The LuLac Edition #531, August 5th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: CURRENT INDIANA SENATOR EVAN BAYH AND HIS FATHER, FORMER SENATOR BIRCH BAYH, CIRCA 1972.

SON OF THE FATHER

On Wednesday, Barack Obama is going to spend 21 hours in the state of Indiana. Those reading the political tea leaves are saying that he might make an announcement on a running mate as early as Wednesday. And since he is going to be in the Hoosier State for so long, perhaps he might be naming Evan Bayh as his Vice Presidential mate.

Bayh would be a safe choice. The low key ex Governor, now Senator would not outshine Obama. Bayh could also put Indiana in play, something not done in Presidential politics since 1964. Bayh was also a major supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton and this might be seen as an olive branch to the Clinton supporters. The choice could come before the convention, ending all speculation of a Hillary draft and put the Democratic team in place so that the duo could criss cross the country formulating their fall campaign effort.

If this is his pick, and I have no inside information that it will be, the guessing game will be solved before the convention and barring any unforeseen problems with Bayh, this will be regarded as the safe and steady pick by most political observers.

Bayh's father is former Senator Birch Bayh. Bayh was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962. A few years later, he became a historical footnote in another Kennedy tragedy. On June 19, 1964, Bayh, his wife, Senator Ted Kennedy and legislative aide Edward Moss were on board a small plane that crashed in heavy fog near Springfield, Massachusetts. Senator Bayh pulled a badly injured Senator Kennedy from the wreckage. Senator and Mrs. Bayh were relatively unhurt, while the pilot and Moss were both killed in the crash. Kennedy spent the 1964 re-election campaign flat on his back while his wife Joan served as his primary advocate.

In the Senate, Bayh carved out quite a career for himself. Bayh was the principal architect of two constitutional amendments: the 25th Amendment, which established the rules for presidential succession and disability. The 26th Amendment, which lowered the minimum voting age to 18. Bayh was also the principal Senate sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment, which passed both Houses of Congress, but was not ratified by the states. The prospect of the Electoral College drove Bayh crazy. In his later years in the Senate, he attempted to eliminate the procedure. It passed the House but died in the Senate.

Birch Bayh had his own Presidential ambitions. He fully intended to run in 1972 but ended his campaign before it started due to the illness of his wife Marvella. Before her death in 1979, Marvella Bayh became a leading cancer activist. In October 1975 Bayh announced his candidacy for the 1976 Democratic nomination. Bayh was considered a leading choice out of 12 candidates, and he was popular with organized labor. His late start though put him at a fundraising disadvantage. A series of third place finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and a disasterous showing in Massachusetts primary ended his 1976 bid. In 1980 he ran for a fourth term against a little known Congressman named Dan Quayle. The Reagan landslide swept the future Vice President into office over the venerable Liberal and he retired to teach law in his home state and Washington, D.C.