Oh this could be funny to watch, and clearly this could be the nightmare scenario that the Democrats really do not need to deal with right now. 
Challenger adds to post-Bayh chaos
A Bloomington, Ind., restaurant owner who had been running an obscure and uphill challenge against Sen. Evan Bayh for the Democratic nomination claimed Monday that she’s just 1,000 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot.
In an interview with POLITICO, Tamyra D'Ippolito said that after news broke Monday morning that Bayh was retiring, her campaign contacted Democratic officials in Indiana to request they help her get the needed signatures by noon Tuesday — when they must be verified by the state’s 92 country registrars.
It was not possible to verify D’Ippolito’s claim about how many signatures she’s collected. To qualify for the statewide ballot in Indiana, candidates need 500 verified voter signatures from each of the state’s nine congressional districts.
But in the mad scramble following Bayh’s surprise decision, worried Democrats in Washington and Indianapolis were taking the prospect seriously. “This would be a complete and unmitigated disaster,” said a leading Democrat in the state. “We’d be up sh—’s creek.”
This Indianapolis-based Democrat was in contact with senior party officials in Bloomington on Monday and had begun calling around to registrars in the state’s population centers to determine whether D’Ippolito had filed her petitions yet.
Simultaneously, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s political director, Martha McKenna, contacted D’Ippolito on Monday “asking for information about me,” the candidate said.
But D’Ippolito said she had not yet been urged by any Democrat to stop collecting signatures and withdraw. “They know me too well,” she said. “That won’t work well with me.” She said she was committed to the race in part because she was sick of the male-dominated Democratic Party in the state. “It’s very much an old boys club in Indiana and I’m out to break it,” she said. Before hanging up she added that she wanted to offer a “reminder:” “Indiana is 52 percent women.”
D’Ippolito also suggested that Bayh’s announcement was timed so that the state’s top Democratic officials could hand-pick his successor. “I don’t know if they’re smoking cigars there, but the decision has already been made,” she said. The owner of the Ragazzi Art Café in Bloomington, a liberal enclave that is home to Indiana University, D’Ippolito ran the 2006 primary campaign of a Democrat who lost to Rep. Baron Hill. But this is the first time she has run for office.
A colon cancer survivor, she launched a liberal challenge against Bayh in November in part over healthcare.
D’Ippolito said she was working diligently to get the needed signatures but was still lagging, especially in the 8th District which is in the southwest corner of the state.
She said she wasn’t certain she’d qualify because, as she put it, Bayh-backing Democratic officials “have been stonewalling us for four months.”
A DSCC official conceded that after the Bayh shocker they were still trying to determine who exactly D’Ippolito was and whether she could qualify.
“I’m told it’s unlikely she gets this done,” said the official, more hopeful than confident.
Conservative and liberal activists, with varying motives, also began to rally around D'Ippolito Monday.
The liberal blog Firedoglake offered a friendly write-up and a link to her petitions.
And conservatives saw it as an opportunity to wreak havoc among their foes.
"This could be fun," wrote RedState blogger Erick Erickson. "Those of you in Indiana should go out of your way to help Tamyra get the signatures he needs by tomorrow at noon."
Read more: Challenger adds to post-Bayh chaos - Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com
A Bloomington, Ind., restaurant owner who had been running an obscure and uphill challenge against Sen. Evan Bayh for the Democratic nomination claimed Monday that she’s just 1,000 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot.
In an interview with POLITICO, Tamyra D'Ippolito said that after news broke Monday morning that Bayh was retiring, her campaign contacted Democratic officials in Indiana to request they help her get the needed signatures by noon Tuesday — when they must be verified by the state’s 92 country registrars.
It would be something close to a nightmare scenario for Democrats: were D’Ippolito to qualify for the ballot, she would be the likely nominee and the party would be left to face the GOP with a political neophyte who said she is running in part to take on a party establishment she said practices “sexism with a big S.”
It’s precisely what Bayh had hoped to avoid. By disclosing his retirement one day before the filing deadline, the idea was that no Democrat would qualify for the primary ballot and the party’s state central committee could tap their favored candidate.It was not possible to verify D’Ippolito’s claim about how many signatures she’s collected. To qualify for the statewide ballot in Indiana, candidates need 500 verified voter signatures from each of the state’s nine congressional districts.
But in the mad scramble following Bayh’s surprise decision, worried Democrats in Washington and Indianapolis were taking the prospect seriously. “This would be a complete and unmitigated disaster,” said a leading Democrat in the state. “We’d be up sh—’s creek.”
This Indianapolis-based Democrat was in contact with senior party officials in Bloomington on Monday and had begun calling around to registrars in the state’s population centers to determine whether D’Ippolito had filed her petitions yet.
Simultaneously, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s political director, Martha McKenna, contacted D’Ippolito on Monday “asking for information about me,” the candidate said.
But D’Ippolito said she had not yet been urged by any Democrat to stop collecting signatures and withdraw. “They know me too well,” she said. “That won’t work well with me.” She said she was committed to the race in part because she was sick of the male-dominated Democratic Party in the state. “It’s very much an old boys club in Indiana and I’m out to break it,” she said. Before hanging up she added that she wanted to offer a “reminder:” “Indiana is 52 percent women.”
D’Ippolito also suggested that Bayh’s announcement was timed so that the state’s top Democratic officials could hand-pick his successor. “I don’t know if they’re smoking cigars there, but the decision has already been made,” she said. The owner of the Ragazzi Art Café in Bloomington, a liberal enclave that is home to Indiana University, D’Ippolito ran the 2006 primary campaign of a Democrat who lost to Rep. Baron Hill. But this is the first time she has run for office.
A colon cancer survivor, she launched a liberal challenge against Bayh in November in part over healthcare.
D’Ippolito said she was working diligently to get the needed signatures but was still lagging, especially in the 8th District which is in the southwest corner of the state.
She said she wasn’t certain she’d qualify because, as she put it, Bayh-backing Democratic officials “have been stonewalling us for four months.”
A DSCC official conceded that after the Bayh shocker they were still trying to determine who exactly D’Ippolito was and whether she could qualify.
“I’m told it’s unlikely she gets this done,” said the official, more hopeful than confident.
Conservative and liberal activists, with varying motives, also began to rally around D'Ippolito Monday.
The liberal blog Firedoglake offered a friendly write-up and a link to her petitions.
And conservatives saw it as an opportunity to wreak havoc among their foes.
"This could be fun," wrote RedState blogger Erick Erickson. "Those of you in Indiana should go out of your way to help Tamyra get the signatures he needs by tomorrow at noon."
Read more: Challenger adds to post-Bayh chaos - Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com
