(CNN) -- To hear leaders of the "Draft John Mellencamp for Senate!" Facebook group tell it, this is a story about "insider" politicians, "street-level voters" and whether a likeable rock star with strong grass-roots appeal will run for the U.S. Senate.





The "movement," as the group calls it, was born less than three weeks ago with Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh's stunning announcement he would not not run for re-election. The next morning, Gabrial Canada, 21, was at home watching cable news reports about a Facebook page aimed at bringing Mellencamp, 58, into the race.





"After I saw that I went right to the Facebook group," Canada said Wednesday from his home in Indianapolis. "By then it had only been a matter of hours and it had already gotten a thousand members. It was incredibly exciting to see that catching hold." He contacted the group's founder and from then on he was hooked. So far, the group has garnered more than 7,000 members in 16 days.





"There's all this faux populism out there -- people who get paid millions of dollars to generate campaigns that look like they're supporting the people," said Canada, a self-described community ambassador for a local PBS TV station. "When you have the prospect of somebody as genuine as Mellencamp campaigning as someone people can relate to, it's unique, it's something you can't replace."





But there's another turn in this twisted tale. Because Bayh waited until February 15 to announce his decision, he essentially forced the party to choose its candidate instead of leaving it up to voters in the state's May 4 primary.





According to party rules, Indiana's 32-member Democratic Central Committee will vote by secret ballot to decide who will run. The committee chairman said members won't consider anyone who hasn't officially declared themselves a candidate.





"I don't think [Mellencamp's] going to declare," said chairman Dan Parker.





For his part, Mellencamp continues to issue nothing but a terse "no comment," through a spokesman.





The idea that Indiana Democrats would not hold a primary to choose their Senate candidate felt like a "punch in the face" said Canada. It's "anti-democratic."





"I don't think that the decisions of insiders are necessarily reflective of the popular political will," he said. Through meetup.com, Canada is organizing the first of a statewide series of planned rallies set for Friday at a 1950s-era hangout on Indianapolis' folksy South Side.





At Edwards Drive-In, home of the "Jumbo Tenderloin" and 99-cent root beer floats, Canada hopes to attract a dozen Mellencamp supporters, whom he'll ask to sign a petition to be submitted to Indiana newspaper editors. In the coming days, Canada plans a much larger rally in the Democratic stronghold of Bloomington -- right in the small-town rocker's own backyard.





The fact that his Facebook campaign comes during an election cycle influenced by a larger, grass-roots Tea Party movement -- with polar opposite political views -- isn't lost on the Facebook page founder John Patterson. "The end result of moving out the status quo in favor of new faces is probably the same goal," he said with a laugh.





The Draft Mellencamp campaign is racing against a deadline. The state's Democratic committee will hold its vote as early as May 15, and any candidate, including Mellencamp, must officially declare 72 hours prior, according to Parker -- that would be noon May 12.





As for Mellencamp himself, he's "never expressed overt interest in running for anything," said the musician's longtime publicist, Bob Merlis, by phone from his California office.





Much has been written in the past few weeks about Mellencamp's 2008 campaign performances for presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as his years of public support for family farmers and his opposition to the Iraq war.





"I don't think it's a crazy idea," Merlis said about the
What does the group plan? Who is organizing the effort to elect Mellencamp? Who is John Mellencamp? Has Mellencamp said he would like to serve in the senate? Who is being drafted for Senate? who says it is not a crazy idea? how many members did the facebook page win?
bringing Mellencamp, 58, into the race. Facebook group rock star "never expressed overt interest in running for anything," John Mellencamp Merlis 7,000
question: What does the group plan?, answer: bringing Mellencamp, 58, into the race. | question: Who is organizing the effort to elect Mellencamp?, answer: Facebook group | question: Who is John Mellencamp?, answer: rock star | question: Has Mellencamp said he would like to serve in the senate?, answer: "never expressed overt interest in running for anything," | question: Who is being drafted for Senate?, answer: John Mellencamp | question: who says it is not a crazy idea?, answer: Merlis | question: how many members did the facebook page win?, answer: 7,000