Frugal Hoosiers blog Thursday disputed that the Obama campaign has 14 or more offices in Indiana, claiming that "A visual survey of a majority of the Obama offices around the state reveals that they are nothing more than an assortment of vacant spaces, offices for other candidates, and county party headquarters. In other words, the Obama presence in Indiana is a myth..."

Advance Indiana picked up the item and claimed that the campaign is nothing but smoke and mirrors, and that the press (which has reported Obama has 17 offices in the state to McCain's 0) has been hoodwinked.

Here is the response from Jonathan Swain, communications director for Obama in Indiana:

"Barack Obama's Campaign for Change has 17 field offices open, in addition to our headquarters in Indianapolis. Each of those offices have numerous grassroots activities going on throughout the week and are staffed by campaign workers and volunteers seven days a week. In addition to that, we have dozens of grassroots activities going on in communities where we don't have offices, including many of the more than 100 'Cookouts for Change' held since last Sunday by local supporters to give others in the community the chance to find out how they can get engaged in the campaign and help deliver Indiana for Barack Obama on Nov. 4."

Frugal Hoosiers also ran a photo of an empty Muncie office; Swain says the photo is not an Obama headquarters, nor was it used during the primary.

My response: Barack Obama, in word and deed, has been an inspiration to many Americans in a campaign that has been unprecedented in my lifetime; apparently it is impossible for some camps to accept that phenomenon. Hence they pander in rumor, etc. If nothing else, this is a dishonor to both Obama and John McCain. The election should be decided on the issues, not false reporting and slander.

As for the groundswell that continues on Obama's behalf, every other day or so, I get email from Obama organizers in Indiana regarding an event -- a picnic, a meeting or just an opportunity to watch the candidate speak on TV during the convention, for example. I am well aware that the polls report the election is close, that Obama has problems with white voters, etc. But the enthusiasm remains as intact as the 17 offices in the state.

Here are the links to FH and AI:

http://frugalhoosiers.typepad.com/

http://www.advanceindiana.com/

The Poynter Institute has a story today about a story. Staff writer Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times wrote a 6,500 word article about a little girl found in a wretched home who was dubbed a feral child by social workers and police.

The child, about 5 or 6, was unable to speak or walk; she was lying on a filthy mattress, her matted hair infested with lice. The house, occupied by the child's mother and two older adult-age brothers, was a pigsty, with feces smeared on walls. The girl was wearing a diaper.

The point is that the Times delved into this story, which has a happy ending. One outcome is a debate about whether or not newspapers can still tell such stories (at such length) and still hold readers interest.

I think so.

Here is the link:

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece

Probably the best story in Tuesday's Star was Laura Misjak's front page story on bed bugs: "$60,000 has been spent, and they've still got bed bugs."

I'd link to it here, but the Star's website search function can't seem to find it. Nor can it locate the tantalizing video "Bloodthirsty bed bugs invade apartment," posted June 24 but now replaced with a video about a guy tending bar. Hmmm.

Most people are shocked that bed bugs are on the scene again -- apparently some think they're nothing but a fable, part of a quaint goodnight saying, sleep tight etc. But if you pay attention to national news, you'd know that Manhattan was infested a year or so ago and NPR et al did a lot of stories on the blood-sucking bugs. Plus the bugs have been a major pain in the ass in Hawaii.

Misjak reported that the bugs have been coming on strong since DDT was banned in 1972; that gave them a "leg up."

But I've heard of bed bugs ever since childhood. That's thanks to having parents who lived in the south, where bed bugs ruled, especially in cheap hotels. My mother oft told the story of checking into "some flea-bit dump" in Chattanooga or St. Louis or wherever. The first thing my father would do, she said, was go to the bed and craftily but quickly pull back the sheets, ta-dum.

If you get lucky, you can see 'em running. Other tell-tale signs, according to web sites, are spots of blood and bed bug carcasses. Best advice: check out.

Does this mean Indy really is a world-class city now?

Journalism is "literature in a hurry," Matthew Arnold observed, as quoted in "A Treasury of Great Reporting" by Louis L. Snyder.

Snyder's point is that the emphasis for writers of a certain ilk is on pace. "The reporter must have the ability to produce a rapid-fire story under conditions hardly ideal for creative writing."

In that sense, have no fear. Whatever happens to and with newspapers, there will always be reporters and writers who want to get their message across, quickly and with verve.

So we welcome today blogger Jon Easter, a very civil young Democrat (Decatur Township chair) and high school teacher whose comments have enlightened other blogs for some time now.

His blog, new to the sphere, is

http://www.indydemocrat.blogspot.com/

Please check out his thoughts today on the Bayh/Obama speculation, which includes a good explanation of the dynamics that could produce a Sen. Bart Peterson or Sen. Becky Skillman. The comment by varangianguard also provokes thought.

And if newspapers are dead or dying, long live intelligent writing.

Although Sen. Evan Bayh has told the Star he has had no offer to be veep from Barack Obama, the speculation has the dogs barking in Indiana.

Obama will be here for 21 hours starting Wednesday with Bayh; hence the buzz.

But does Obama need Bayh that badly? He's doing pretty well already in the state, with 18 campaign offices opened to 0 for John McCain, accordiing to the Star (meaning, one can presume, that McCain's camp thinks McCain has the state bagged).

Still, a few weeks ago, Keith Clock, Hamilton County's very busy Dem chairman, explained how well positioned that supposedly traditionally GOP (read white, rich) county is:

"There is a lot of activity here in Hamilton County that is unprecedented. We had almost 42,000 people (over 60% of the total vote) vote in the Democratic Primary here making us the 5th largest Democratic County in the state. The Obama campaign had 5 offices here in the primary and will have 2 or 3 here by September. Pretty exciting stuff."

Adds Clock, in an even more optimistic nod to the future vs. the past:

"Just as a comparison look at the differences between general election years. In the 2004 primary, the winner (John) Kerry, received around 2,900 votes. This year, the winner Obama, received over 25,000 votes."

All this, he notes, ties into the governor's race, which is another reason Dems are feeling so frisky:

"There's another huge difference in the governor's race. Even when comparing the primary results to the 2004 general election, the increase in Democratic turnout is huge."

Friend Pete Miesel, a far more serious and astute political thinker than I am, adds these thoughts about Bayh and Obama in general:

"I think that Obama's internals must be telling him that his place in the center is relatively safe for the General, so he can for a relatively safe choice, instead of a desperation Hillary move. Of course, are the polls telling them something about the Indiana governor's race that we aren't seeing, given the risk of throwing away a fairly safe Democratic Senate seat. The fact that Bayh is fairly tight with Hillary should help him a great deal in Southern Indiana (where Hillary just mauled Obama in

the primary if I remember correctly)."

When I argued the obvious -- Bayh is a lightweight and frankly, he disappointed a lot of rank-and-file Dems as governor, Pete responded:

"Of course Bayh is a lightweight, but he's an experienced lightweight who is tightly allied with the Hillary people. Judging by the joint letter he and Obama sent to the VA (Veterans' Administration) about the terrible job the VA is doing treating veteran's head injuries, perhaps Bayh is going to be the attack dog on military affairs that (Sen. Jim) Webb (Virginia) might have been. IF this is the ticket, think of all the Obama/Bayh ads that will run during the Olympics. Two men of different races, relatively the same age...big generational symbolism."

On that governor's race, Pete echoes what several Indiana bloggers have been saying today:

"You still have to wonder about the internals for the governor's race if Bayh is even this close to the (veep) spot though.: