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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana: The longest nomination race in US presidential history has moved on to a new and unlikely key battleground - the oft-ignored midwestern state of Indiana.
With the latest polls showing Democratic Illinois senator Barack Obama narrowly in the lead, a stiff battle is expected in a state best known for its massive steel mills, its millions of acres of flat farmland and its iconic automobile race - The Indianapolis 500.
"Now it's Indiana's turn," said Joe Hogsett, a long-time Indiana political strategist and officeholder who is helping lead Clinton's effort here.
"And it comes at a critical time, with our state facing job loss, high home foreclosure rates, rising costs for everything from gas to health care, and falling wages."
The candidates are not wasting any time. Obama travelled late Tuesday to the southern Indiana city of Evansville to be greeted by thousands of screaming supporters.
Clinton planned to hold a rally of her own in downtown Indianapolis on Wednesday only hours after claiming a 10-point victory in the blue-collar state of Pennsylvania.
The state, which has 72 delegates at stake, holds its primary on May 6, a date so late in the process that presidential nominees are already typically selected long before Indiana voters have their say. In fact, it's been 40 years since an Indiana primary mattered.
This year's primary, though, arrives at a crucial time with neither candidate set to reach the 2,025 pledged delegates needed to win the nomination outright.
Adding to the importance of the timing is Indiana's size. It is the nation's 15th largest state, and it is the largest of the states still to vote.
The state of 6.3 million people has a diverse population - from Gary, the largely black steel town that in many recent years has been rated the nation's "murder capital" - to dusty and economically struggling small towns that contrast with the wealthy white suburbs surrounding Indianapolis.
A small-town feel permeates much of Indiana; it is a state where hundreds of thousands attend the annual State Fair and where high school and college basketball are treated with near-religious reverence.
It's also a place where Obama's recent remarks about bitterness in small towns could hurt him.
Like many Midwestern states, Indiana has seen slow population growth in recent years while suffering from tens of thousands of lost jobs in the hard-hit manufacturing sector.
So it's not hard to figure out what the presidential candidates will be campaigning on for the next two weeks.
"This campaign is about jobs, jobs, jobs," said Robin Winston, a former Indiana Democratic Party chairman.
The campaign arrives at a rocky time politically. Recent elections have seen mayors, members of Congress and others tossed from office amid anger over tax increases and the lagging economy.
But at this point, the Democratic race appears to be a competitive one.
The most recent poll showed Obama was favoured by 50 percent of decided voters, Clinton by 45 percent and five percent of respondents were undecided.
The poll take April 14 to 16 by the Downs Centre at the University of Indiana had a margin of error of 4.2 percent.
Interestingly, Indiana offers built-in advantages for both candidates.
The state has large numbers of older voters (12.4 percent of the population according to the latest census data), and those without college degrees (81.6 percent), whom Clinton has won in large number in other states.
The state's African-American population, which has strongly favoured Obama in his bid to be the first black president is also just 8.9 percent, below the national average of 12.8 percent and 21.4 percent in North Carolina, the next big state to hold a contest.
Obama, however, hails from neighbouring Illinois and benefits from the large number of Indiana voters who live in the Chicago media market, and who began following Obama's career long before he became a national figure.
Indiana's top Democrat, Senator Evan Bayh, has campaigned vigorously for Clinton, while Obama has also won key endorsements.
In the end, though, former state party chairman Winston believes voters will make up their own minds, saying the key to victory here is making sure Hoosiers, as residents are known, feel at home with you.
"Much of this is about force of personality," he said. "You have to present yourself as someone people would like to have over for a barbeque in their backyard." - AFP/de
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