At the risk of turning the front page of the Watchblog into an all-Bayh, all-the-time event, let me offer a simple rebuttal of some of the tired arguments that Mike mustered in his “nuh-uh!” post this morning.

    On the “Evan Bayh is Vulnerable” theme: Last year, Sen. Evan Bayh supported two presidential candidates. Both were down in the polling at the start of the race, and both won in the end against overwhelming odds. As strong as both of the Democratic presidential campaigns were, the truth of the matter is that neither would have won without Evan Bayh’s popularity in this state. End of story.  

    On the “Evan Bayh Should be Worried” theme: I’m really sorry to rain on the Republican parade here, but do you honestly think that if the GOP leadership smelled blood in this race, they’d be talking about running a wacky state senator, a washed-up congressman, or a popcorn mogul as their marquee figurehead? I think not. The national leaders have already said that Bayh is untouchable, and the local leaders of the Republican Party have done the same by staying notably silent. No interest from Rep. Mike Pence? Mitch Daniels? No problem.

I just can’t help visualizing the Indiana Republican Party as some sort of Charlie Brown figure when it comes to Evan Bayh. We know that Lucy’s going to pull away the football. They know Lucy is going to pull away the football. Everyone does, really.

But year after year, there they are, kicking away.