In the very twilight of his Senate career, Dan Coats stopped by my office at NUVO Newsweekly in late 1998 to recap his career and bid farewell.

His career had been one of luck, opportunity and uncanny political ability. He had been an aide to Rep. Dan Quayle, succeeding him in both the House and Senate as he ascended to the vice presidency.

Coats won a tough race against State Rep. Baron Hill in 1990, and in 1992 he ran what I called a textbook campaign against Joe Hogsett. He used a radio ad campaign that spring to jet out to a big lead that was never threatened. With Gov. Evan Bayh looking to reclaim his father’s Senate seat as 1998 approached, Coats soured on the Washington political culture that demanded constant fundraising. He decided to retire.

After an hour-long talk and goodbyes and good lucks, Coats disappeared, only to return a minute or so later in what was to be an unforgettable moment. “I could have beat Evan Bayh,” Coats said, with a look of determination, before departing for a final time.

Last week, with U.S. Rep. Mike Pence deciding against a challenge to Bayh, Coats decided to make a comeback. Coats began calling Gov. Daniels and other state Republicans. A few days before, Coats began plotting with his allies in the Indiana Republican Party, Indiana Right to Life, the Indiana Family Institute and even the Tea Party movement to correct what he perceived to be a historic wrong in his mind; for the nation, for him professionally, and personally.

In the second stunning development of the week, five days after U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer announced his retirement, Coats said he could no longer sit back and watch.

“I have become increasingly alarmed and frustrated about the direction of our country and the failure by leaders in Washington to listen to those they were elected to represent,” Coats explained. “While Hoosier families have tightened their belts and sacrificed to make ends meet during these tough economic times, our elected officials in Washington continue to run up massive deficits, recklessly borrowing and spending record amounts of taxpayer money with no regard for the future generations of Americans who will inherit this staggering and ever-increasing debt.”

In the next two weeks, Coats will use his network to attain the 4,500 signatures needed for certification by Feb. 19. If he does, Coats will almost certainly edge out State Sen. Marlin Stutzman, Don Bates Jr., former Congressman John Hostettler and Tea Party revolutionary Richard Behney to take the Republican nomination for the right to challenge Sen. Bayh.

For the Bayh forces, there was a feeling of incredulity. “He’s not registered to vote in Indiana,” said Indiana Democratic Chairman Dan Parker, who is managing Bayh’s campaign. Parker said that Coats has been registered to vote in Virginia since November 1999 and voted absentee in the Old Dominion in last November’s gubernatorial race. “He can’t even sign his own petition,” Parker said.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee came out firing Wednesday morning. “According to filings, Coats lobbied for Bank of America in October 2008, just as the bank was receiving $15 billion in bailout funds. Coats’ firm was compensated $120,000 in the period just before the Wall Street bailouts,” the committee said.

Parker scoffed at the notion that the Tea Party would help attain signatures. “He’s going to ask the Tea Party for support when he helped get TARP funds for Bank of America?” Parker asked.

As the Hoosier political establishment began wrapping their heads around the reality of Coats vs. Bayh engagement 12 years after it was supposed to happen, Sen. Bayh was attending a question-and-answer meeting with President Obama.

Bayh stood up and noted that “ordinary citizens are making sacrifices” and asked, “Why can’t Washington make the same sacrifices? Why should people trust the Democratic Party?”

Obama had a grim expression and answered, “The last time the budget was balanced, there was a Democratic president who made the tough decisions. There was a $200 billion surplus at the end of his presidency.”

Obama explained that under President George W. Bush, “There were two wars that were not paid for; there were two tax cuts that were not paid for.” He likened the situation he inherited to a “cartoon character who’s been handed a ticking time bomb.” He explained, “You didn’t construct it, but you’re holding it.”

Obama counseled Bayh and other Democrats, “The way we regain the public trust is to explain, be honest. We’re not going to get out of this hole overnight.”

The irony for Sen. Bayh is that on the Democratic side, he’s been the one warning of the unsustainable spending and deficits. But he was also the senator with a seat on the Senate Banking Committee who acknowledged the “systemic failure” that led to the Wall Street meltdown in 2008 and the Great Recession of 2009 that has seen 650,000 Hoosiers apply for food assistance.

Now he’s the one holding a ticking time bomb.