EB at the Harvard Business School

Senator Bayh Stresses Need For Unity

“Washington has just broken down,” says Indiana Democrat at HBS Speech

Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat and potential 2008 presidential candidate, emphasized the importance of bringing together the American people across party and ideological lines in a speech at the Harvard Business School (HBS) yesterday afternoon.

The senator told a room of over 100 onlookers that “Washington has just broken down—it is verging on the dysfunctional.”
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For America to address these issues, Bayh said that the federal government must reduce its partisanship “because America is at its strongest and its best, not when it is divided in red and blue states but when it is united.”
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“Frankly, [Republicans] are better at scaring people than we are,” he said.

One HBS student asked about Bayh’s views on the Massachusetts bill passed last week, establishing nearly universal health care coverage.

“I’m inclined to think it’s a good thing,” he said. “Massachusetts may not be exactly analogous to the other 49 states, but I think it is a step in the right direction.”
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“He took questions at face value,” said Patrick Connelly, a second-year joint JD and MBA student.