Mask pulled from "moderate" Evan Bayh

For his entire political career, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) has been telling Hoosier voters that he's a moderate. But he not only voted for ObamaCare, but Roll Call reports that Bayh led the charge, giving a behind-closed-door "rousing speech, arguing that Democrats could not afford to let the reform effort collapse in the face of Republican attacks."

Bayh, who is up for reelection next year, kept his health care voting preference to his chest, voted for ObamaCare after declaring it "a close call."

But the Indianapolis Star tells a different story:

"Legitimate arguments have been made by both sides," Bayh said in a statement.

That's a different tone than Bayh took with fellow Democrats behind closed doors, according to The New York Times and Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

The publications said Democrats credited remarks Bayh made as helping the party draw together.

Citing unidentified officials who attended a meeting of Democratic senators and the president Dec. 15, The New York Times said Bayh called health care the kind of public policy he had come to Washington to work on. He said he did not want to see the satisfied looks on GOP faces if it failed.

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