Bayh: Skeptical, will think about it. Will be posting frequently. Watch for updates. Bush text at 9 p.m. eastern.

President Bush will be delivering his remarks calling for Iraqis to stand up if they want more U.S. help in 45 minutes. I will try to post statements from newsmakers as they roll in..at some point I will have to jump off and write a column for the Sun-Times paper version…which still has to be printed, which means I will be on deadline.

Fyi…I’m up in the Senate Press Gallery….wanted to be in position to hear what Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says after the speech, when he tees up in the radio-tv gallery. Just got the Bush speech, but it’s embargoed until delivery. Will post soon.

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) statement a click below.

from Bayh………..

Bayh Statement on President Bushs Iraq Speech

Washington, D.C. U.S. Senator Evan Bayh today released the following statement on President Bushs Iraq speech:

I will consider what the President said. Im skeptical, however, that this is the change we need to improve the situation in Iraq.

Only the Iraqis can make the hard decisions to save their country. For three years, weve stood by them in the hope that they would. That approach is not working, and the Presidents approach, in substance not rhetoric, seems to be more of the same.

I will also be looking for benchmarks for progress, timelines for meeting them, and accountability for a failure to do so. Without this, the Iraqis will never do what needs to be done.

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