2008 will be Bayh's best shot

2008 could be Bayh's best bet. Russ Pulliam, the associate editor of the Indianapolis Star wrote a great article on Sen. Bayh.

Bayh's credentials include his moderate to conservative views as well as a record of election success in a Republican-dominated Midwestern state. He won his recent Senate race by a record-setting 1,496,512 votes. Republican George Bush carried the state by a few less than that, 1,477,704 votes.
Democrats are puzzled over why they can't win the red, or conservative, sections of the country. They are likely to take note of how Bayh has never lost a race in a very red state that last went for a Democrat for president in the Lyndon Johnson landslide of 1964.
The hardest part of a presidential run for Bayh, however, could be his party's primaries. The primaries tend to attract liberal activists, screening out centrist candidates like Bayh. But political scientist Larry Sabato thinks Bayh could gain an advantage in a field of more liberal candidates if he is the only moderate to conservative.
"Bayh's path to victory is to say, 'Are you tired of losing?' says Sabato, who runs the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "Evan Bayh will never scare anyone. A lot of Democrats do that. They scare people across the country in red states on the social and cultural issues. Those Democrats represent to them too much change in a liberal direction."

I am tired of losing and I woke up one day and realized that if we want to win we run Senator Evan Bayh for President in 2008. Here is what people are saying:

"To the Indiana Democrats he is the modern-day Moses," says former House Speaker John Gregg, D-Vincennes. "To the national Democrats he can also be a modern-day Moses. He will be the emerging moderate."
Another potential centrist candidate is Sen. John Edwards, the losing vice presidential candidate. But Gregg thinks he has two handicaps. "John Edwards lost his own state," Gregg notes of the recent election. "He's a trial lawyer, and that's something he will be beat over the head about."
State Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, suggests the results of the 2004 election will favor Bayh. "I think between now and 2008 that there's going to be a recognition in the party that we don't need to put an Eastern establishment liberal on the ticket," Crawford says. "You've got to have someone who can appeal to people in the red states."
Mayor Bart Peterson agrees. "I don't think the door could be open any wider than it is to him at this point," he says.
Republicans from Indiana also see strengths in Bayh. "He's well spoken," says state Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis. "He's a two-term governor. That seems to be one of the protocols for president now."
State Sen. Murray Clark, R-Indianapolis, thinks Bayh would be a stronger candidate than the more liberal Democrat who leads in the polls, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. "As a Republican, I'd rather us run against Hillary than Evan Bayh," he says.

Simon and Garfunkel once said "song for the asking." I say to Senator Evan Bayh, the nomination is yours for the taking. Once the Democratic bases realize we win with moderates, Bayh will eventually emerge as the frontrunner.