Obama campaigns with possible veep contender

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Democrat Barack Obama campaigned on Wednesday with a man considered by many to be on his short list of running mates, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh. Obama called him "one of the finest U.S. senators that we have," but he gave no indication that he was nearing a vice presidential decision.

Bayh was to spend the day with his neighboring senator in a usually Republican state that is viewed as a battleground this year.

Bayh, a former two-term governor and son of former Sen. Birch Bayh, has been widely viewed a top-tier running mate prospect. He is a former supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, has executive experience and is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Furthermore, Democrats view Indiana — which has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964 — as competitive.

That led to considerable speculation, especially here, that if Obama had settled on Bayh, he would use this visit to announce the decision. But it was not to be.

Bayh said Obama would bring "a breath of fresh air" to the nation's capital. He said Republican John McCain "is not a bad man," but that McCain had some bad policies.

Bayh opened his introduction of Obama by saying he had some "good news" to depart.

"In five short months, the Bush administration will be done," Bayh said. A McCain victory, he said, would mean "four more years of what we've had."

Obama campaigned in Indiana as his campaign released a new television ad that seeks to link McCain to President Bush and questions whether McCain is the political maverick he claims to be. It shows McCain acknowledging that he agrees with Bush on most issues.

The ad also criticizes McCain on three economic issues of concern to middle-class voters: tax breaks for the wealthy, money for oil companies, and tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas. The ad ends with a smiling McCain and Bush side by side.

McCain's campaign turned out an ad Tuesday in the other direction, suggesting that McCain differs from Bush and the GOP on important issues — without mentioning Bush by name.

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On the Net:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vVHN9bLCgF7k&eurl

Obama campaign: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

McCain campaign: http://www.johnmccain.com/

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080806/ap_on_el_pr/obama [link]