evan bayh. so for him to say he's working for the people of indiana, he's not working for the people of indiana, he's working for corporations. he'll become a lobbyist now, which is what he was before. >> larry: what do you make of cnn's poll that shows -- >> they show he's a very nice guy. >> larry: he appreciates all the compliments. a new cnn poll show only 34% believe that all members of congress deserve reelection. 64% say they all desernone of t reelection. >> pork, we've got to get rid of that, except for the project in my district. the politicians are no prize, but the people stink. they really do. >> larry: us? >> yes. not you and i, larry, and of course the people watching us, no, those are bright people. but i mean the others out there. yeah, because, you know --. >> larry: you said 70% of americans aren't crazy. you're saying 30% are. >> i don't know when i said that. 70% sounds like the statistic we had during the clinton impeachment. 70% were behind clinton. >> larry: what do you m

her poll numbers much worse than evan bayh. you have a lot of members who have already decided to pack it in. maybe they're holding off right now hoping that things will look better as we go down the road. but if they don't it's hard to see that a lot more of them won't decide to not run again. >> ifill: what do you think about that, stu? i know republicans are getting very excited. they think the majority might be within reach. >> there will be more retirements. i'm quite confident of that. amy is right. there's still a lot of members who are going to decide, you know, they're keeping their options open. maybe they've even decided to retire but haven't yet announced it and both parties are trying to orchestrate some of these announcements. it will be a very good republican year. i don't see ten seats in the senate yet. but seven or eight is not an unreasonable number. that's a big number. that would dramatically change capitol hill. and in the house, you know, 24 to 28 house seats that i expect to go up. i think the republican

first up tonight, in conversation with evan bayh on his decision to retire from congress. he has cited the corrosive nature of politics in washington as his primary reason for stepping down. also, a preview of the health care summit in washington with sherrod brown. he sits on the committee that oversees health care. tomorrow, members of both parties will join president obama for a nationally televised conversation about health care reform. we are glad you have joined us. the senators are coming up right now. >> there are so many things that walmart is looking forward to doing, like helping people live better. mostly, we're looking forward to help building stronger communities and relationships. the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. chavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve -- tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve stability. >> and by contributions to your pbs stations by viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> evan bayh recently announced his decision not to seek

mary landrieu, and, as i mentioned, evan bayh. >> right. senator bayh, in particular you heard him come to the president and say why should americans trust democrats to tackle these problems. shows he's feeling the heat and wants distance from an administration he's not so sure about anymore. >> thanks, alex burns with politico. thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> new developments in a missing girl out of florida. could a bounty hunter's offer help find her. she's been missing almost a year now. , that's nice. but you can still see him! you just said he was in... copenhagen. come on! that's pretty far. doc, look who's in town. ellen! copenhagen? cool, right? vacation. but still seeing patients. oh. [ whispering ] workaholic. i heard that. she said it. i... [ female announcer ] the new office. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. brand over the last decade... ...is now over the counter at walmart as prevacid 24hr - to treat frequent heartburn. over the counter. unbeatable prices. talk about a relief. save money. live bet

i'll use evan bayh as an example. he came out and said no to cap and tax no to health care reform, the american people would say there's a democrat i could support. >> he's moving in that direction. i would tell you this, we need bipartisanship on a fundamental basis. we need deficit reduction and we need a real spending cut. if we that as we saw in the mid 90s with the clinton administration the democrats would win popularity. >> democrats in office now don't believe in spending cuts. they believe the way to get this when going is spending more money. they believeing in priming the pump, government spending money that's why president obama said i'm waiting until 2011 to do any deficit reduction because this year we need to spend more money. >> sean: you have been in tough campaigns you are in sort of a light blue, maybe dark blue state, pennsylvania. what is blanche lincoln, nelson, evan bayh, russ feingold behind in the poll against tommy thompson? >> if i'm blanche lincoln i'm thinking about what ambassadorship --

