Another Midwesterner, Bayh is a popular former governor and current Senator from Indiana, where he helped Clinton win a narrow but ultimately disappointing victory in May's primary. Obama is running surprisingly close in this red state, and Bayh could help put him over the top. Bayh appeals to moderate Dems and Clinton backers, and his record as a centrist on spending and abortion would help Obama with Reagan Democrats. But he suffers from Al Gore-like blandness, limited foreign policy experience and the fact that, like Obama, he serves in the Senate.
by Massimo Calabresi, with reporting by James Downie/Washington