The Indiana fix

The “fix” may be in for the Indiana Democrats. The Evansville Courier & Press reports that, with the blessing of leading state and local Democrats, Rep. Brad Ellsworth will run for Evan Bayh’s Senate seat and state Rep. Trent Van Haaften will attempt to succeed Ellsworth in the U.S. House.
As I noted last night, Bayh timed his exit announcement in a way that enables the party establishment (which to a significant degree may mean Bayh himself) to handpick the Democratic candidates for Bayh’s seat and for any resulting House vacancy. Ellsworth and Van Haaften seem to be viewed as the most attractive candidates available to bear the Democrats’ standard in these two races (I’ve read that the Democratic mayor of Evansville, Jon Weinzapfel, might have been a better candidate than Van Haaften, but apparently he wasn’t interested).
Even with their “fix,” the Dems probably don’t have much reason for optimism in the Senate race. A Rasmussen poll has Ellsworth trailing by double figures to Republicans Dan Coats and John Hostettler.