Former Indiana Senator Dan Coats threw his hat into the ring yesterday and announced his plan to campaign against Indiana Senator Evan Bayh this year.
Democrats quickly began attacking Coats's lobbying background and criticizing his residency in Virginia. In Talking Points Memo style, Marc Ambinder considers other Republicans the Democrats may have to overcome this year, including Roy Blunt of Missouri, Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Simmons of Connecticut, Mike Castle of Delaware, Mark Kirk of Illinois, and John Boozman of Arkansas.
Coats served four terms in the House of Representatives before he was appointed to replace Dan Quayle in the Senate when Quayle became vice president. He was elected in 1990 and in 1992 won the seat outright and served as ambassador to Germany under President Bush. Bayh, a former two-term governor, was elected in 1998 to succeed Coats, who chose not to seek re-election then.
Christianity Todaywrote about Evan Bayh's possibility as President Obama's vice presidential candidate and spoke with Coats, a graduate of Wheaton College, when he first retired from the Senate.
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