but he said today he is starting the process of mounting a challenge to democratic incumbent evan bayh this fall. >>> president obama rolls the dice again with another controversial reference to las vegas. and was the president's recent reference to excluding lobbyists from his staff really true? we report, you decide. eating healthy is important, but only vegetables can give you vegetable nutrition. one of these will get you more than half way to your five daily servings. v8. what's your number? . ♪ ( kids giggling ) ♪ you multiple cars... and multiple toys... with multiple places to go. so be smart. simplify. combine and save. get all your insurance from one allstate agent, anyou can get multiple discounts... on your multiple policies. simpler is smarter. that's allstate's stand. are you in good hands? >> bret: and now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. president obama has more than 40 former lobbyists working in senior positions in his administration. despite his statement during the state of the union, that he has, quote, excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs. t

but he said today he is starting the process of mounting a challenge to democratic incumbent evan bayh this fall. >>> president obama rolls the dice again with another controversial reference to las vegas. and was the president's recent reference to excluding lobbyists from his staff really true? we report, you decide. according to the epa, the air in your home can be two to five times more polluted than the air outside. smoke, germs, viruses, allergens, pet dander, even smelly and potentially harmful voc compounds can actually be floating in the air you're breathing! but now you can clean that air with the incredible oreck xl professional air purifier. and if you call and order now you'll pay no interest ever! the secret to oreck's effectiveness is its patented truman cell filter. the oreck air purifier constantly moves the air in the room through its powerful six-stage filtration system. its electrostatic plates capture many impurities such as dust, allergens, bacteria - even viruses -- then puts clean air back in the room. how clean is the air in your home? try my oreck professional

democratic senator evan bayh of indiana announced yesterday that he won't run for re-election this yearthe two-term incumbent spoke with reporters in indianapolis for 10 minutes. [applause] >> thank you very much. and thank you all for joining us today. i know how busy you are. i'm very grateful to you for taking the time to be with us. i'd like to begin by acknowledge something people to whom i owe a great debt of gratitude. first my wife susan. for 25 years she's stood by myself and without whose love and support, so much i've been privileged to accomplish would never have been possible. as my father told me on the day we were married, "son, you definitely married up." i love you, sweetheart. [applause] second, my wonderful boys, bo and nick, who i love so much and of whom i am so proud. being their father is the most important job i will ever have. next, my staff members, many of whom are assembled in the room here today, both past and present who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much for the people of our state. there is not one that couldn't have made more money or worked fewe

political news, democratic senator evan bayh of indiana announced he will not run for a third term in congress. at a news conference in indianapolis, he cited "too much partisanship and not enough progress" in washington as a reason for leaving. bayh is the fourth sitting democrat not to seek reelection. that leaves seats up for grabs in indiana, illinois, north dakota, and connecticut. at the winter olympics in vancouver, canada, american skier bode miller broke his losing streak and won a bronze medal in the men's downhill competition. he did not win any medals at the last olympics in turin, italy. miller was .09 seconds behind the gold medal winner, didier defago of switzerland. the silver went to norwegian askel lund svindal. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to gwen. >> ifill: and still to come on the newshour, the rising costs of health care; the dangers of some olympics sports; in california, a debate over d.u.i. checkpoints; and remembering th

i think in evan bayh's case, i don't think it's a question of bipartisanship as much as it is every yearfortune" magazine lists a hundred best places to work. container store and smuckers jams, places like that are always listed. nobody has listed the united states senate. i mean it is not a positive work environment. and there is a lack of civility, there really is. one of the great suggestions that was made i think by norm war ebstein the political scientist who has appeared on this show, that the congress be in three weeks in a row, monday through friday, first thing in the morning until late at night friday and that they are here. then they take a week off. and that would force them to bring their families here. if you are-- i if i see you with your child at a soccer game it is tougher for me to demonize you on monday. i just think somehow before we ever get to, you know, collegiality again there has to be civility. and i think civility come with its just getting to know each other. >> you talked to bayh just yesterday. >> i have known him and i speak to him a fair bill. and i guess

evan bayh put it plain and simple. there's no bipartisanship in washington.he's leaving the senate. i think he was going to be re-elected very easily. he's leaving. there's no working relationship with the republicans or democrats in congress. this has nothing to do with the president. we need to vote these people out of office. am a democrat. i think people, you know, evan bayh, he voted for the bailout, but yet he's still complaining about, you know, people not being able to work together and do certain things. i think there's a point there, but we need to vote out these people who are not working together as a group that is from every state that we send together to represent the people. this is pathetic. host: what kind of business are you starting? caller: well, we have a combination salon. it employs 12 people. we interviewed our first 12 people the other day. and c-span, i got to tell you this, you guys have -- texas has the lowest rate of insurance coverage as far as people in the country. me and my wife both work in the medical field. i'm going to giv

. >>> indiana senator evan bayh has been invited to pose nude.he 1982 spread featuring scott brown. and bayh is the only sitting senator the magazine selected for the honor. bayh has declined saying, i'm all for full disclosure, but not the full monty. >>> and, wanted, a chinese tutor for a panda born three years ago in atlanta. she's returning to china, her parents homeland where researchers are concerned because she's only been hearing english. besides language lessons, she'll be put on a special diet, more bamboo for her, and set up on some blind dates in hopes she will breed. >>> when we come back, all aboard. a bo aboard. a bo explore an ocean of garbage. i'asthma forever. i never knew why my asthma symptoms kept coming back... ...kept coming back... ...or that i could help prevent them in the first place. the problem was that my controller medicine... ...was treating only 1 main cause of asthma symptoms. but there are 2. airway constriction. and inflammation. unlike most controllers, advair treats both main causes. advair treats both main c

you know, when evan bayh announce he's leaving because nothing gets done, he's one of the few people in either party left in the senate who is willing even attitudinally to work across the aisle. and there is fewer and fewer of those people in the senate. there is almost none of them in the house. any more. in either party. and you look at someone like senator frist's friend lamarre alexander. he's worked with democrats his whole life both in washington and in tennessee. and yet because he's part of the leadership in the republican party, he doesn't have much of a record of doing it, because there's no one to work with on the other side and because of the penalty he would pay if he crossed the line. >> i don't know if people read evan bayh essay in "the new york times" about why he is leaving and what should be done. but i think is really a remarkable document on this argument. and he does something very interesting in that, he says all the things we know is happening because we are polar azed because of the media, because people don't know each other. and he's got some ideas for fix

senator evan bayh, a democrat here on this set said here this weekend that he thought it was too costlytrials less than a million at gitmo. >> democrats will use the cost as a good excuse but the democrats are implying if you find a place where it's cheaper in the united states, for example, a military base, it would be okay. no. republicans ought to oppose it on the grounds of in principle, it's a bad mistake, expensive or not. it should be in gitmo and it should be a military commission, not a civilian trial. >> bret: that's the end of this one. that's the end of this panel. stay tuned for one clip we missed last week. according to the epa, the air in your home can be two to five times more polluted than the air outside. smoke, germs, viruses, allergens, pet dander, even smelly and potentially harmful voc compounds can actually be floating in the air you're breathing! but now you can clean that air with the incredible oreck xl professional air purifier. and if you call and order now you'll pay no interest ever! the secret to oreck's effectiveness is its patented truman cell filter. th

evan bayh, dick lugar, all recommended. how long did it take us? or seven months for somebody who was supported by the democratic and republican senator from that state. and you can multiplied that across the board. we have to start highlighting the fact that this is not how we should be doing business. now, in fairness, when we were in the minority, there were some times when we bought judges, we blocked appointees. i think it is fair to say we were a little more selective in how did it. "a lot more," somebody said. [laughter] this is an example of where i am going to reach out to mitch mcconnell, and i know harry has as well. the if the american -- if the at the -- if the government is going to work for the american people, i cannot have the administrator for gsa, which runs every federal facility, all federal buildings all across the country -- here we are, we're trying to save billions of dollars, cut waste -- claire mccaskill has been all on top of how we can audit our spending and we could save billions of dollars in ending old leases that do

evan bayh, in trouble.or evan bayh, whose father in 1980 was defeated. these moderates were marched to the cliff and jumped over it because of health care reform. and it's going to be a difficult election year because of it. >> i think evan bayh has been politically realistic, though, about what's going on. so i'm surprised to see -- >> well, he has, but, again, in the end, he voted for this health care bill, and boy, again, we've been saying it all along, the polls are now bearing it out, that this is just going to make his life extraordinarily difficult, regardless of what he says. >> with us now from new york, editor of "the new york times" book review and week in review, sam tanenhaus. sam, good to see you once again. >> i'm going to throw y'all under the bus. i've got the studio to myself. we are changing the locks. i am the king of the world. this place is mine. >> can we have a shot showing how lonely and isolated sam is in the cavernous 30 rock studio. >> crickets. >> it is so sad. what did i tell y

