I'm down with the general consensus that none of Barack Obama's available choices -- expected choices; there exists the chance that it'll be someone none of us have thought of -- is a game-changer. So I still think Evan Bayh is the best veep choice for these reasons:
1. He's a boring, white, middle-American. I mean very boring and very middle-American and very white. For an "exotic" candidate, these are good things to have in a running mate. They reassure the average white voter that maybe Obama won't be turning the government over to Al Sharpton after all.
2. Relatedly, look at this picture of Bayh's family. Then imagine the Obama and Bayh families on stages together, in Denver and beyond. It's p.r. gold.
3. He was a big Clinton supporter, so it would be a fence-mending move.
4. Indiana is in play, and it's a big prize -- 13 electoral votes. If Obama/Bayh could steal Indiana, it's very hard to see McCain winning. And Bayh is very popular there.
5. He has experience and yet is still young enough to fit into the new generation mold.
6. They like him in Broderland. Would play pretty well with the pundits.
There are downsides, as there are to anyone. But I stack up the plusses and minuses of each of the remaining ones and I still come out with Bayh on top. But two or three others would be just fine, and people obsess over this way too much.
