Indiana Senator Evan Bayh's office was mum Monday on the possibility Bayh could be days away from being announced as Barack Obama's running mate.

While no official timeline has been set, the general consensus in Washington is that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will announce his choice by the middle of the week, so that he and his running mate will have several days to campaign before the convention begins, 6News' Norman Cox reported.

Aides at Bayh's office Monday said he was working in Washington, but that he did not have any public events scheduled and that he would not discuss the vice presidential speculation.

The same wasn't true for state party leaders and Democratic candidates, who told Cox they're excited about a potential Obama-Bayh team.

"If he's on the ticket, he will help every Democrat in the state of Indiana, just as he always has," said Rep. Dennie Oxley, who's running alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson.

Republican leaders said Bayh would make the presidential race in Indiana closer, but they said Obama still couldn't win the state, and that Bayh's name on the ticket wouldn't make a difference in the race for governor.

"If you look back to 1988 when Dan Quayle was on the ticket, you know, a familiar name, a guy named Evan Bayh, you know, won the governor's office as a Democrat. So, you know, it's not unheard of, and it's not an automatic that a Hoosier vice presidential candidate will mean big things for the rest of the slate," said Jay Kenworthy, spokesman for the Indiana Republican Party.

Local experts are also closely analyzing Bayh's chances. Ball State political science professor Joe Losco said Bayh has executive experience and foreign policy credentials that Obama doesn't, but that he also voted against the party on two hot-button issues: the war and partial-birth abortion.

"It may affect the kind of support and the kind of energy that the left has in going out to work for the ticket," Losco said. "Now, having said that, the left is probably so ready for a change in Washington, that it probably would not adversely affect things that badly."

Bayh campaigned with Obama last week in Elkhart, but neither would comment then on the possibility of a joint ticket. Obama called Bayh "one of the finest U.S. senators that we have."