democrats about how much he is a government or how frightened to be and run away from it, what is evan bayhng, for god's sake? contemptible cowardess i think there. where was i? yes, there is, i herm ris dad. he wouldn't have done that. balls of steel. there is a fury developing in the republican party which we'll see unfold month after month, year after year. be careful what you wish for, you know michael steele and even sarah palin. whether or not they have complete command or control over seriously, potentially violent with a very small v, but extremely angry, rather anarcic movement on the right, whether it's ever compatible with party organization when you come to have to win an election is really a moot point. obama will never want to win an election by default, but with the excellent ross perot analogy, that may well be the case, that if the tea partiers, who will straight out of chapters from richard hofstadter's book on american politics -- it's striking, isn't it, actually how hostile they are to some republican party stalwarts right now. if they don't feel they can take control o

>>> democrat evan bayh won't run again and john mccain faces a challenge from another republican sayinger says he campaigns like a conservative and legislates like a liberal. not republican enough is our "360" series this week. >>> explosive new charges against a legal adviser to the ten missionaries. he's not a lawyer and an international arrest warrant has been issued over the weekend. the charges are sex trafficking. those stories and a debate he on weight and flying at the top of the hour. ♪ there's a choice we're making ♪ ♪ we're saving our own lives ♪ it's true we make a better day just you and me ♪ ♪ we are the world ♪ we are the children ♪ we are the ones who make a brighter day ♪ >> larry: was "we are the world" fun to do? >> it was. it was touching. it was touching to see everybody and to be -- this is a song that i always sang, and it was -- i was very touched when they asked me to be part of it. i didn't even think of about it. i was there and i said, of course, i'd love to. i went into the recording studio and on my left was quincy jones and on my right was lionel richie. >

[applause] >> indiana senator evan bayh on stage with his wife and it to kids.that he will not seek reelection at the end of this, his second term, mostly due to partisanship in congress. "the indianapolis star" reported a couple of days ago that his staff, that the chair said he would definitely seek another term in the senate. he was well ahead in a poll against other candidates. looking at his official web site here, senator bayh's biography noting that he also served two terms as governor of indiana. senator bis t latest senator or representative to announce a career change. last week, patrick kennedy, democrat remote island, and a republican announced they were leaving. >> updated and released just in time for presidents day, c- span's "who's buried in grant's tomb?" it is a comprehensive guide to the resting places of the nation's president. historian richard norton smith on the concept behind a book. >> it is a wonderful way to humanize and personalize the past, to take events and movements that might otherwise seem impossibly remote. there is something u

example, give that speech, if you heard nancy pelosi and harry reid and not only them but perhaps an evan bayh and one of the blue dog democrats in the house, if you heard them echoing the language and at least agreeing on the terms of the discussion, i think that would certainly paint a portrait of a more unified and together big tent party. big tent parties are hard to manage. and so let's not minimize that. but you're not really hearing that. when you heard him with the senate democrats, for example, you heard a lot of senators who were concerned about their next re-election campaign, raising their own parochial issues from their own point of view and not really kind of getting with the program necessarily. >> in terms of what that program is, the president has been making both a policy case and sort of a pundit case, a political case for why health care can't be dead. why health care can't be over. he is saying not only is it the right thing to do by the country but it is really the right thing to do politically, democrats, the solution to this problem that we're in, the solution to say sc

they are -- evan bayh's office said he was never for or against, but he's open to it if that's the only way to get health care passed. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius telling rachel last night if they move forward, the obama administration would fight for it. so, why momentum now? maybe the party of no having something to do with it. >> these bills are ultimately designed to lead this country to a single payer system, something that the american people reject. we will say no to this health care bill because no is what the american people want and that is our principle opposition that they expect us to pronounce. >> let's first call in ezra klein. good evening. is majority leader reid sending a signal to get the votes to 51 to pass this? that happens, he'll figure out whatever procedural way to make a vote possible? >> i don't think it's quite that determined. i got to tell you, keith, reporting on this is weird today because everybody is signing the letter. then when you call them, every office i called is telling me privately we're terrified of this, we don't know

