Loading ...
BAYH WOULDN’T TURN DOWN VEEP: There is growing speculation that U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh is under serious consideration as a potential Democratic vice presidential nominee with Barack Obama, fueled by the senator himself (Howey Politics Indiana). .jpg)
Asked by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC Wednesday afternoon if he would accept being vice president if asked, Bayh said, in part, It’s not something you turn down. "The answer to that is ‘Yes,’" he said. I don’t think it’s the kind of thing you say no to, Andrea. The answer to that is yes. I love my day job. I’m not looking to change, but if someone who will be leading the country comes to you and says I need your help. I want you to do this. Of course. If you care about serving your country that is the kind of thing that you do." Mitchell asked, "Has the vetting begun?" Bayh answered, "Well, I can’t talk about that as you can appreciate, otherwise I disqualify myself from consideration [smiles]. But they have a process. That process should go forward. And we’ll just see where it leads, and it’s Sen. Obama’s decision to make and his alone, and I think he’s the one that should be allowed to speak about these kinds of things."
LUNTZ SEES BAYH AS VEEP CONTENDER: Pollster Frank Luntz told a briefing hosted by the Indiana Pacers Wednesday morning that he has Bayh as "number two" on his list (Howey Politics Indiana). Luntz listed Nuclear Threat Initiative Chairman Sam Nunn as tops on his list, with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell at No. 3 and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson at No. 4. Rendell has publicly said he is not interested. Luntz noted Indiana’s 11 Electoral College votes and characterized Indiana as a "ticket splitter state." It comes as the Obama campaign recently hired former Bayh press secretary Jonathan Swain to handle communications in Indiana. Swain served in a similar role with Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the Indiana presidential primary. A SurveyUSA poll released Tuesday showed Obama leading McCain in Indiana 48-47 percent, with 16 percent of Republicans defecting from John McCain. Luntz took note of Bayh’s ability to attract GOP voters as secetary of state, governor and U.S. Senator. SurveyUSA also notes that in 2004, Republicans had a 14-point advantage in party affiliation in Indiana, but that has shifted to 38 percent who say they are Democrats and 36 percent who say they are Republican. Sen. Bayh has been mum when it comes to talking about the veepstakes, at one point refusing to say whether he had turned over tax and financial data to Obama’s veep vetters. As for potential McCain running mates, Luntz listed former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rob Portman of Ohio as McCain’s best options, though he said that Mitt Romney could help him deliver Michigan. Luntz called Michigan and Ohio as the two most crucial tossup states. A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll had Obama leading McCain 49-37 percent while CNN’s "Poll of Polls" - a composite of five national polls - had Obama with a 48-40 percent advantage. Luntz said that Obama is favored over McCain because of his communications skills. "He relates; he engages," Luntz said.
IRVIN TO SEEK 7TH CD NOMINATION: Ray Irvin, the former Indianapolis councilman who went on to forge the Monon Trail and the city’s greenway system, will seek the 7th CD Republican nomination that was vacated by State Rep. Jon Elrod earlier this month. "It’s a go," Irvin told Howey Politics Indiana of his plan to seek the nomination at a caucus to be scheduled sometime after July 4. The nominee will face U.S. Rep. Andre Carson in November. Irvin was elected to the City-County Council in 1987, serving one term before joining the administration of Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. He authored the ordinance that created the Indianapolis Greenways as well as the popular Monon Trail, then directed the planning, development, maintenance and promotion of the network of more than 200 miles and 10,000 acres that has become a recreation, fitness and conservation resource along 20 miles of river, stream and rail corridors. Irvin also served under the Democratic administration of Mayor Bart Peterson before leaving to join INDOT in the administration of Gov. Mitch Daniels where he helped plan the system of bike trails that will connect dozens of Hoosier cities and towns in the coming years. Irvin has served as a Republican precinct committeeman, ran for the Indiana General Assembly in 1986 and was a candidate for mayor in 1992. He was also a U.S. Air Force pilot who served in Vietnam and later did drug interdiction and search and rescue missions.
CHUCK COFFEY DIES: Chuck Coffey, a former journalist and aide to Gov. Frank O’Bannon, was found dead in his home on Wednesday. Economist Morton Marcus sent this e-mail to friends yesterday: "Chuck Coffey was found dead in his home today. He had not been seen since Saturday. I last talked to him about the Cubs game on TV that day. His dog, Alben, is being cared for by neighbors. An autopsy is pending and funeral arrangements will be made when his sister arrives here from Seattle in a day or two. Many knew Chuck from his days at WHAS (Radio & TV) in Louisville, at IU-Southeast, IU Bloomington and IUPUI. He served in the President¢s office and traveled with Herman Wells from Wabash to Beijing, China. From 1988 forward Chuck was a close aide to Frank O’Bannon. A good friend, Chuck was a remarkable story teller with amazing recall of names, places, and events."
***Please login to view the entire article.*** No tag for this post.
Related posts
This entry was written by and posted on June 26, 2008 at 9:19 am and filed under Daily Wire. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
Post a comment(Latest is displayed first) or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.