“Every year, two minutes after our polls close, they declare Indiana for the Republicans and that’s that,” Bob Stephenson, the local Democratic chairman said. “This is really something special to have people listening.”
There are 72 delegates at stake, and this is an open primary; in practice, anyone may choose a Democratic ballot, though state officials say technically there is a provision allowing voters to be challenged if they are believed to be switching party affiliations at the polls. Some 4.3 million voters are registered in the state, including 200,000 new voters this year. More than 50,000 people have already cast ballots in early voting.
Mr. Stephenson has fretted over whether there will be enough ballots printed here to handle the expected onslaught of voters and has struggled to find enough poll workers who are not already volunteering for the Clinton or Obama campaigns.
Around the state, the candidates are battling for endorsements. Lee H. Hamilton, the former congressman, has endorsed Mr. Obama, while Mrs. Clinton has the support of Senator Evan Bayh, and Dan Parker, the state party chairman. Some political analysts here, though, played down the significance of the state party’s political apparatus for getting out the vote.
Even Greg Goodnight, the new mayor of Kokomo, said he had been astonished by the telephone calls he had been getting lately: Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton each sought his blessing. He shows visitors a separate letter from former President Bill Clinton, still in its envelope, on his desk, but he has yet to take sides. |