. >> sean: a look back at that cbo report commissioned by indiana democrat evan bayh shows it is theresident who needs to get his facts straight. the report concludes, the average premium per person covered would be about 10 to 13% higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under the current law. wow, what a great bill. no wonder the democrats are obscuring the facts. we told you earlier about the serious legal troubles facing new york congressman rangel. yesterday after i was revealed he had broken several house ethics rules he took to the microphones and attempted to defend himself. he had a clear and simple strategy. throw anyone and everyone under the bus, in order to save himself. take a look at this. >> common sense dictates that members of congress should not be held responsible for what could be the wrongdoing or mistakes and records of staff. so asking these questions would embarrass me because i can give you answers. >> sean: if you are not embarrassed yet i don't know what to tell you. speaker pelosi, i know you are watching it appears

16 days before the filing deadline, republicans convinced former indiana senator dan coates, who evan bayhin the senate, to challenge bayh in november. coats held that seat for ten years. he replaced dan quayle when quayle became vice president. he retired in '98, in part, to avoid facing the very popular governor bayh. coats formally announces today. republican control just 41 senate seats with the two expects voting with the democrats. that means the gop needs ten seats to win control of the senate. it's a very uphill battle, but each week, it seems the gop puts another democratic seat in play. let's look at the map. they believe that they now have put at least seven democratic seats in play. north dakota, delaware, nevada, colorado, illinois, pennsylvania, and of course, now, indiana. now, to make it even a remote case for winning control of the senate in 2010, they need candidates in three of these long shot states to become more serious challengers. california, connecticut, new york, and up in the upper northwest, washington and oregon. i can can tell you this, wisconsin and washingto

another example, evan bayh, he also is up for re-election. he told me today, anderson, he thinks at a time of deficits, why would you spend hundreds of millions of dollars to try these suspects on u.s. soil in civilian courts? this is also the subject of the democratic lunch today, i'm told there was a feisty debate inside those walls. and the bottom line is this, anderson, the president must get money from congress to follow through on this policy. and more and more, talking to democrats, they are saying, sorry, mr. president, we don't think we can do this for you right now. >> interesting. dana, ed, appreciate the reporting. thanks on the breaking news. >>> also tonight, new developments in president obama's bid to end don't ask, don't tell. testifying before the senate armed services committee, defense secretary robert gates says congress should consider repealing the 16-year-old policy that lets gay and lesbians serve in the military, only if their don't disclose their sexual orientation. and admiral mike mullen, the chairman of the joint

which is late days for a senate campaign but dan koets of indiana, very strong candidate to take on evan bayh, already been a senator, a man with incredible integrity and so that... suddenly this is happening and when you're a politician... and this is the thing policy people and even journalists don't always get about politicians. they feel it, they respect the populist. there's an instinctive respect for the wind. so they feel it. >> rose: and what you don't like about populism is that it seems to respond to the simplest idea. or the simplest caricature. >> it's not a governing agenda, it a rejection of a social class. it really doesn't get you to... i mean, how is populism an attack on, say, rich elites, how is that going to create a more educated work force? how is that going to solve our deficit sflob how is that going to make it... >> rose: it's demonizing in part. >> it doesn't get you anywhere. i'm all for demonizing, you can demonize the "new york times" for all i care. i'll take some perverse pleasure in it. but it doesn't get you anywhere. we've had this long debate in american his

host: we are going to start with a clip of the president yesterday with senator evan bayh of indiana.cly would describe himself as a moderate on budget issues. he also found out this week he will have a challenge from the man who used to hold his seat, dan coates from indiana, has been a lobbyist and now has decided to seek his own seat back. let us listen to evan bayh's question to the president which came at the end of the televised session yesterday. >> çcitizens are making sacrifices and yet we want our earmarks and pet projects. they ask,ç why can't washington make the same sacrifices. i think it realized the other party does not have much credibility. they had you a $1.30 trillion deficit. vice president cheney famously said in his opinion deficits didn't matter. it just flat out said it. that is wrong. it is bad economics. so we've got a job to do. but acting many people across the country candidly lookç at s and say, i don't know if the democrats are willing to take on. they think we want to tax to much and spent to much and do we have the backbone to stand up and make some

