Maybe.  We’re picking up rumors that Mark Massa will enter the race for Marion County Prosecutor next week.  A report prepared by former prosecutor Scott Newman heaped buckets of praise on Massa, who currently serves as Gov. Daniels chief legal counsel.  We’re sure he enjoyed that bucket humbly, with a side of inter-office ridicule and silent admiration for a guy who is clearly the most qualified for the job.

More from Newman:

I am pleased to recommend Mark Massa, whom I believe and in fact know to be the best candidate we could possibly field in the fall election. Note that I did not say, “the best candidate under the circumstances.” I truly believe that while the circumstances leading us along this somewhat unaccustomed path to slating were not ideal, the end result may well be the very best candidate that could have been chosen-under any circumstances.

Mark Massa has served with distinction as a deputy prosecutor in Marion County, as Chief Counsel to the Prosecutor when I held that office, as an Assistant United States Attorney, and as Senior Counsel to the Governor of the State of Indiana. He has prosecuted the full range of offenses, from a traffic infraction to sending a killer to death row.

Our Prosecutor must ensure that criminals receive their just punishment. He must provide inspiring and trustworthy leadership in the broader struggle for quality of life in our neighborhoods. He must with uncommon grace combine just the right measures of toughness, accountability, common sense, and fairness. He must feel the kind of compassion for the plight of crime victims that moves him, not to abject sympathy or showy diatribe, but to swift and appropriate action. All of these qualities, Mark possesses. I have seen them. I have benefitted from them during much of my career. I have relied upon him and trusted him, and so has our Governor and many others. Given a chance, he will work hard to earn the trust and confidence of the precinct committeemen and the voters of Marion County, just as he has done at so many critical times and places over the years.

Massa has pledged to announce his intentions on Monday.

We don’t remember writing today’s editorial in the Northwest Indiana Times, but it sure sounds like us.  They didn’t pull any punches in their assessment of Bauer’s complacency in allowing Rep. Terri Austin to kill the Illiana Expressway, and then punish Rep. Chet Dobis for daring to defend his constituents’ best interests.

[Bauer] is not a leader. He is a political hack who cares more about partisan politics than doing the right thing.

At a time when Northwest Indiana needs prompt legislative approval for the privately funded Illiana to help relieve traffic congestion, Bauer has played a disrespectful partisan hand. There should be no doubt he will kill the Illiana legislation to prove he has the power to do so.

Dobis, on the other hand, can hold his head high. After more than 30 years in the state General Assembly, Dobis once again showed he cares more about doing the right thing for his community than political position. It’s unfortunate he paid such a high price.

It’s also unfortunate that other Democrats from Northwest Indiana lacked the backbone to stand with Dobis. They say they support the Illiana, but they buckled when it came time for the test.

Bauer’s petty political move will long be remembered as an example of the misuse of legislative power at its worst. If only voters in Northwest Indiana could cast ballots when he next seeks election. They’d vote the bum out. — NWI Times

We like their style.

The fallout over Speaker Bauer’s decision to demote his second in command continued today as demotee Rep. Chet Dobis didn’t mince words about the speaker, the November elections, and his new-found freedom to support his constituents instead of Boss Bauer’s political agenda.

State Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, is not leaving his political party, but his removal from the House Democratic leadership makes him a “free agent” when it comes to voting on legislation, he said Wednesday.

The House met only briefly and took no votes Wednesday, so Dobis didn’t get to exercise his newfound voting freedom. But the 20-term state representative told The Times that “if it’s good for Lake County or Northwest Indiana, you can bet I’ll give some heavy consideration to voting whichever way I feel.”

That could include cooperating with House Republicans and Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels on an Illiana Expressway project, he said. Dobis worked with Daniels to create the Regional Development Authority in 2005.

“Come November, the speaker may not be the speaker anymore, I’m not sure, but I know the governor will be governor,” Dobis said.

Democrats hold a 52-48 majority in the House, including Dobis’ vote. The governor and House Republican leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, have been recruiting candidates and raising money to try to take back the House for the GOP in the November general election. Republicans control the Indiana Senate.

Dobis said Bauer’s tenuous hold on his position as speaker of a Democratic majority in the House is making him “paranoid” about the governor.

“I think he must see him in his dreams because he’s always lurking in the shadows even when he’s not even around,” Dobis said. “You don’t get positive things done that way.” – NWI Times

That paranoia has led to some devastating, and uncharacteristic, political mis-steps by Speaker Bauer since the 2009 legislative session.  Bauer’s 52 seat majority is actually 51; Rep. Dennie Oxley Sr. continues to recover from a massive heart attack he suffered in November.  Now that Rep. Dobis has been cut loose, there is a real risk that Democrats won’t be able to pass anything on party lines.  That might not matter since they don’t want anything more than to adjourn this session and play catch up with Republican challengers.

