Republicans look to Obama
INDIANA | But Hillary supporter says she has Democratic vote sewn up in Hoosier state
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Is this an omen for how Tuesday's vote will go?
About 4,700 people filled this city's Headwaters Park to hear White House hopeful Barack Obama a few hours after rival Hillary Clinton drew 400 people to a rally at Indiana Tech University campus a mile away. But, to be fair, Clinton had a crowd of about 2,000 here a week ago.
(AP)
Both sides are hard-pressed to predict how Tuesday's Democratic primary will go. Obama was ahead, then Clinton was ahead. The most recent Zogby poll this past weekend has Obama leading Clinton by two percentage points -- a statistical tie. Obama still leads in North Carolina.
At Clinton's rally here, the state's top Democrat and her main backer, Sen. Evan Bayh, seemed to be lowering expectations, telling the Sun-Times that Clinton started way behind rival Barack Obama, "he has outspent her 2-1, and he has won every other state that borders Illinois. I think it's very close -- it could go either way."
A surprising number of registered Republicans -- who can pull Democratic ballots on Election Day -- came to both events.
"We were with eight Republicans last night and six of them are voting for Obama," said retired firefighter Dan O'Neill, 63.
"I like how family oriented he is," said Caroline Harlan, a 26-year-old Republican. Obama had his wife and daughters with him all weekend.
Exit polls show most Republicans who have crossed over to vote Democratic in this primary voted for Obama, responding to his message of reaching out to work across party lines. That bodes well for Obama in this Republican state.
"She'll win the Democrats," Bayh said. "The others, I'm not so sure."
At the Clinton event, registered Republican Sally Anepper, 53, was deciding whether to vote for Clinton or McCain, but not Obama.
"His pastor's anti-American comments really bothered me," she said.
As hard as he has tried to move past Rev. Jeremiah Wright's bombastic comments, Obama spent the first 20 minutes on "Meet the Press" Sunday giving the same answers to the same questions about why he gave Wright the benefit of the doubt for so long.
In her Sunday-morning appearance on ABC, Clinton was asked to name a single economist who supports her plan for a summer gas-tax holiday, which Obama continued to blast Sunday as a "gimmick" that would save drivers little and torpedo road repair projects.
"I'm not going to put in my lot with economists," Clinton said.
"Who understands what you're going through?" she asked the crowd at Indiana Tech. "People drive a lot of long distances in Indiana. I've driven a lot of long distances in Indiana. I think between my husband, my daughter and me, we've made 95 stops in Indiana. We believe Indiana matters."
Obama and his wife have made 28 stops in Indiana.
Clinton said she watched as a pick-up truck driver spent $63 to fill just half a tank of gas.
