I blog so much on Senator Evan Bayh to where the last check on yahoo saw me at #28 when you search "Evan Bayh." How about "Evan Bayh for President?" The blog is listed at #10.
The Indy Star has a profile of Senator Evan Bayh's staff. From what I read, they include some experienced people.
Chief of Staff Tom Sugar: Originally from Kokomo, Sugar had his first political job as a campaign field organizer for former Rep. Jim Jontz, D-Ind. Sugar worked in various capacities for Jontz, including chief of staff, before Jontz was defeated in 1992. While working for Jontz, Sugar also was a state organizer for the Democratic Leadership Council. Sugar joined Bayh’s gubernatorial staff during his second term, serving as Bayh’s director of policy and planning. Sugar ran Bayh’s 1998 senatorial campaign and then became his chief of staff.That's looking like a great line-up and maybe, just maybe, my name will be added to the list someday.
Deputy Chief of Staff Linda Moore Forbes: Forbes, a veteran of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, rejoined Bayh’s staff in 2005. She first worked for Bayh in 2001, after serving as former President Bill Clinton’s deputy political director. Before that, Forbes was the field director for the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist Democratic group that both Clinton and Bayh have chaired. Forbes is married to Jeff Forbes, who was the New Hampshire political director for Clinton’s 1992 campaign.
PAC Director Steve Bouchard: A New Hampshire native, Bouchard was the New Hampshire director for Wesley Clark, a whose campaign he joined after Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., dropped out of the 2004 race. After Clark’s presidential campaign folded, Bouchard was the Ohio state director for America Coming Together, an independent group that tried to defeat President Bush. When former Sen. Bob Kerrey was exploring a 2000 presidential bid, Bouchard was the New Hampshire director for Kerrey’s political action committee.
Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer: The Delaware native joined Bayh in 2005 after serving as deputy campaign manager for former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s unsuccessful re-election campaign. Pfeiffer also worked on South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson’s successful 2002 re-election campaign and has served as communications director at the Democratic Governors Association.
Pollster Paul Maslin: In the 2004 campaign, Maslin worked for Howard Dean, one of about a half-dozen presidential candidates Maslin has advised. The California native has also worked for former California Gov. Gray Davis, various senators, House members, mayors and organizations that include the League of Conservation Voters, the National Education Association, Disney and Coca Cola.
Media adviser Anita Dunn: Dunn handled the campaign advertising for Bayh’s 2004 re-election campaign. She helped run Bill Bradley’s unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign and has served as a political adviser to former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. Other clients have included the Democratic parties in New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Delaware and various congressional candidates. Dunn began her career in politics working for White House Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan under former President Jimmy Carter.
Chief fundraiser Nancy Jacobson: Jacobson has raised money for years for both Bayh and the Democratic Leadership Council. She is married to pollster Mark Penn, who used to poll for Bayh. But Penn was also Bill Clinton’s pollster and is expected to work for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton if she decides to run for president.
Informal adviser Ron Klain: An Indianapolis native, Klain is a former chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore and Attorney General Janet Reno. He was also a senior adviser to Gore’s 2000 campaign.
Informal adviser Richard Gordon: A friend since their days at the University of Virginia School of Law, Gordon was Bayh’s director of policy and planning during Bayh’s first term as governor.
Just like comedians, politicians have to deal with hecklers. How does Senator Bayh respond?
"If I had to pick one thing I was proudest of..." Bayh began.I like Evan Bayh's sense of humor. He has a way with people that I haven't seen in a presidential candidate since former President Clinton. When Evan makes a decision to run in 2008, I have a gut feeling who would be his campaign chair here in the commonwealth. It will most likely be someone who has touted his candidacy since the early 2000s.
"Daylight-saving time?" a listener shouted out, causing big peals of laughter.
"No, it's not that," Bayh said. "But I see you're familiar with our state."[...]
Considering that it's been more than 40 years since a sitting senator was elected to the White House, it's not surprising that Bayh likes to emphasize his two terms as governor as he tests the waters for a potential 2008 run. Bayh, who has served in the Senate since 1999, frequently says he is "first and foremost a governor." But he also has found a way of combining the appeal of being a governor with the national security and foreign policy exposure of being in the Senate.
"You think you have a senator here," Bayh told a group of Des Moines Democrats last week. "You have a governor who now has national security experience."
Joe Biden will be coming to Northern Kentucky on his own money. I'm sure his PAC is paying for his expenses.
"For the first time in 40 years, we're on the outside looking in," said Kentucky State Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan. "We decided we're going to do things differently than we've normally done."Evan Bayh has an advantage in Iowa if Gov. Vilsack doesn't run.
In the past, the party has held major events in Louisville, but Lundergan decided it was time to literally bring the party to Northern Kentucky. Biden is coming to the event on his own nickel.
Boone County Democratic Chairman Howard Tankersley said it's the first time he remembers someone of Biden's stature coming in for a Democratic event in Northern Kentucky.
"What's really cool...is this is not a Joe Biden event, this is a Northern Kentucky Democratic event," Tankersley said. "He's coming to help reenergize. I want to excite Northern Kentucky Democrats, who have not had much to be excited about in past years. If we can get 500 to 600 Northern Kentucky Democrats in same room, that can only lead too more good things."
On the Democratic side, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander, has spent an adult lifetime dealing with security questions. Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who combines experience in a governorship with service on the Senate armed services and intelligence committees, could gain. These are centrist Democrats who might be formidable contenders, if they can get past the angry left of their party.Anne Northup's fundraising is ahead of pace. Her money is tainted with Delay funds most likely.
There is much upside potential in a Bayh candidacy in Iowa. For openers, he's a Midwesterner. That gives him a regional advantage. Look at some people who've done well in caucuses — George McGovern of South Dakota, 1972; Walter Mondale, Minnesota, 1984; Dick Gephardt, Missouri, 1988; Bob Dole, Kansas, 1988 and 1996.
And Bayh must understand how to win in rural America, since he's carried statewide elections for secretary of state, governor and U.S. senator in a Republican state. He's also low-key, somber and slightly stiff. Just like a lot of Midwesterners.
There's another pattern you notice in looking at 30 years of caucus winners and losers: The most extreme candidates often don't win. Despite all the media attention they get, when rank-and-file party members show up on caucus night, they tend to pick candidates more in the middle of that year's political spectrum.
Time for breakfast.
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