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Barack Obama gets back on the campaign trail with his middle class message today after taking some time out for fundraising. He'll appear at a rally at the Walbash Valley Fairgrounds in Terre Haute, Indiana. Last night, rocker Bon Jovi hosted a fund-raiser at his New Jersey mansion for about 100 Obama supporters. Earlier, in Pennsylvania, Obama seized on the new jobs report as part of his strategy to tie Republican John McCain to President Bush's economic policies. Obama said the recently concluded GOP convention focused on its nominee's biography and "didn't say a thing about what is going on...

The Obama audacity watch continued Saturday morning as the junior senator from Illinois Freudian-slipped in front of a crowd in Terre Haute, Indiana, telling them he's already president:

(Political Animal) OBAMA ON THE OFFENSIVE.... It looks like Barack Obama's intent on starting the stretch run on an aggressive note. He added a few sections to his stump speech today that I hadn't heard before. First, he took on John McCain's latest effort to present himself as an agent of change. "[S]uddenly he's the change agent," Obama said. "He says, 'I'm going to tell those lobbyists that their days of running Washington are over.' Who's he going to tell? Is he going to tell his campaign chairman, who's one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington? Is he gonna...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Two days after McCain formally accepted the nomination of his party, rival Obama accused his opponent of falsely portraying himself as a change agent despite championing the party agenda of the ruling GOP for the last eight years and tapping for the vice presidency Gov. Sarah Palin, who Obama says has taken earmarks “when it’s convenient." “Don’t be fooled,” a particularly punchy Obama told a crowd this morning at a town hall meeting in Terre Haute, Ind. “These are the folks who have been in charge. John McCain’s party, with the help of John McCain, has...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Barack Obama took his first direct swipe at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday, criticizing her for supporting congressional earmarks before opposing them. “I know the governor of Alaska has been, you know, saying she is change,” Obama said at a town hall meeting here. “And that is great. She is a skillful politician. But when you [have] been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you are the champion anti-earmark person. “That is not change, come on,” Obama continued. “I mean, words mean something. You can’t just make stuff...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) Barack Obama is offering his first direct criticism of Sarah Palin (PAY'-lin) and it's on the subject of earmarks.

Father, son met governor during Iditarod in February. By ERIN BLASKO Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH BEND — When John McCain announced last week he had chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate, many Americans had never heard of the Alaska governor. Not Carson Cocquyt, though. According to Carson's father, John Cocquyt, of South Bend, the 8-year-old could pick the Republican governor out of a lineup. "He's a McCain guy, and he sees Palin and he says, 'I know her!' " John said of his son's reaction upon seeing Palin and McCain together on television recently.

Indiana is one of the most reliably Republican states in the nation, but it also neighbors Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois. Hoosiers still prefer Republican John McCain... The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in the state shows McCain attracting 46% of the vote while Obama earns 42%. When “leaners” are included, it's McCain by six, 49% to 43%. Leaners are survey participants who initially indicate no preference for either major candidate but indicate that they are leaning towards either McCain or Obama. McCain is viewed favorably by 65% of Indiana voters, Obama by 52%.

Obama camp counting on new voters Volunteers urged to obtain as many registrations as possible. VOTE 2008 ED RONCO Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH BEND — In the coming weeks, volunteers for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign will be everywhere. Beauty shops. Barber shops. Bus stops. Churches. All for the sake of getting you to vote.

NashvillePost.com has learned that senior campaign officials from the Barack Obama Presidential campaign are being dispatched from various locations around the country and are converging in Indianapolis for a “major event” to take place on Saturday. Saturday is the same day that Obama is expected to make his first public appearance with his yet to be announced vice presidential running mate. Indiana is the home state of Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, widely considered to be on the short list of Democratic vice presidential contenders. Sources in Denver, the site of next week's Democratic National Convention, say that individuals responsible for...

On Eve of Obama Selection of Running Mate, McCain Takes Lead in Indiana Race for White House: In an election for President of the United States held today in Indiana, Republican John McCain defeats Democrat Barack Obama by 6 points, 50% to 44%, according to this latest SurveyUSA tracking poll conducted exclusively for WCPO-TV Cincinnati and WHAS-TV Louisville. Compared to an identical poll released eight weeks ago, Obama is down 3 points; McCain is up 3. Among those who regularly attend religious services, McCain leads by 28 points, up from 16 points eight weeks ago. Among those who occasionally attend,...

