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By BRIAN A. HOWEY
INDIANAPOLIS - We conducted this telephone interview with U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh late Tuesday afternoon from Denver at the Democratic National Convention.
HPI: Did you get the text message from the Obama campaign at 3 a.m?
Bayh: I’m happy to report I was happily asleep at 3 a.m. because Barack and I had spoken Thursday afternoon. I was not awaiting in anticipation. I already knew what his decision was and I support it wholeheartedly.
HPI: How did the phone call with Sen. Obama go? Did you know it was coming or was it a call out of the blue?
Sen. Evan Bayh talks to the press at Concord HS in Elkhart earlier this month after campaigning with Barack Obama. (HPI Photo by Ryan Nees)
Bayh: He couldn’t have been nicer. I knew Barack but I didn’t know him well before I went through the process. But I think we got to know each other well and developed respect and appreciation for each other that is geniune. Brian, he said a lot of things very complimentary; things you would imagine in a call like that. But I think he genuinely believed them. I knew that even though I was in the final three or two, it was a good chance, but it wasn’t a 50/50 chance. So I was prepared for that. And he told me he needed me not only in the campaign but for the country. It will go in a new direction. I told him I would do whatever I could do to accomplish that. If I was the one who could help him the most, fine. If it was somebody else I would be fully supportive of that. He also said, Brian, you made it to the final two or three. You’ve got great strengths and so it was a very good conversation and I think we’re going to have a very good relationship going forward.
HPI: At what point this summer did it become apparent that you were on the short list?
Bayh: I was kind of an evolutionary thing. As Susan points out, I had no expectation of being considered because I was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton. It starts with public speculation by people who really don’t know what’s going on. And then he was kind enough to call me and said, “Look, we’re going to cast a wide net.” He said he would be honored if I would be willing to go through the process of being considered. “We’re going to cast a wide net and look at a number of people. But there were only a handful that merit serious consideration and I think you’re one of them.” So I said that I would be honored to be considered then. My take on this, Brian, is that to get to the final two or three obviously you’ve got to have some pretty good things that recommend you or you don’t get there. And obviously you can’t have too many negative things otherwise you don’t get there. I hope it reflected well on our state. When you get to that point it just becomes what the particular dynamics of the campaign happen to be. We had two or three really good people and it was a question of who happened to fit their needs at that particular time best. That’s the way it is. Dick Lugar has been in this position and my father has been in this position. They performed great public service for our state. So I’m pretty philosophical about it.
HPI: At what point in the summer dd you know you would be vetted?
Bayh: I can’t remember the exact date but if Hillary dropped out in the first week of June or there abouts, it was probably sometime in July.
HPI: Did you have conversations with Sen. Clinton once it became clear you were being vetted?
Bayh: I did not talk to her about that whole process. That was confidential. Once it was known, I talked to her about it and she wished me well. She called me Saturday night after the announcement just to say what a strong candidate I would have been, but she likes Joe Biden. I did not talk to her in detail about the process. They were quite adamant that it be kept confidential so I didn’t.
HPI: Let’s talk about the two July events with Sen. Obama. How were you involved in the Purdue University forum? That obviously got us in the media going since you and Sam Nunn were there.
Bayh: They wanted to come to Indiana. And, by the way, all the talk about them not being serious in Indiana, well, that’s not true. They’re serious about it, even now. And that’s good. So he came here to campaign, they wanted to focus on national security and Sam Nunn and I were strong voices on national security and so they asked if I would come and introduce him and participate on the panel. I didn’t help plan it but I was more than happy to introduce him and participate.
HPI: And Elkhart?
Bayh: The Elkhart thing that everybody got all excited about it was really just a campaign event, there and Portage. And on the bus between the two we spent a lot of good quality time but we did not discuss one word about the vice presidential situation. We talked about kids and we talked about sports. Which should tell you he’s a pretty regular person.
HPI: Are you a Sox fan or a Cubs fan?
Bayh: I’m not from Chicago. I kind of root for the underdog. I know the owner of the White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf, so I kind of have some allegiance that way. But since I’m a Democrat I kind of root for the underdog and hope the Cubbies get the curse off their backs. I can’t remember … Barack told me which one he is,
HPI: He’s a Sox fan. South Sider.
Bayh: I love talking to Reggie Love because he’s a former Duke basketball player so we talked a lot of sports too.
HPI: Walk me through this last crazy week. What was that like with all the speculation and the media on your front porch?
Bayh: It was surreal at times, watching the front of your house on TV in real time and literally not being able to go out and get the morning newspaper or take your kids to camp without a pack of press coming around. And then the last day one of the networks literally had someone following me around in a car. But that’s part of the thing, part of the situation. So we accepted all that. We were fine with it. The last couple of weeks were a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I knew we were under serious consideration, I knew it was a small group, I knew it was less than 50/50 but still a decent chance. So we were following the process just like everyone else.
HPI: Could you have snuck out the back door and gotten away from the press if you had to?
Bayh: Not the way our house is constructed … well, I guess I could have scaled the fence and run through the neighbor’s yard, but, I might have impaled myself.
HPI: What was it like to see Susan dragged through all of this, particularly when the Bloomberg story came out in the last week?
Bayh: He told me when he called me to inform me of the decision that his decison had nothing to do with me. It had to do with some of the things in the campaign they were trying to accomplish. He told me that that was not going to make the decision. I knew that first hand, but look, I’m not going to characterize my conversations.
HPI: What’s your view of the news media these days after going through this roller coaster?
Bayh: The news media does their job. It’s an important job and I try not to second guess them. (Bayh runs into CBS anchor Katie Couric at this point in the interview and they chat for a couple of minutes). Sorry, Brian, that was Katie Couric. She had been predicting that it would be me and Mitt Romney, so she still has a chance to bat .500.
HPI: Obama did not run well against Hillary in Indiana’s river corridor and you always have. Can he win there and will you help him?
Bayh: I told him I would do everything to help him out when it comes to campaigning in Indiana. I will take my direction from him. And the answer is yes. A couple of things: Southern Indiana is no different than the rest of our state in terms of middle class families struggling economically with the high cost of health care and the high cost of gasoline. People know we have to have a better economic policy to create better paying jobs. They are tired of spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when the Iraqis have a $79 billion surplus. So, I think he can do well. It’s going to take some campaigning but that’s what a campaign is all about.
HPI: Will it be close in Indiana? Will we be seeing you in October?
Bayh: I am going to be home. I’ve got several weeks blocked off with three or four days a week home. If he’s going to be there, I’ll be with him. I will be home; I will be campaigning. I literally told him, Brian, if you decide I’m the one, I’ll give you everything I’ve got, and if you decide on somebody else, I’ll still give everything I’ve got. If they ask me to campaign with them or for them I’d be delighted to do that.
Bayh called back a few minutes later and made one final point:
Bayh: To amplify what I said a couple of times: what ultimately matters is not me. What matters is the people of country and Indiana. That’s why I’m supporting Barack Obama. I was asked this morning by the Indiana delegation if I was disappointed. Well, I am disappointed, but it’s not for the political reasons. I am disappointed in costs of health care. I’m disappointed with the war in Iraq, and the state of the economy. I’m really going to be disappointed if we don’t do what we can to change that. Candidates are important, but people are the most important. Ultimatley, politics is only a means to an end. Sometimes that gets lost in all the activity.
Tags: Barack Obama, Dick Lugar, Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, John McCain
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