Indiana Dems missed deadline to file for Bayh’s Seat

Due to Sen. (D-IN) Evan Bayh’s late announcement that he will not seek reelection for a second term, he has left the Indiana Democrat Party in a quandry–earlier this month, the Dems missed the filing deadline for the primary election.  This means the party must wait until after the primary, May 4th, 2010, before the state party officials may officially file their candidate.   Hoosier Democrats must now now choose at their state convention.   But their convention is not scheduled until June 20th, delaying nearly two months of critical campaign time to get their candidate out front to the Indiana voters.  Or, if they choose, the state Democrat Party power brokers may choose their candidate before the convention in a backroom deal.   The risk with this option is the leader’s choice may be unpopular to Indiana Democrats, who will likely lack motivation to go to the polls in November to turn out for their party’s candidate.

Indiana Democrats are thus left with no good options, and are forced between selecting a candidate late in the election cycle, or possibly a very unpopular candidate.  In either scenario, the future looks bright in for the GOP in Indiana to pick up a badly needed senate seat.