Pressure's on Bayh to snare Indiana for Clinton

Political family heir digs deep, but sway is tough to gauge

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - When Senator Hillary Clinton kicked off her push for the Indiana primary, she picked the Saratoga bar and cafe, a relic amid the aging downtown storefronts and forlorn streets of this western Indiana city.

Clinton's choice of venue last month was a strong statement about where the state's Democratic political power still lay: with Saratoga regular and Terre Haute native Evan Bayh - scion of a legendary political family, popular former two-term Indiana governor, second-term US senator, and now Clinton's biggest booster in a state whose primary on Tuesday could make or break her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In Clinton's most important recent primary victories, she has had a Democratic state boss rallying party regulars to her side: Governor Ted Strickland in Ohio, Governor Ed Rendell in Pennsylvania. It is now Bayh's turn to play kingmaker. And though it is unclear whether he can deliver as successfully, in public and behind the scenes, he has been using his name, his political muscle, and his instantly recognizable face to draw Hoosiers to Clinton's cause.

"To the extent there's a Democratic Party machine in Indiana, it is Evan Bayh's," said Anita Dunn, a Democratic strategist who has worked for Bayh but is helping Senator Barack Obama in the presidential race.

Bayh has secured for Clinton key endorsements from mayors in the Democratic strongholds of northwest Indiana, despite the region's proximity to Obama's hometown of Chicago. He has sent top staff members to help run Clinton's campaign. He has vouched for Clinton's "spine of steel" in the first statewide television ad run by her campaign. And he has lobbied undecided local leaders across the state and leaned on members of Indiana's congressional delegation.

"In my case, it was very, very persuasive when Evan called me," said Clinton supporter Thomas McDermott, the mayor of Hammond, a city in Democrat-rich Lake County. "Nobody wants to be on the opposite side of Evan Bayh in Indiana, because he's so respected."

Still, Bayh's sway over such a high-profile presidential primary is difficult to measure. And many, including Bayh, play down whether Indiana has the same kind of big-state machine that can swing the election for a certain candidate.

"I don't think anyone can deliver a state. It's ultimately up to the candidate to do that," Bayh said in an interview. "My connection to the people of Indiana is personal, it's close. But it's hard to transfer that."

Some leading Indiana Democrats have ignored his counsel and endorsed Obama, including US Representatives Baron Hill and Andre Carson and Joe Andrew, a former Democratic National Committee chairman who, in announcing his switch from Clinton to Obama yesterday, said he respects Bayh but believed it was important for party leaders to make an "independent decision about what we think is right for the country." Andrew urged fellow superdelegates to unite behind Obama, warning that the protracted primary fight is hurting the party and helping Republican John McCain.

What is clear is that the pressure on Bayh is considerable. And he knows it. "I welcome the expectations," Bayh said. "And I hope to meet them."

He has big shoes to fill.

Clinton won critical primary victories in Ohio last month and Pennsylvania last week, thanks partly to big-name backers, who mobilized their supporters and organizations for her: Strickland helped the New York senator rack up huge margins in the rural regions of his native southeast Ohio, while Rendell helped her fare better than expected in Philadelphia's vote-rich suburbs.

Rendell called Bayh after Clinton's Pennsylvania win with a pointed, if half-joking, message: Now it's your turn.

But Bayh argues that the landscape in Indiana is much different. Unlike in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Clinton did not begin with a double-digit lead in the polls - the most recent polls suggest she has a slight lead in a contest that had been neck and neck last week. And, he says, Obama enjoys a home-field advantage.

Bayh's standing in Indiana, remarkable for a Democrat in such a conservative state, was forged by his father, Birch, who served in the US Senate from 1963 until he lost a reelection bid in 1980. Birch Bayh also ran unsuccessfully for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination.

Like many voters, Chris Heiny, a 56-year-old retired preschool teacher from nearby Sullivan, Ind., views Evan Bayh, 52, through the prism of history, recalling Birch Bayh's first Senate race victory 46 years ago.

"I was 10 years old, and I remember that," she said. "Bayh - it's a household name in Indiana."

But some voters say his endorsement is immaterial. "It doesn't mean anything to me," said Pat Chrisman, a 57-year-old carpenter and former firefighter from Terre Haute who is still undecided.

The Clinton strategy was to use Bayh, a more moderate voice in the Senate than his father, to introduce Clinton in a state where she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, lack the deep ties and history they enjoy elsewhere.

"Folks didn't know the real Hillary Clinton here," said Dan Parker, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, a Clinton supporter, and, like many Democrats in the state, a self-described "Bayh guy."

"When Evan Bayh goes on TV and says: 'I know her. I've known her for 20 years. She's one of us,' " Parker said, "that's important."

Bayh's early support for Clinton, which came in September, reflected the close relationship the two have developed in the Senate, particularly on the Armed Services Committee, where they sit next to one another. Bayh and Bill Clinton were also young governors together before Clinton won the presidency in 1992.

Bayh's motivation may also be somewhat self-serving: He is often mentioned as a likely candidate for vice president. Bayh has already made clear his sights are set beyond Indiana. In late 2006, he launched his own presidential effort, only to pull the plug two weeks later after concluding the odds were too long.

Some who have known and watched Bayh over the years say that in endorsing Clinton, he has stepped beyond the bounds of his carefully cultivated image as a cautious consensus-seeker who avoids partisanship.

"He's also doing this at some considerable risk to his brand," said one longtime associate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment more candidly. "He really has spent his political capital for her."

Indeed, Bayh's amiable, nonpartisan disposition has allowed him to build up the very good will he is now drawing on in his role as a Clinton partisan.

"If we have a picnic or a hog roast or a rally, when we're able to announce that he's going to be present, our attendance will triple," said Joe Etling, Democratic Party chairman in Vigo County, where Terre Haute is located.

"I don't think a machine is how I'd classify it," Etling continued. "But clearly, with respect to the resurgence of the Democratic Party in the state of Indiana, you clearly have to start with Evan Bayh, because he's the one that kind of put all the things in place."

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.