Hillary's slogan was "Ready on Day One." No one doubts her capacity to be president, but lesser-known figures like Sebelius and Webb have yet to build that credibility with a national audience. The third and easily the top contender in the 2008 version of the Clinton-Gore double-down model is former Indiana governor and now Sen. Evan Bayh, who passes the test of instantly being seen as a prospective president. Indeed, he briefly filed the paperwork with the FEC to explore a presidential run before thinking better of challenging the Clintons and signing on as one of Hillary's top surrogates.

Like Al Gore, Bayh grew up in a political family. Birch Bayh, his father, held the Senate seat from Indiana until 1980, when the Reagan Revolution took hold and Dan Quayle defeated him. The senior Bayh briefly ran for president in 1976. Raised in a political household, Bayh, again like Gore, is always on stage, a self-consciousness that leads to cautiousness and makes him seem boring. His risk-averse nature held him back from taking the presidential plunge, but for a vice president he has the right temperament. Just as Clinton-Gore combined two young Southerners with photogenic families, an Obama-Bayh ticket would combine two young Midwesterners with beautiful families. (Bayh and his wife, Susan, have twin adolescent sons). And Bayh won't make a mistake. He's vetted and ready. In a race that will be won or lost in the Ohio River Valley and the western part of Pennsylvania, the working-class demographic that Hillary charmed, Bayh could be the placid, turmoil-free and safely male version of what Obama needs.

© 2008