Obama hit hard as Bayh bows out

US: US President Barack Obama suffered another setback Monday as a fifth Democratic senator, centrist heavyweight Evan Bayh, opted not to run for re-election in dismay at the bitter political climate.

Obama, who reportedly tried to talk Bayh out of retiring, faces a looming Republican resurgence and risks seeing strong majorities in Congress crumble in November mid-term elections, taking with them his ambitious reform agenda.

With his tearful wife and two sons at his side, Bayh, 54, expressed disenchantment with excessive partisanship as he announced his decision at a press conference in his home state of Indiana.

"For some time, I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is too much partisanship and not enough progress - too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving," he said.

"Even at a time of enormous challenge, the peoples' business is not being done." Democrats expressed shock at the development, seeing it both as the loss of a key consensus builder in the Senate and of a candidate strongly favored to win re-election in Republican-leaning Indiana.

Bayh called Obama on Monday morning and The New York Times reported that both the president and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, tried to convince him to run again, but to no avail. In a statement, Obama praised Bayh for "reaching across the aisle on issues ranging from job creation and economic growth to fiscal responsibility and national security. Washington, Tuesday, AFP