While the drama continues in the House Democrat caucus, Republicans are preparing for a political war in 2010.  To date, nearly twenty top Republican recruits are at home raising money and building organizations to win in November, with more come.  Gov. Mitch Daniels is doing his part recruiting candidates and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to put behind them this year to win back the majority.

Rumor has it that Sen. Richard Lugar is considering a run for the US Senate against Evan Bayh.  Stay tuned.  Here it is, your FH Morning Briefing for Thursday, February 4, 2010.

– Gov. Mitch Daniels and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal are preparing to enter a high stakes game of betting over the Super Bowl.  If the Colts win, Mitch gets to run for president, if the Saints win, it’s Jindal.  (Indianapolis Star)

– Vulnerable Democrats are beginning to unite on a single issue: they agree that President Obama is a real drag.  Look for more distance between the White House and Dems in battleground districts.  (Baltimore Sun)

– Karl Rove hits the nail on the head again today in his Wall Street Journal op-ed.  He reminds readers that a photo-op to fake some bipartisan gestures is far different than the president compromising on policy to win bipartisan support for his agenda.  (Wall Street Journal)

– An effort to allow land based casinos in Indiana is in trouble after House Republican Leader Brian Bosma came out against the effort.  Given Speaker Bauer’s risk averse behavior the first half of the session, we can’t imagine Democrats carrying the water on land-based casinos.  (Indianapolis Star)

– After being removed from his position in leadership, Rep. Chet Dobis is a “free agent”, and can do pretty much whatever he wants, including vote against his caucus that has a razor thin one vote majority.  We don’t want to say we told you so, but… you know.  (Northwest Indiana Times)

Dan Coats released a statement this afternoon to make his intentions known regarding a possible US Senate bid.  Here’s a clip:

After much thoughtful consideration, I have authorized my supporters to begin gathering signatures as I test the waters for a potential challenge to Evan Bayh in 2010. Over the next few weeks, I will be talking to Hoosiers from all walks of life, and I will make a formal announcement regarding my intentions in the near future. — Dan Coats

The word on the street is that he’ll announce early next week, which is smart so he doesn’t get lost in Super Bowl fever.  The statements from big shots of all kinds on the Republican side of the aisle were impressive.  The National Republican Senatorial Committee jumped out quickly and Congressmen Souder and Pence followed closely behind with their own statements of support.

Democrats from DC to Indianapolis were clearly blindsided by the news of Coats’ impending candidacy.  If their early attacks and gratuitous use of the “L” word are any indication, they’re worried about the potential matchup with Evan Bayh.  Never a dull moment in 2010.

In his column in the Evening News and Tribune, Rep. Ed Clere offers a great recap of Democrats’ latest antics in the Indiana House.  No need to add much, he wraps it up well.  Here’s a clip, with the full column available here.

House Speaker Pat Bauer has cast a long shadow over the Indiana General Assembly. Last week, the darkness continued, as the session’s promising start gave way to politics as usual.

First elected in 1970, Bauer, a Democrat from South Bend, has been in the legislature for 40 consecutive years, and for six of the last eight he has held the powerful position of speaker.

The week started and ended with vehicle bills.

Contrary to what you might think — and what I thought the first time I heard the term — a vehicle bill has nothing to do with automobiles.

A vehicle bill is a placeholder. Vehicle bills have no subject. They are filed so legislation that is not introduced at the beginning of the session can be amended into them later. It is a way of circumventing the usual committee process and thereby limiting public scrutiny and open debate on politically charged issues.

The first vehicle bill in the House was House Bill 1367, which concerns education. The House Education Committee, of which I am a member, heard the bill on Monday morning, having seen it for the first time the previous Friday.

The bill would delay implementation of two reform initiatives the legislature passed last year — the School Scholarship Tax Credit and the Virtual Charter School Pilot Program. It would suspend PSAT testing and take money away from ACT/SAT preparation. The short-term savings would net schools an estimated $4.61 per student – that’s right, less than $5 per student – while delaying two programs designed to help disadvantaged and at-risk children and curtailing college preparation. In addition, the bill effectively would prevent the creation of new charter schools and could jeopardize Indiana’s ability to qualify for federal Race to the Top education funding.

It also would allow unrestricted spending from various funds to make up school budget shortfalls. According to an analysis, about 85 percent of the proposed spending already is allowed under current law. The bill is political, and it passed out of committee along party lines. It was scheduled for action by the full House yesterday.

