Clinton hoping to beat Obama in Indiana primary
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. — White House hopeful Hillary Clinton is hoping to beat Barack Obama here in what should be his own backyard: northwestern Indiana.
This is essentially suburban Chicago, the people here watch Chicago television stations, and they know Obama from coverage of his U.S. Senate run.
(AP files)
But Clinton has worked this area harder than Obama. Introducing her at a volunteer fire department here, U.S. Sen Evan Bayh ticked off the towns she has visited: Gary, Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Hobart, Valparaiso, Crown Point and Portage.
Obama, by contrast, has visited two: Gary last month and Munster this month. His wife Michelle was holding an election-eve rally in Gary Monday night.
“She’s going to win here by 10 percent,” Merrillville Clerk-Treasurer Eugene Guernsey said. While Obama is expected to take Gary handily, Clinton hopes to take many of these other towns, using the same blue-collar populism that worked for her in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“Wall Street was bailed out two weeks ago to the tune of $30 million — don’t you think we ought to bail out Main Street and hard-working Hoosiers and Americans?” Clinton asked the crowd.
Most polls have shown Clinton maintaining a slight lead in Indiana, although one recent Zogby poll had Obama up two points, a statistical tie.
Clinton tried here as she has on her other stops to harness resentment about rising gas prices for support for her proposal for a summer gas-tax holiday.
“When I was in Hobart last week, meeting with the Parker family, they were talking about how distressed they are about how the price of both groceries and gas are going up at the same time,” Clinton said.
Clinton went after Obama’s criticism of her gas-tax plan, which he said was a “gimmick” that provides only short-term relief.
“People live in the short run. They have to get up every morning and fill their tanks. They have to go to the grocery store,” she said.
It’s not just northwestern Indiana where Clinton has out-hustled Obama. Between herself, her husband and her daughter, they have made 100 stops around this state, compared to about 30 for the Obamas.
Her fans here say that while they know Obama from being a next-door senator, they know her even better from her eight years as first lady.
“A large percent of Indiana voters knew Obama better because of the Chicago media market,” said Perry Arnold, a political science professor at Notre Dame. “But my gut sense is Obama will run 5-6 points behind tomorrow, with the undecideds breaking for her.”