Pool Report on Obama and Bayh's Diner Trip

Portage, Indiana is a little town about  an hour and a half busride from Elkhart. Here, they have a diner called  Schoops Hamburgers but everyone calls the place Schoops Portage on account of  it being a local chain. It's one of those faux-Happy Days joints - railcar  layoutn clad in shiny aluminum, plopped down in a strip mall and capped with a  red neon sign. Most everyone inside was in on the joke - they all knew obama  and bayh were coming - they heard from their momma down at city hall, from  local reporters, the mailman - via the usual Mayberry grapevine.

Obama  and Bayh came in the front, turned right and started working the booths,  ropeline style. Obama passed a table of steelworkers and reached beyond them.  A bulky steelworker, a local named Tony Capriglione, shouted out at Bayh, "you  get a job offer yet?"

The table fell out laughing. Bayh shifted his  eyes with mock stealth and discomfort. "Shhhh," he said, walking his eyebrows  in Obama's direction.

Then a lady in a pink shirt got in on the fun.  "He your vice president?" She shouted at Obama. He chuckled and pretended like  he was going to ignore her. "I haven't made a decision about my vice president  yet," he said over his shoulder.

Obama went through a succession of  admirers and supplicants: a guy wearing a wife-beater, a fireman, a kid  wearing an "I..Am...So...Pissed...Off" t-shirt. He made his way to the formica  counter, ordered a cheeseburger with mustard, lettuce, tomato and three more  with the works. A few diners sat sullenly as he worked the second half of the  room, stonefaced and staring ahead as they worked through their nosh. Other  people clearly were as excited to see Bayh as they were Obama. But most  everyone in the room was about the senator from Chicago, had pens and  cellphones at the ready, and angled hard for a keepsake to mark their brush  with the presumptive nominee. There is a tape if you fancy a sampling of the  individual conversations.

Outside was another scrum of local press and  latecomers, maybe 100 people in all. Obama and Bayh worked the crowd, moving  toward the bus. It was here that Bayh announced he was a big White Sox fan  (Hey! Just like Obama!), prompting more than a few knowing eyerolls from the  jaded national press corps.

The whole thing was done in 20 minutes.   As they stepped toward the bus Obama clapped Bayh on the shoulder and  the two men shook hands.

-Chris Cooper

Wall Street Journal