The Plan Becomes Clearer in Indiana

The insurgent feminist Dem candidate did not come up with enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, and since no other Democrat filed for Sen. Evan Bayh's seat in Indiana, the Dem party is for the moment without a candidate.

However, since there was no candidate who went through the filing process they'll be given a free pass to choose whoever they like for the general election, and they'll have until June to do it. That appears to have been the plan all along - avoid a contested primary and choose a candidate based on what the polls look like when June comes around.

It was Bayh's job to pretend he wanted to run again to ensure a clear field, and he did his job. The seat is now listed as "leans Republican" on many of the political rating services so the Dems will have to come up with a pretty strong candidate in a very anti-Dem year to have hopes of keeping it.