By Eric Berman
7/30/2008
No one's saying anything publicly, but the Washington tea leaves indicate Barack Obama has narrowed his list of potential running mates, and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is still on it.
Bayh's backers argue he could put Indiana in play for the first time in 44 years, and give Obama a boost in neighboring Ohio. I-U-P-U-I political analyst Brian Vargus doesn't think Bayh's well-known enough in Ohio to make enough of a difference.
Vargus rates Virginia Governor Tim Kaine the frontrunner. He ranks Bayh third in the veepstakes behind Delaware Senator and former presidential candidate Joe Biden.
"Biden because of (his) foreign policy expertise, and the ability to be an attack dog if Obama really wants to do that, and if the campaign gets as nasty as some think it's going to be," Vargus says. "Kaine, because Virginia is in play."
But Vargus notes Obama so far has largely shied away from launching or responding to attacks, an approach that could improve the odds of the even-voiced, unflappable Bayh.
Vargus says Obama is actually running better right now in Virginia than in traditional swing state Ohio.
Obama has devoted resources to Indiana, opening a string of campaign offices, airing a TV ad, and making an appearance with Bayh earlier this month in West Lafayette. Vargus figures Indiana is too red to go Democratic, even with Bayh on the ticket.
Indiana has not voted for a Democrat for president since the Lyndon Johnson landslide of 1964.
|