The other Republican members of the Education Committee and I offered an alternate plan that would give schools greater financial flexibility by allowing them to transfer money among funds, which is prohibited by current law. In exchange for this new flexibility, schools would have to agree not to increase salaries next school year. Our plan would prevent the layoff of thousands of teachers statewide — which would keep class sizes from growing — and would do it in a fiscally responsible way.

The second vehicle bill popped up Wednesday morning. Members of the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee received a 31-page amendment to House Bill 1369 – a vehicle bill – four hours before the committee was scheduled to meet.

The amendment had nothing to do with government and regulatory reform. It would have made numerous changes to the law governing public-private agreements concerning toll roads. It also could have jeopardized the Ohio River Bridges Project. The Roads and Transportation Committee would have been the appropriate committee to hear the bill, but Bauer assigned it to Government and Regulatory Reform, ostensibly because of political wrangling and unrest within his own caucus.

After about an hour of testimony and committee discussion, the amendment was adopted and the bill advanced to the full House, where, on Thursday, it failed when the House did not adopt the committee report, which is almost always an uneventful voice vote. A roll-call vote was requested, and the vote was 49-49. The House is controlled 52-48 by Democrats. In this case, the speaker pro tempore — the Democrat who takes over as speaker in Bauer’s absence — voted with all 48 Republicans to keep a terrible bill from moving forward. Two Democrats were absent. After the vote, Statehouse veterans were having trouble remembering the last time something similar had happened. — Evening News and Tribune

If we’ve told you once, we’ve told you a million times. In politics, there is nothing new under the sun.

So when you read the story that Dems are railing against Dan Coats’ residency in Indiana, you ought to be asking yourself, “Where have I heard this before?”

Former Senator Dan Coats, who will challenge Evan Bayh for his old seat from Indiana, has resided and voted in Virginia for at least a decade, according to public records….

Coats residence, according to state election authorities, is in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Falls Church.

If you know your Indiana history, you can tell us where you heard this before. In 1988, Evan Bayh had to defend his residency in front of the state Supreme Court before he could run for governor.

Here’s a summary of the case, written by another Democrat you might’ve heard of: Joe Hogsett.

In November, 1987, Evan Bayh announced his intention to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor in the 1988 election. However, for approximately thirteen months during the required five year period, Bayh worked in Washington, D.C. As a result, a question arose whether Bayh was “a resident of” Indiana while he lived and worked in Washington. His eligibility to serve as governor, if elected, was formally challenged by leaders of the Indiana Republican Party….

Bayh argued that he had been “a resident of” Indiana his entire life even though he had temporarily lived elsewhere. Bayh argued that the constitution does not require physical presence in order to be a resident of the state. Rather, residency was akin to domicile, a legal concept meaning that place which, once established, an individual considers to be his/her permanent home….

Finally, on April 28, 1988, the Indiana Supreme Court rendered a decision declaring Bayh eligible to serve, if elected.

Evan Bayh moved from Shirkieville, Ind., to Washington D.C. when he was six years old. He spent all of his childhood years in D.C., eventually graduating from St. Albans school in 1974. He came back to Indiana for four years to go to IU, then promptly left again for the University of Virginia. After graduating from UVA in 1981, he split time between Washington D.C., and Indianapolis, before his political career began. Since he left for Washington D.C. in 1998, he hasn’t looked back.

So.  You tell us.  Does Evan Bayh really want to get into a dispute about residency with a candidate who isn’t even on the ballot yet?

Minutes after news leaked of Dan Coats’ bid to win the Republican Senate primary and take on Evan Bayh, Democrats were already taking shots at him.  We doubt the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has said anything about this seat since 1998 so we’ll take that as a sign that they’re official position on this race is “concerned”.

We’ve reprinted the quote from the DSCC below, which might seem odd since it is so critical of Coats, but one word jumped out at us.  See if you can find it.

“Dan Coats is a federally registered lobbyist whose client lists include banks, private equity firms, and defense contractors,” said DSCC spokesman Eric Schultz. “Coats is a Washington DC insider who lined his own pockets as taxpayers spent $700 billion bailing out Wall Street banks. Indianans won’t ignore Dan Coats’ decade as a lobbyist working the system to gain special favors for the banking industry at the time of financial collapse and at the expense of working Americans.” — DSCC

Indianans?  You’ve gotta love the irony of DC Democrats taking a shot at Coats as a “Washington insider” by using a Washington insider word like “Indianans”.  We can expect more gems like this one if Evan Bayh runs this race like he normally does: from the inside of DC consulting firms paid for with out-of-state money.