Well, we may now have a reason as to why Bayh announced when he did, because he wanted the party to select his successor, which, my guess, he found preferable to the possibility someone who is not a right wing preening DINO (i.e. Blue Dog) getting the nod:

On a conference call with county Democratic Party chairs this afternoon, Sen. Evan Bayh and Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker declared that not having a Democratic primary to find a replacement for the retiring Bayh would have its upsides, according to a source who was on the call.

It appears that he wanted the party apparatus to select someone from their “deep bench,” which means, I guess, that he was looking at another right wing F%$#.

Unfortunately, no one thought about Tamyra d’Ippolito, who now appears likely to have the required signatures in time to get on the ballot, and it’s likely that the Republicans are helping:

Tamyra d’Ippolito, a cafe owner who has been seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat currently held by Evan Bayh, just told TPMDC that she does have the minimum number of ballot-petition signatures need to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary. If her petitions do in fact work out, that would seriously complicate the efforts by the party to pick a new candidate to replace Bayh, the retiring incumbent Democrat, on the ballot this November.

……

I asked d’Ippolito about the possibility that Republicans may have given her a hand. Erick Erickson, for example, personally encouraged his Indiana readers to sign her petitions. “God bless him, because anybody can sign the petition,” said d’Ippolitio. “Republican, Democrat, independent, teabag person, any registered voter with a warm pulse can sign.”

D’Ippolito was not specifically aware of Republicans who signed her petitions in order to cause problems for the Democrats, but she didn’t have a problem with it: “I have no way to know that for sure, but I’m sure that is happening. It’s common sense, I think that would be realistic.”

Late Update: After telling TPM that she already had the necessary signatures collected, d’Ippolito is now denying to Greg Sargent that she has them yet, saying instead that she would have them in time.

This makes Bayh either incompetent or malevolent, you choose. He either tried to be cute about it, and got bitten, or he was just being a dick.

Here’s hoping that D’Ippolito has some problems with the signatures, because in addition to having worked for Lehman, her business, where she is also living illegally, is facing eviction.