a judge for the -- coming out of indiana, judge hamilton, who everybody said was outstanding -- evan bayhdemocrat; dick lugar, republican; all recommended. how long did it take us? six months, six, seven months for somebody who was supported by the democratic and republican senator from that state. and you can multiply that across the board. so we have to start highlighting the fact that this is not how we should be doing business. now, in fairness -- in fairness, when we were in the minority, there were some times where we blocked judges, we blocked appointees. i think it's fair to say we were a little more selective in how we did it -- "a lot more," somebody said. [laughter] so this is an example of where i'm going to reach out to mitch mcconnell; i know harry has as well. and i'm just going to say, look, if the government is going to work for the american people, i can't have the administrator for gsa, which runs every federal facility, all federal buildings all across the country -- here we are, we're trying to save billions of dollars, cut waste -- claire mccaskill has been all on to

. >> but when these two democrats and possibly joined by evan bayh who mentioned it on sunday joined lindsay graham, i think the president has to take notice. >> obviously, they are part of a bipartisan bill that lindsay graham will be introducing. we're talking about jim webb, the virginia senator and blanch lincoln, the democrat from arkansas. they're going to join him in saying they do not agree that these trials should happen in new york city. interesting point about evan bayh is he seems to be upset about the cost of having it here in new york city. $200 million. >> a year. a billion over five. >> a heck of a lot of money. >> it is a lot of money. so what this group of senators, democrats and republicans are going to do, they're going to try to attach an amendment under the first thing that comes down the pike and it looks like it could be that much ballyhooed jobs bill so they would attach this bill, rather amendment to the bill that would say, all right, we're going to pull the funding for it. now the reason this is important is there's a story -- remember on friday, we told y

in an hour, indiana senator evan bayh's announcement that he won't be running for re-election this year. on "washington journal" this morning, john horsely, executive director to have american association of state highway and transportation officials looks at how the stimulus spending package is affecting highway projects. we'll examine the use of predator drones to attack terrorists with marc thiessen. and how unemployment affects american life. "washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> a couple of live events to tell you about this morning. the peterson-pew commission looks at government debt and fiscal policy at 9:00 eastern on c-span 2. at 10:30 eastern, the funeral service for pennsylvania congressman john murtha who died last week. speakers include house speaker nancy pelosi, members of congress and military leaders. now a discussion of hunger from the annual world economic forum in switzerland. panelists include microsoft chairman bill gates. this is an hour. >> good afternoon, everybody. thank you very much for joining us today. we're going to tal

when you see someone like senator evan by saying -- evan bayh saying that he is going to resign becauseof partisanship, he is looking at numbers as well and seemed that the numbers are as bad for peopleÑi reelecting - running for reelection as he is seen. i don't think it much worse than have disapproval in the night -- in the '70s. çólook at the blue line. for a while, democrats and that april-june period were pretty satisfied. they searched up to 62%. and then they trended down to 42% approval. if you look to republicans, republicans have not been happy about congress's they do not have either house and so they're not going to be happy. but independents follow the line where they went up to 34% and now they are down at 19%. even a majority of democrats, who right now are not satisfied, when your own party has both houses and you do not have majority of the rahm party, that is more fuel on the electoral fire. then if you take a look at the congressional ballot it shows 44 republicans, 35 democratic, a lot of different polls have congressional ballots that show republicans either at par

. >> and that's why evan bayh suggested bringing down the threshold to beat a filibuster. maybe that will help get things down. >> i think you can count the approval of congress on your hands now. you don't need your feet any more. and you may be less than two hands. we're at ten. you may go to single digits on the approval. >> journalists might be more popular? >> i'm not saying that. >> that's really -- >> thank god we have lawyers, because we can at least feel good about ourselves with them at the bottom. anyway, "q," who is going to join you today? is john going to be there? >> yeah. harwood will be in and we'll talk about whether or not this is a steppingstone, formality. >> yeah. we had a little kabooki theater yesterday. >> i heard a political scientist saying this is going to be a political theater, but it's a good thing if you get all of america watching. >> bottom line, i think people will realize what a problem it is, no matter what, just hearing this conversation today opinion. >> i think they might watch for a couple of minutes and go back to jersey shore or -

