Bayh Veep Speculation Getting Crazy

The twists and turns in the speculation over whether Sen. Evan Bayh will become Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate just keep getting crazier. First, there was the attention grabbed by a new website, ObamaBayh.com, which fueled speculation Bayh was the one. It turned out that a Bayh enthusiast registered the site last year.

A couple of days ago, someone spoofed a CNN news link suggesting an aide had inadvertently leaked out Bayh's name as Obama's choice. It momentarily fooled a few until people learned it was faked. The image was strikingly similar to one spoofed by an IU School of Law student a few years ago on April Fools Day, which claimed that the infamous former law school professor, William Bradford, had been nominated to the federal bench by President Bush.

Then came an ABC News report that Susan Bayh had just had her hair and nails done and warned neighbors about the media she expected to descend on her home. That was quickly followed by another strange news report by ABC News about Evan Bayh tossing a gym bag belonging to one of his sons into the street outside his home when departing his home today. ABC reports:

Bayh's week of fatherhood fun hit a roadblock ... or rather, created one.

A large black gym bag got stuck on the door of a car driven by a friend of Bayh's as it pulled out of his garage. The driver then drove about a hundred yards up the street, with the bag dragging along behind the car.

When the car reached the top of the tree-lined residential road, Bayh, sitting on the passenger side, opened his door and the bag fall out into the street. And then, as if nothing had happened, the car drove away, leaving the tag-along bag stranded right in the path of oncoming traffic.

Members of the media staked out at the residence stood around confused about the bizarre scene, before one especially conscientious reporter walked up the hill to pick up the bag. Yours truly took the bag, weighed down with "Spartans" lacrosse gear, back to Bayh's house, dropping it off on the front porch.

The senator, via his spokesman, later expressed his personal gratitude to the good samaritan reporter.

It turns out that Bayh, who is apparently on "Dad duty" at the moment, did not know that the lacrosse bag was stuck on the car, as he drove off to pick up his twin sons, Beau and Nick, at their all-day sports camp. The bag, which belongs to Beau, will fortunately not be needed today, since the boys are at a tennis camp rather than a lacrosse one.

So consider it a crisis averted -- though the incident didn't go unnoticed by Bayh's neighbors. "I thought it was very odd and very strange and out of character that the senator would just toss a bag out into the middle of the street," said Bayh neighbor Ashley Allen.

"He's serious about those boys and their lacrosse," she added. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to have the bag back."

Bayh, a sports aficionado just like his sons, is planning on hitting some tennis balls with them before returning home later today, where he will find the lost bag safe and sound.

Making matters worse for Bayh, that same ABC report claims Bayh hasn't heard from Obama all week. But then there is major buzz about a major Obama event taking place in Indianapolis on Saturday. The Nashville Post reported:

NashvillePost.com has learned that senior campaign officials from the Barack Obama Presidential campaign are being dispatched from various locations around the country and are converging in Indianapolis for a “major event” to take place on Saturday.

Saturday is the same day that Obama is expected to make his first public appearance with his yet to be announced vice presidential running mate. Indiana is the home state of Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, widely considered to be on the short list of Democratic vice presidential contenders.

Sources in Denver, the site of next week's Democratic National Convention, say that individuals responsible for Obama's major public appearances have been pulled out of the city and are heading east towards Indiana.

The Washington Post dashed Bayh's hopes, however, when it said the Obama campaign flat out denied any Indianapolis trip was in the works for Saturday as reported by the Nashville Post. Is all the hype surrounding Bayh just a bunch of hot air? In the end, all of this media attention may turn out to be one huge negative for Bayh if he once again gets passed over for veep. The attention being paid to he and his wife's self-dealing and the conflicts of interest created by the seven corporate board seats she has managed to attain with few qualifications could prove extremely damaging to his political future in Indiana.