With Evan Bayh's sudden retirement, the Indiana Democratic Party will name a candidate to the ballot. Most of the speculation focuses on Rep. Brad Ellsworth, a southern Indiana congressman who is a former sheriff. Ellsworth is attractive and politically talented, but he is also one of the most conservative Democrats in the House. And though he hasn't been in the House for long (elected in 2006), the fact that he has been a member of a fairly unpopular Congress could count against him.
Rep. Baron Hill is also being considered. Though Hill is a Blue Dog, he's actually fairly liberal, with a 100% rating from NARAL, and votes for cap and trade and health care reform. He even supported the public option. He also has a history of winning tough races in a Republican district. However, with Hill having been in Washington off and on since 1998, he too may be vulnerable in an anti-incumbent year. And between terms he worked as a lobbyist. Unfairly or not, Dan Coats will probably claim that attacks on his lobbying career are examples of the pot calling the kettle black.
How about someone unconnected to DC? Someone smart, progressive, and capable? How about David Orentlicher?
Orentlicher has to be considered the longest of all longshots. The state committee is made up of cautious Bayh loyalists, and they'll be placing a premium on electability and familiarity. Ellsworth will probably be their first choice, followed by Hill, Rep. Joe Donnelly, and then perhaps a few lesser figures. None of the names being floated - and they include some very capable people - included David Orentlicher. That, however, is a shame. He really should be considered.
Who is David Orentlicher? Orentlicher is a prominent academic, writer, and former state rep. Oh, and he happens to be a physician AND a lawyer, with both an MD and a JD from Harvard. He completed an internship in internal medicine, practiced family medicine for some time and then returned to law school. He has authored two books, including a major textbook, and is a tenured faculty member at IU School of Law as well as an adjunct professor at IU Medical School. Some of you may even have encountered his writings online - he comments at Politico's Arena and has written at the Huffington Post.
Politico's profile fleshes his resume out in greater detail:
David Orentlicher, M.D., J.D., is a professor and co-director of the Center for Law and Health at Indiana University Schools of Law and Medicine in Indianapolis.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School, he previously served as director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the American Medical Association. While there, Dr. Orentlicher led the drafting of the AMA’s first patients’ bill of rights. He also helped develop many other positions—on end-of-life decisions, organ transplantation, reproductive issues, and physicians’ conflicts of interest—that have been incorporated into federal and state law and cited by courts and government agencies in their decision-making. At the time, he was on the adjunct faculty of the University of Chicago Law School and Northwestern University Medical School.
Dr. Orentlicher has held a number of distinguished visiting professorships, serving as Visiting DeCamp Professor in Bioethics at Princeton University, Frederick Distinguished Visiting Professor of Ethics at DePauw University, and George E. Allen Professor of Law at T. C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond.
He has published Matters of Life and Death with Princeton University Press, and is co-author of the law school textbook Health Care Law and Ethics, now in its 7th edition. Dr. Orentlicher also has written widely in leading legal and medical journals on critical issues in law and medicine, including health care reform, new reproductive technologies, and organ transplantation, as well as on questions in constitutional law.
Dr. Orentlicher served in the Indiana House of Representatives between 2002 and 2008. He was named “Best Politician” in 2007 by Indianapolis’ alternative newspaper for his work on property tax reform, reproductive rights, and equality for all persons. During his three terms, he also authored legislation to promote job creation, protect children from abuse and neglect, and make health care coverage more affordable.
NUVO, the aforementioned "alternative newspaper," profiled Orentlicher a couple of years ago while he was still in the state house.
Orentlicher ran in the 2008 congressional primary to succeed Julia Carson in IN-07, though he lost to Andre Carson. He also recently pulled out of the Marion County prosecutor's race. Yet neither result should discourage him. As a local progressive with a gold-plated resume, Orentlicher could well be formidable against either Dan Coats or John Hostettler, both of whom are flawed - Coats because of his lobbying ties, age, and long time away from the state and Hostettler because, well, he's nuts.
Yeah, I know it's a longshot. And maybe some others who were on the ground for his previous campaigns can give some insight into maybe why he shouldn't run. But if we're looking for a credentialed, electable progressive from Indiana, he may just be someone to consider.