Senator Evan Bayh will appear with Barack Obama in Elkhart County Wednesday, but will the two appear on the same ballot come November?

If Barack Obama wants to choose a running mate before the start of the Olympics, he would have to do it before Friday.

"There is a school of thought that says Barack Obama should make the decision before the Olympics and before he goes off on vacation," said Notre Dame professor and WNDU Political Analyst Bob Schmuhl, "which would allow the candidate that he selects to go out there and get some publicity of his own or her own."

Schmuhl cites several reasons why Bayh might make a good choice for vice president. "He would bring executive experience -- eight years as Governor of Indiana; he would bring national experience -- two terms in the U.S. Senate; he was an ally of Hillary Clinton in the primary, so that he would be the bridge to the Clinton voters."

On the downside, Bayh wouldn't bring much in the way of geographic balance to the ticket.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Donnelly, (D) Indiana's 2nd District will be at the Elkhart town hall meeting on Wednesday. So does he expect an announcement on a choice for V.P.?

"You know, those are decisions made way above my pay grade," Donnelly joked.

Donnelly did add that if Bayh were to be chosen, the junior senator from Indiana would not be in over his head.

"The man I know, Senator Bayh, has the wisdom, the leadership, and the judgment to serve in any capacity or do anything he chooses," Donnelly said.

Perhaps even odds makers are beginning to believe. A quick check of several websites that specialize in odds making revealed several that showed Bayh as the frontrunner for the job.

The listed odds were as low as 2 to 1. One site showed that just two months ago, in June, Bayh's chances of landing the number two spot were nearly 50-to 1.