Ordinary

Commentary By Ron Beasley

I have often mentioned that the majority of Republican lawmakers are not likely candidates for for inclusion in the Mensa Society.  Well the Republicans don't have a monopoly on "ordinary" and Jonathan Chait notes that retiring Senator Evan Bayh is an example.

I once had the chance, along with numerous other reporters and
editors, to speak with Bayh in an off-the-record context. I'd say the
group was quite favorably disposed toward him going into the discussion
-- here was a young, popular, telegenic moderate Democrat everybody
could see on a presidential ticket soon. As far as I could tell,
everybody came away thoroughly unimpressed. He said nothing especially
disagreeable, it was just that he seemed so mediocre. He expressed
himself entirely in terms of platitudes. Not a single interesting
thought escaped his lips.

This wasn't a function of him avoiding uncomfortable positions. I've
seen smart politicians dance around questions, and this wasn't that.
This was just a completely unremarkable man who, had he not been the
hansome son of a famous politician, would never in a million years have
been a Senator.

Ezra Klein has more:

Accusing a politician of deficit hypocrisy isn't a particularly serious
slur. Pretty much every politician is guilty of it. It's a bit like
trumpeting the fact that some politician or another wears a suit. But
if Bayh's sins are ordinary, so too was his career. Which is why I was
surprised to see my colleague Jonathan Capehart term this a "brain drain." I've talked to Bayh before, and like Jonathan Chait,
found him special only in his ability to formulate platitudes on the
fly. The guy missed out on a terrific career as a fortune cookie author
("Your country will be assured of greatness! Your lucky deficit number
is zero!"), but the sciences will not weep for their loss.

The scary thing is that Bayh may actually have a future in Presidential politics.  Americans have shown they like "ordinary" Presidents - think George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and the popularity of Sarah Palin.  And the David Broders of the world equate "ordinary" with centrist or moderate.  That's probably because the David Broders are pretty "ordinary" themselves.

Update:

Even Ross Douthat agrees:

The Emptiness of Evan Bayh