I mentioned the possibility of a primary challenge a little while back.

Hillary make be well-disposed towards taking the risk. If Obama runs and loses, it might well be another eight years before she gets another chance, and she'll be in her early seventies at that point. Its tough for a man to run at that age, much less a woman, and a decade gives rise to a whole new crop of pretenders to the throne. Challenging Obama for the nomination in 2012 might be her last, best chance to try to win the big chair.

I have no special prophetic powers, but I can recognize political opportunity as well as say--Evan Bayh.

In his statement, Bayh, who won the seat to the Senate in 1998, seemed to attribute his decision to the bitter partisan divides that have dominated Congress in recent years, though he praised his colleagues as hard workers devoting to serving the public.

“My decision should not be interpreted for more than it is, a very difficult, deeply personal one,” Bayh’s statement said.

“I am an executive at heart. I value my independence. I am not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology.”

Spend time with the family, yadda, yadda, yadda. Its noteworthy that Bayh is talking about a bitter partisan divide in a Congress totally dominated by Democrats, so either he is telegraphing something about next year's Congress, or he is referring to bitter partisanship within the Jackass party itself.

That aside--read the last sentence. Sounds well, presidential, doesn't it, and a casual slap against the current occupant of the White House?

Bayh's recent attempt to win the nomination fizzled early and fast. I saw him addressing a small group on C-SPAN and clearly not saying anything they wanted to hear. I expect that he thinks he'll find a different reception on the next go around.