FLOCKING TO OBAMA IN N.H., BUT STILL NO SALE ON BAYH

Two Senators from the Midwest, Evan Bayh of Indiana and Barack Obama of Illinois, are in New Hampshire doing some pre-presidential politicing this weekend.

But their Midwestiness is where the similarities ends.

Blogger and veteran New Hampshire politics pundit James Pindell reports while Bayh is having trouble getting folks to come by and see him, Obama's scheduled appearances are SRO.

Photo: Evan Bayh

THE RIGHT TIME FOR OBAMA?

The nock on Obama, in recent polls and among the pundits, is he may not be experienced enough to preside over the Oval Office. The Illinois senator is in his first term and served about a half-dozen years as an Illinois lawmaker prior to that.

As, the Chicago Sun-Times' Rich Miller reports, there was a long-ago Illinois politician with a nearly identical resume who ran for president. A guy named Lincoln.

CLINTON, OBAMA RELATIONSHIP NOT STRAINED BY AMBITION

Obama's Phoenix-like entry into the presidential arena added a sudden sense of urgency to the Hillary Clinton camp. The two Senators seem to be getting along just fine in the halls of Congress but The Washington Post reports their is a fair amount of jockeying going on below the surface.

DEM HOPEFULS ALREADY COURTING LABOR SUPPORT

With her preliminary lobbying of New York pols completed, Clinton's next concerted effort reportedly is to measure her level of support in the labor movement.

Clinton has scheduled a round of meetings with top labor leaders. But, as Hotline reports, there is no clear-cut "labor" candidate in the field this time around, as Clinton, Bayh and former V.P. candidate John Edwards can all lay legitimate claim to the support of the unions.

KERRY KEEPING HOPE ALIVE

Despite the seeming coolness for a John Kerry run within the Democratic ranks - because he was the loser last time, and then there was the all-to-Kerry-like "joke" - the Massachusetts senator still seems bent on making another White House bid.

The New York Post's (in)famous Page Six reported yesterday Kerry hosted some big-bucks Democrats at his Washingon home. Not sure how much credence you can place on Page Six (a gossip column - for those who fear some sort of toxic reaction to picking up the New York tabloid), but the following account makes it seem as though things didn't go as well as Kerry might have hoped:

"According to a source who knows one of the attendees, Kerry started off by asking guests if he should run or not: 'When no one answered, he launched into a speech about why he was the best candidate.' " --New York Post's Page Six