Cillizza makes it:

The Democratic presidential candidate has carried Indiana only twice in the last 72 years -- 1936 and 1964.

But, public and private polling seems to suggest that Obama is running competitively with John McCain in the Hoosier State and likely will have a chance to make history in the fall.

The simplest way to tip the scales is for Obama to name Bayh as his running mate. Even Bayh's detractors acknowledge that he is extremely popular in the Hoosier State, having served as the state's governor from 1988 to 1996 and in the Senate since then.

Cillizza makes good points about the strengths Bayh brings to an Obama ticket, but flipping Indiana is probably the weakest of the lot. Because the reality is that if Obama is truly competitive in Indiana and finishes within a point or two of McCain in the Hoosier State on election day, then he's almost certainly going to be the next President of the United States whether Evan Bayh is on the ticket or not.