Political Scene

SENATE

Bayh sees Brown as part of ‘cure’

Retiring Sen. Evan Bayh, Indiana Democrat, said Monday that electing more lawmakers like Scott Brown, the new Republican senator from Massachusetts, may be the “ultimate cure” for partisan gridlock in Washington.

Mr. Brown’s upset victory over a Democrat who held a double-digit lead a week before Massachusetts’ special Senate election last month signaled that voters wanted “more practical problem solving,” Mr. Bayh said in an interview Monday on ABC-TV’s “The View.”

“Scott Brown is a good example of what I think the ultimate cure might be,” Mr. Bayh said. “My read on what happened in Massachusetts is the vast majority of moderates and independents rose up and said, ‘Enough already.’ ”

Mr. Bayh, who has clashed regularly with more liberal members of his party, announced last week that he had decided against seeking re-election after two terms in the Senate. He said he was tired of partisan wrangling in Washington.

He reiterated that Monday, saying the Senate used to be a more polite place. He said senators should be more open to compromise and rely less on filibusters to block legislation.

“Those on my side need to accept half a loaf when the alternative is nothing,” he said.

VICE PRESIDENCY

Cheney hospitalized for chest pains

An aide to Dick Cheney said the former vice president was taken to George Washington Hospital after experiencing chest pains.

Mr. Cheney’s assistant, Peter Long, said in a statement late Monday that Mr. Cheney, 69, was resting comfortably and that his doctors were evaluating the situation.

Mr. Cheney has a history of heart problems and has a pacemaker.

In 2008, doctors restored a normal rhythm to his heart with an electric shock. It was the second time in less than a year that Mr. Cheney had experienced and been treated for an atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart.

Mr. Cheney has had four heart attacks, starting when he was 37. He has had quadruple-bypass surgery and two artery-clearing angioplasties.

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