Evan Bayh could not have hurt his party more if he had spent years planning a way to stab his fellow Democrats in the back.

Bayh's stunning "retirement" announcement came less than 24 hours before petitions are due for Senate candidates, making it virtually impossible for the Democrats to have a candidate on the May primary ballot. The state central committee will appoint a candidate, who will have to launch a fund-raising campaign and assemble a statewide organization that should have been in place a year ago.

Forcing the party to find a candidate less than nine months before this important election is thumbing his nose at Hoosier Democrats who have supported him through five statewide elections.

Had he had his sudden epiphany that being in politics means partisan fights even a few months ago, a competitive Democrat could have emerged. After all, the Republican field wasn't exactly full of widely known candidates, and Dan Coats – if he wins the primary – would have faced an uphill battle.

Now, Bayh's decision greatly increases the chances of Republicans picking up another Senate seat, so Bayh has lost friends in the national party as well.

Whatever Bayh was thinking, he shouldn't count on the support of the Democratic Party again. For anything.

Coats' debut

With Bayh's announcement coming just after Coats joined the race, it gives Coats much more credibility than the Republican has earned. In fact, Coats could have hardly been more off the mark in launching his campaign.

You only have one chance to make a first impression, the old saying goes, and Coats did a pretty lousy job in re-introducing himself 18 years after his last election.

Coats may have thought he didn't need to make a first impression. But any Hoosier younger than 35 has never seen Coats' name on a ballot; those older than 35 may not have any memorable impressions. Honestly, how many voters remember a single achievement during Coats' 10-year Senate tenure?

Yet so far, Coats has been a stealth candidate – leaking out word he might run, then making his formal announcement not in news conferences before TV cameras with supporters cheering him on but on the radio and in meetings with reporters. Given the now-infamous North Carolina video, Coats should have been on TV in front of the City-County Building in Fort Wayne, the Statehouse in Indianapolis and recognizable landmarks in a few other key cities. Snow in the background would have helped after the North Carolina climate remarks.

Either Coats is getting bad advice, getting no advice or ignoring it.

The best way to fight "outsider" allegations is to at least show voters you are in Indiana.