In a reliably Republican stronghold like Indiana most Democratic candidates don't even waste their time and money campaigning in the Hoosier State. But, not Barack Obama.The Obama campaign has been working to flip the state into the Democratic column this year.
They have spent significant amounts of money and time in the state, while Republican John McCain is M.I.A.
The Obama campaign has "competed with a ground game that no one's ever seen in the state."
Indiana, with 11 electoral votes, is one of only a handful of states where Obama's advertising has been unanswered by McCain. The Democrat has 32 offices across the state and dozens of paid staffers. His campaign spent about $6 million on television advertising in Indiana leading up to the May primary and has aired at least $1.5 million in TV ads since June.
Obama has made five stops in the state since mid-July, and running mate Joe Biden was returning to the state Wednesday.
The McCain campaign, by contrast, is nearly invisible. It has no field offices or paid staffers working full-time in the state, and McCain hasn't visited the state since July 1. Republicans were expected to respond to Obama's ad presence in the state with ads of their own later this week. George W. Bush won with 60 percent in 2004 and 57 percent in 2000, and the state last went Democratic in the 1964 Lyndon Johnson landslide.
Today, Senator Obama held a rally at the Indiana State Fair Grounds in Indianapolis. According to the firemarshall, over 20.000 Obama supporters were in attendance.
According to the Indianapolis Star: "The closeness of the race in Indiana has drawn national attention. Today, ABC will broadcast its evening news show, with anchor Charlie Gibson, live from Indianapolis. A spokesman for the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, WRTV (Channel 6), said the show will broadcast its 6:30 p.m. news show from the St. Clair bridge over the Downtown canal."
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