Posted on 06/27/2005 10:32:15 AM PDT by 68skylark
Is U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh running for president?
The answer is definitely yes. And no, or at least, not yet.
According to Steve Bouchard, director of Bayh's All-America PAC, the Hoosier Democrat is "doing the preliminary things one needs to do if they're going to make that decision."
In other words, Bayh is running while keeping his options open and trying to decide whether he has a decent shot at a successful bid for the White House.
"He doesn't want to do anything to rule out that option," said Bouchard, adding that Bayh also wants to make sure the option is a viable one.
One way for him to find out is to go to New Hampshire, which Bayh will do next month.
Said the New Hampshire Union Leader, the state's most-read newspaper:
"A Bayh bid? There has been a fair amount of national media speculation about the political future of Democratic Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh.
"Soon, Granite Staters will be able to hear the centrist Democrat for themselves. The Status (name of a column) has learned that Bayh will be in the state on July 10 and 11. A schedule has yet to be finalized."
Bayh spokeswoman Meghan Keck immediately confirmed the report was accurate, but said, "We do not have a schedule for the trip at this time."
Actually, the visit to the key primary state is being planned by Bouchard, who told The Tribune that he is "still building" the schedule.
According to Bouchard, Bayh has been traveling the country, speaking at events scheduled by various state party organizations.
Bayh's travels have taken him to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and, two weeks ago, to Oshkosh, Wis., where he appeared before a state Democratic convention.
His presidential perambulations have not gone unnoticed in the national press.
The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based newspaper "for and about the U.S. Congress," recently ran a story about the candidacy of former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat who was Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's running mate last year.
In that story, the paper said Bayh and Edwards "are expected to contend for the 'not-Hillary' label in the primaries, in which Clinton will be painted as uncompetitive in 'red states.'"
In March, Stuart Rothenberg, a columnist for Roll Call, another Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill publication, said:
"If Bayh can overcome all the obvious hurdles to winning the presidential nomination, he'd pose a huge problem for the Republicans."
Rothenberg quoted Democratic pollster Fred Yang as saying that Bayh is part of "the Hoosier Holy Trinity: Basketball, God and Evan Bayh."
Rothenberg said that Bayh's reputation as a fiscal conservative and his opposition to higher taxes are part of Indiana lore, "and he can point to enough moderate votes on foreign policy and so-called social issues to make it difficult for Republicans to brand him as a stereotypical liberal Democrat."
According to Rothenberg, "Bayh's biggest challenge in 2008 isn't winning the White House. It's winning the Democratic nomination for president."
Raising money has not been a problem for Bayh, whose $6.8 million in cash on hand puts him third behind Clinton, ($8.7 million) and Kerry ($8.5 million) according to FEC reports.
Bayh himself has been coy about his presidential bid, always deflecting questions from reporters with quips.
The quips continued, even after Bayh's father, former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, was quoted as saying that his son was giving "serious consideration" to a run for president.
Rothenberg acknowledged that Bayh "isn't about to announce his candidacy" but said, "one look at his team tells me that he's running."
That team includes Bouchard, pollster Paul Maslin and Bayh's communications director, Dan Pfeiffer, all political veterans.
It's unlikely that Bayh will announce his candidacy anytime soon.
As Bouchard said, "it's still June of 2005" and the election is more than three years away.
But there are influential observers who believe a Bayh candidacy could be formidable.
"Evan is clearly a rising star on the national scene," Al From, chief executive officer of the Democratic Leadership Council, said recently. "If Bayh ran for president, he'd be a very strong candidate."
I give him some credit for that -- but the moonbat left will never forgive him for helping to liberate Iraq.
This guy is what Democrats used to be like and should be like.
He could win the White House, if he gets the Dem. nomination.
But the Hildabeast is the frontrunner.
I like him too. Liberals who run the DNC consider him 'Bushlite'. Karl Rove couldn't be more pleased that any person in the DNC who is not wildly left leaning is a 'Bushlite'.
You're the first person I've heard who thinks Bayh could win Indiana -- I think he'd lose this state (and other red states) in a landslide.
But in any case, he's like poison to the kook left, so he'll never get the nomination. (He might hope for the VP nomination.)
I'm not sure I agree. Zell Miller is "what Democrats used to be like and should be like." Next to someone like that, Bayh looks like an empty suit or a blank slate.
This is scary. I don't like Evan. But he has certain midwest appeal to the country and would do far better in a national election than Hillary. On the bright side, Moveon.org and George Sorose do not like him so we should not have to worry to much about it. The democrats will again cut off their nose to spite their face. I hope they stay stupid. I too am a hoosier. Evan and I frequently exchange letters.
Easy on Hoosiers. We are not lemmings. Now my feelings are hurt.
Well, not always lemmings. Sometimes sheep.
"He could win the White House, if he gets the Dem. nomination. But the Hildabeast is the frontrunner."
Disagree. Hillary is 2008's Howard Dean. She'll charm the Democratic base, get all kinds of internet cash, but Bayh will trounce her in Iowa. The Dems are very, very tired of losing and they will not nominate another northeast liberal.
"The democrats will again cut off their nose to spite their face."
The Dems didn't have a mainstream candidate to choose from last go-around. Also, at the time Kerry started winning in Iowa, the whole Swift Boats exposes hadn't been made- they thought they had a genuine war hero on their hands.
By choosing Kerry over Dean, they chose the more electable candidate. Not electable enough, obviously, but 2004 wasn't a landslide in the electoral college. Ohio goes the other way and that's that. Anybody doubt Bayh would do better in Ohio than Kerry?
However, the Dems are too Stupid to nominate him.
Oh yes, Iowa. Give him another state in the Midwest.
I don't think it'd be Reaganesque (that would probably come with Bayh's 2012 reelection) but I do think he'd sweep the Midwest and Southwest, obviously on top of the Northeast/Pacific liberal bastions, and he'd even cut into the South (AR, LA, FL and maybe VA, NC, TN).
But that said, I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell the Dems will nominate him. The special interest groups of the Left are too key for the nomination and they don't want Bayh. The Lefties are also too divorced from reality to think that they need to nominate someone 'electable' (and they also blame the notion for Kerry's nomination); they just think they need to explain themselves better.
Ergo, they will nominate someone they consider an articulate liberal (i.e., Hillary).
Bayh's a candidate who would help the Dems a lot, but don't you guys think who his opponent is might matter? I mean, if we're talking about Byah v. a hypothetical Dubya redux, Bayh likely wins. But I wouldn't throw in the towel until I see who we'd run.
There are a few existing blue states that are in play. New Hampshire is definitely in play: John Kerry was from the next door state. Minnesota has actually been trending more Republican, and Wisconsin could be in play as well. So if Bayh does take Indiana -- and that's no guarantee -- Ohio isn't a done deal. And NH, WI and MN could all flip red.
Hmm.. You make a very good point and I am basically imagining a Dubya clone (circa 2000 - not in hindsight of his actual tenure) as the Pubbie. I agree that a Bayh v Giuliani contest would be much tighter than I envision, with Giuliani winning at least 50/50 odds. In fact, that's who I'm currently predicting will be the next president, but there's some question about whether he can get the nomination.
Bayh would trounce Romney or especially Frist, IMHO. He would beat Jeb (who isn't running anyhow) and surely beat Condi and Cheney I think. I'm not so sure about Sen. Allen. I think Allen v Bayh would be another tight one. McCain would beat Bayh I think, but I dunno if he can get the nomination or who'd be worse for that matter. LOL
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