Is governor's mansion in Bayh's future?

INDIANAPOLIS | Bayh for governor?

U.S. Sen Evan Bayh told a news conference Monday, "I am an executive at heart" while explaining why he is retiring from the Senate in 11 months, despite a substantial lead in the polls and a $13. 4 million campaign bankroll.

Although he suggested he may go into business, education or charity, Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Legislative Insight, said Bayh sounds like a man who hasn't yet given up on the political process.

"I would not be surprised to see him come back next year and run for governor in 2012. Democrats really pushed him hard to leave the Senate and come back and run against Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2004, but he felt he could still make a contribution in the U.S. Senate. But things are different now.

"If you parse his statement, it's all about making policy and doing things. Those are things a governor does, not the kind of things a U.S. senator does," Feigenbaum said Monday.

Gov. Mitch Daniels is barred by term limits from running for re-election.

Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel and U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, of Seymour, are other Democrats who have been exploring a run for governor.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, Indiana Republican Chairman Murray Clark and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, of Columbus, are considered possible Republican heirs apparent to Daniels.

Feigenbaum said Bayh has the advantage of name recognition and popularity among most state voters, who may remember his years as governor from 1989 to 1996 with nostalgia.

Bayh reminded his audience Monday that he cut taxes and balanced the state's budget, leaving behind "the biggest surplus" in state history.

Feigenbaum said, "Fairly or unfairly, he can come in and blame Republican administrations at the national and state level for the straits we are in today and remind people that he managed to get the state through the recession of the early 1990s."