. >> host: among the nine senators asking questions, indiana's evan bayh. the associate press reporting that republican officials said gop senator dan plans to run against evan bayh in the fall. here is florida, independent line, good morning, greg. >> caller: good morning. a couple quick comments. i am an independent voter and i actually voted for barack obama. i wish i could take my vote back in. >> host: why would you take a back? >> caller: the spending i think is astronomical, and i just don't feel comfortable with that. two young children, three, five, concerned about their future, their kids future. i'm one of those lucky individuals that are number $250,000. i don't mind paying more to help others out. i think it's hypocritical of washington. they want sacrifice from americans but i don't see any sacrifice coming from washington, d.c.. i don't see them flying, you know, public transportation instead of their private planes. i think it's hypocritical. i think the democrats had their opportunity to really shine, including barack obama. i think they al

media reports say democratic senator al evan bayh of indiana has decided not to seek reelection.tes his decision to excessive partisanship, as the motivation for the decision. he scheduled an afternoon news conference in indianapolis. former secretary of state madeleine albright recently joined economic leaders to talk about developing the next generation of leaders for international affairs diplomacy. see that conversation beginning at 4:40 eastern on c-span. tonight at 8:00, the future of guantanamo bay and its detention facility. army intelligence corps lieutenant-colonel steven abraham will join legal experts and members of the september 11 families. also, tonight, brad smith of microsoft on the future of what is called a cloud computing, dealing with for access of data over the internet instead of local computer service. that is tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span to. --c-span 2. >> shopping for everything on c- span is at c-span.org/store. there's nearly every c-span program plus a collection of books, all prints, coffee mugs, and other c-span accessories. look for these and

his name is being thrown around for the senate seat vacated by evan bayh. cause. might he run? has the singer said anything at >> he has not. but because he hasn't come out and said no i'm not doing this that's why it's probably still echoing around. there are a lot of fans with some wishful thinking. megyn: who is running then? >> it will be brad ellsworth. that will make a lot of democrats in indiana happy. he was at the top of their wish list for a replacement for evan pro-life and in the reddish state of indiana he would be a good choice. the central committee has to screen candidates. we understand there may be a interview process after may 4th primary in indiana but there will be a selection process because all of the candidates have missed the deadline to get on the ballot so there won't be a democratic primary. brad ellsworth will get a lot of consideration. >> steve brown, we'll be watching that. >> the amazing betty white going from lake place sid to late night. why americans want that golden girl to stay up way past her bedtime. that's next. died

. >>> and now we have confirmation that brad ellsworth will run for evan bayh's seat., and ellsworth could wind up facing off against dan coates who once held the very same senate seat. >>> a rapper as a bad rap on the former presidential candidate mitt romney. the rapper says he is the man who got into the fight with romney in a flight to vancouver, and he says it is the republican who touched him and not the other way around. sky blue says he grabbed his shoulder after he told him loudly to straighten his seat. romney said it is the other passenger who became physically violent and two police officers escorted the rapper off of the flight. >>> a new episode in sarah pa n palin's showdown with the makers of "family guy." the animated tv show had a character of downs syndrome who claimed she was the daughter of the former governor of alaska. palin whose son has down syndrome said she was too livid to comment, but the daughter did slamming the portrayal, and now the character is speak out saying she has down syndrome and thought that the show was funny and that apparent

>> i think that what evan bayh identified [unintelligible] >> why do you think he did not want to stickround and help? >> i have had this conversation. people use -- you and i have had this conversation. people use various reasons. someone with a $14 million electoral bank account is not worried. the president is frustrated with of the way washington works. the american people are frustrated with the way washington works. the question is what are you going to do to fix it? the president is trying to do all the weekend to make this -- all that he can to make this work. >> [unintelligible] what do you think he meant by that? he said that he had a problem knitting together everything that you had been trying to do. >> we have been dealing with something unforeseen by the administration in 80 years. >> [unintelligible] [laughter] >> is this something that was hanging out there six weeks ago? >> someone on the outside says that you could be doing [unintelligible] do you not except the criticism? >> i do not know what that statement is based on. i have not read whenever you are referring to -