JOHNSTON, Iowa -- In a quiet, methodical style reflecting his Midwestern roots, Sen. Evan Bayh is laying the foundation for a presidential campaign and prompting some Democrats to talk about a candidate with a realistic shot. "The chatter that you hear is that he's a good guy and nice and he has that honest, Midwestern feel to him, kind of like Harry Truman," said veteran Democratic strategist Dane Strother. "That's all appealing." In his fifth trip to Iowa in the last year, the centrist Indiana Democrat opened a three-day swing Thursday with a fundraiser in downtown Des Moines for legislative candidates. He mingled easily with about 50 party activists for more than an hour and made a point of chatting with everyone in the room. "He's a Midwesterner and that will help him in Iowa," said state Senate Democratic leader Michael Gronstal. "It's up to him to sell himself, and so far he's been fairly impressive."
As he makes his way around the state, which launches the primary process with caucuses, Bayh sets aside ample time for private meetings with top Democrats, introductory sessions in which he often trades stories about campaigning for his father, former Sen. Birch Bayh. The elder Bayh served from 1963-81 and spent time in Iowa in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976. The son finds that the campaign war stories are an effective way of building ties, particularly with older Democrats who remember his dad.
While New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton looms as the front-runner for 2008, other Democrats are fighting to distinguish themselves from the pack. Bayh has the distinction of having won statewide election five times in one of the most Republican states in the nation, serving as secretary of state, governor and senator. "I don't think you can get elected five times in a state that hasn't gone Democratic since 1964 without learning how to campaign," said Anita Dunn, a Democratic media consultant who has signed on with Bayh.