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In a quiet, methodical style reflecting his Midwestern roots, Sen. Evan Bayh is laying the foundation for a presidential campaign and prompting some Democrats to talk about a candidate with a realistic shot. "The chatter that you hear is that he's a good guy and nice and he has that honest, Midwestern feel to him, kind of like Harry Truman," said veteran Democratic strategist Dane Strother. "That's all appealing." In his fifth trip to Iowa in the last year, the centrist Indiana Democrat opened a three-day swing Thursday with a fundraiser in downtown Des Moines for legislative candidates. He mingled...

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh continues to say he hasn’t decided whether to run for president in 2008, while continuing to position himself to make that run. He also continues to take positions that allow him to be noticed by those assessing which Demo-cratic candidates are likely to emerge as front-runners in the race. Bayh was one of three Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee to vote against an endorsement of Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden to head the CIA. The 12-3 vote to confirm Hayden included four of seven Democrats on the committee. According to the Washington Post,...

With the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination well under way here, Evan Bayh showed off the assets that seem to be making him a top-rank competitor for Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses 18 months from now. During a campaign swing across the state this past weekend, the Indiana senator's mellow demeanor, folksy Midwestern charm and credentials as a governor and U.S. senator gave Bayh threshold credibility with most of the rank-and-file Democrats he met. But Bayh has something else that’s not an asset, something that gives a reporter a distinct sense of déjà vu: his vote for the Iraq war...

IT'S TOUGH TO BE a moderate Democrat. Hatred of George Bush has changed the loyal opposition into the bitter opposition, less interested in policy than in punishing their bête noire. It's particularly tough for Democrats who supported the invasion of Iraq, the defining George Bush moment, and who oppose withdrawal. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the very model of a modern "defense Democrat"--not to mention the party's 2000 vice presidential nominee--now faces overwhelming votes of "no confidence" from Connecticut Democratic town councils.The conundrum is acute for the rising generation of moderate Democrats who may run for president, if the performances last week...

With a dozen or so U.S. senators giving serious consideration to running for their party's 2008 presidential nomination, voters will want to know how the political ideologies of these potential candidates rank among their colleagues. Arguably, voters can best discern the relative ideologies by comparing the votes they cast on identical issues. Both the nonpartisan National Journal and the liberal Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) have recently released their 2005 voting guides, ranking the ideological purity of members of Congress. Herewith is a review of those rankings among the five Democratic senators -- Evan Bayh of Indiana, Joe Biden of...

Hopes by Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana to become the centrist candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination were not helped by the Nov. 30 ruling of Federal District Judge David Hamilton of Indianapolis, a former Bayh aide, against the Indiana state legislature opening its sessions with a prayer referring to Jesus Christ. When Bayh was governor of Indiana, Hamilton was his chief counsel and master political strategist. Hamilton ruled, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, that any prayers referring to Jesus Christ by name, "Savior" or "Son of God" are unconstitutional. He said that...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Politicians seem to be lined up out the door and down the block these days for the chance to win friends and influence people in Iowa. The goal? To impact the course of the nation for at least four years beginning in 2008. In October alone, Iowa was visited by 10 potential presidential candidates for the 2008 campaign. The swell of visitors came less than a year after the last race ended. "I wish the process didn't begin this early, but it does," said Sen. Evan Bayh (search), D-Ind. With more than 26 months until Iowa...

Manchester — President Bush has divided the country, mismanaged the war in Iraq and was irresponsible in not sufficiently equipping American troops, potential White House hopeful Evan Bayh told a partisan Democratic crowd Saturday night. “It’s painfully obvious that those in charge in Washington today don’t have a clue,” the Indiana senator said during a sold-out state party fundraiser at the Radisson at the Center of New Hampshire. Bayh mixed in his achievements as governor of Indiana before entering the Senate, singled out a slew of local and state officials and made his biggest target the White House. “It’s been...

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According to the Indianapolis Star, Sen. Evan Bayh, Democrat and son of former Democrat Senator and Presidential candidate Birch Bayh, has raised more money for his Political Action Committee (used by many candidates to boost Presidential aspirations) than assumed Democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton (Democrat Senator supposedly from New York). Bayh raised $1.17 million this year through a fundraising arm that will help him raise his profile and build a campaign team, according to recent disclosure reports. Some of that money paid for a public speaking consultant whose former clients include Princess Diana.This is impressive, but he still has a long...

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh is among the most prolific money raisers in the early jockeying among potential 2008 presidential candidates. Bayh raised $1.17 million this year through a fundraising arm that will help him raise his profile and build a campaign team, according to recent disclosure reports. Some of that money paid for a public speaking consultant whose former clients include Princess Diana. But even though Bayh collected more through his political action committee (PAC) than New York Sen. Hillary Clinton did through hers, Clinton showed why she is considered the most formidable fundraiser of the potential Democratic candidates, raising...

Political Commentary Manchester, NH, July 10 - Indiana Senator Evan Bayh says it's good to be back in New Hampshire. Judging by the standing ovation he received at a small gathering in Keene, New Hampshire Sunday afternoon, Democrats there are glad to see him as well. Who could blame them. After unsuccessful bids by Al Gore and John Kerry, Democrats in New Hampshire are hoping a new face will surface. Bayh's credentials as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a former governor who has experience balancing a budget is an alluring combination. The would-be Presidential candidate says...

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is keeping his options open when it comes to the 2008 presidential election. That's what he told people in New Hampshire Monday where he was, in part, raising money for democrats. "People can spot a phony a mile away, that's the number one, number two, you really got to fight for those things you believe in," said Bayh. Bayh is in his second term as senator of Indiana and he served two terms as governor. He was also on the short list of running mates for Al Gore in 2000. Now this darling of the democrats...

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...

Sen. Evan Bayh’s (D-Ind.) inner circle of advisers stresses two points about the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries: Their man’s record as a popular two-term governor and his ability to appeal to voters in the “reddest of red” states. President Bush won a handful of states in 2004 — Wyoming with 72 percent of the vote, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota and Alaska — by wider margins than he won Indiana, but Bayh’s state was still one of the president’s strongest supporters. Bush carried it with 60 percent of the vote in 2004, while Bayh secured 62 percent of the Hoosier state’s...

Check this link out, its linked from the presidential primaries 2008 blog.(http://primary2008.typepad.com/) http://www.flickr.com/photos/evanbayh/show/

CONRAD SEES REDIt's true that President Bush hit the upper Midwest and the South in his first big push after the State of the Union Address in order to target potential Democratic support in the House and the Senate. But he also was sending Democrats a clear message: 2002 and 2004 were no mistakes. Recall that the President was particularly aggressive in campaigning for Republicans in the midterms in 2002, and barring unforeseen political disasters, will be out there again, pressing for added GOP strength in Congress. Democrat Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota is up for re-election in 2006,...