...I know it's March, but I'm not asking for NCAA picks.
I want to know about Evan Bayh as a pick for Veep. Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball web site http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/pres_veep2.htm has picked Evan as the strongest candidate for the ticket.
Here's what Larry has to say--
Compared to the ancient list that was constructed five weeks and several political eternities ago, our new list has a new frontrunner--Democratic Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. Bayh brings the executive experience Kerry lacks as a highly successful Governor, and he is one of only two or three Democrats in the country with the political strength to turn a Bush Red state into a Democratic Blue State (though granted, it won't be easy). Bayh is also cut out to carry the battle to the one big non-Southern state that Bush absolutely, positively MUST carry in order to win: Ohio. Bayh's Midwestern sensibilities and sensitivities get the Democratic ticket the early upper hand in the economically hard-hit Buckeye State. Finally, and quite importantly, Bayh can do something for Kerry that Edwards and many other Democrats on the Veep finalist list cannot do: help to moderate the Massachusetts liberal. Moderation runs through Bayh's veins; how else could a Democrat win repeated landslides for Governor and Senate in conservative Indiana?
Does Evan Bayh really have enough juice to carry Indiana, a normally reliable GOP state, for the Dems ? Would his 'appeal' carryover into Ohio ? And how 'moderate' is Bayh ? His office put out a press release last week denying that he supported the Bush tax cuts when some were using that as a reason to disqualify his candidacy for VP.