On Eve of Obama Selection of Running Mate, McCain Takes Lead in Indiana Race for White House: In an election for President of the United States held today in Indiana, Republican John McCain defeats Democrat Barack Obama by 6 points, 50% to 44%, according to this latest SurveyUSA tracking poll conducted exclusively for WCPO-TV Cincinnati and WHAS-TV Louisville. Compared to an identical poll released eight weeks ago, Obama is down 3 points; McCain is up 3. Among those who regularly attend religious services, McCain leads by 28 points, up from 16 points eight weeks ago. Among those who occasionally attend,...

Why should Obama choose Evan Bayh for VP? The name Birch Evans Bayh III makes Barack Hussein Obama sound almost normal. Bayh is to married a former Miss Southern California beauty queen. Obama is married to a woman who wants to be queen. Bayh doesn't use drugs so Barack's stash will be safe. Bayh was born with a tiny silver spoon in his mouth. Obama had a tiny silver spoon on his neckchain. They both have secret pasts. Obama's past is secret because he shredded the records. Bayh's is secret because nobody cares.

AIDE'S MISTAKE REVEALS OBAMA'S VP PICK EARLY (PULLED FROM CNN) It's Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana. Original link is dead. This is a screenshot courtesy of roses of sharon.

The new Barack Obama campaign office on Indianapolis Boulevard in south Hammond is modest. It looks like an insurance office, and the plain lobby houses a television that looks older than at least one of Obama's campaign organizers. To voters, the fanciness of the campaign offices may not matter as much as the number of them. The Obama campaign has opened 19 offices across Indiana -- including four in the region -- and plans to add another 10 or more before the Nov. 4 general elections, according to State Communications Director Jonathan Swain. The presumed Democratic presidential nominee also has...

MIDDLEBURY, Ind. — Pilgrim International officials have laid off 160 of their employees and temporarily ceased all operations, according to partner Dave Hoefer Sr. “We are in the process of negotiations with the bank. Right now we’re not running any production,” he said. According to Hoefer, officials at the Middlebury-based recreation vehicle manufacturer won’t know anything more of their situation until sometime next week. “The sad thing is the people, the families, everything affected. But we have to look at it all,” he said. “I am distressed to learn of the job losses in the last two days for employees...

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced the leadership of Indiana Veterans for McCain, a statewide grassroots organization that will work to bolster John McCain's support within Indiana's veterans' community. With 150 members representing all service branches, the group's membership spans generations, including veterans from World War II to the combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "John McCain's distinguished service in the United States Navy is a matter of record and there is no doubting his sacrifice for America as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. His history of putting his country first, from Hanoi to...

According to the Indy Star, Barack Obama has not asked Sen. Evan Bayh to be his running mate. At least not yet. The Star is reporting that the length of Obama's visit to Indiana -- he arrives around 6:30 p.m. this evening and does not leave until 3:30 p.m. Wednesday -- has fueled rumors that Bayh will be Obama's choice. Add to the fact that his wife, twin sons and father, the former Sen. Birch Bayh, will be joining him on this trip, and Bayh watch is on every political radar screen. The first rule of picking a vice-presidential running...

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign released its latest television ad today entitled "Celeb." The ad takes a swipe at the perception that Sen. Barack Obama is "the biggest celebrity in the world" because of his much covered Middle-East/European tour last week. The ad opens with a huge crowd screaming "O-Bama! O-Bama!" then flashes images of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Obama -- not together and by the way not very subliminal lining him up with the Britney and Paris celebrity train wrecks) -- hitting the screen with the announcer proclaiming that "Barack Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world."...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – It was a cross between "The Dating Game" and "24" as Sen. Barack Obama was flanked by two potential running mates Wednesday while criticizing President George W. Bush's efforts to confront emerging forms of potential terrorism. As experts talked about dirty bombs, anthrax and attacks on the nation's computer infrastructure, many eyes were trained on Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia. Both have been listed as potential Obama running mates and both live in key red states that Obama's campaign has targeted for the general election. Although Obama has expressed...

...Also standing along Obama's route to the summit were organized supporters of Obama's Republican rival, John McCain. Students for John McCain at Purdue University displayed campaign signs in front of Purdue Memorial Mall. Ross McMullin said the group is rallying for McCain because they said he has the experience needed to lead the country, especially in national security issues. ... The group said, even on a day centered around Obama, they see support for McCain, including the honks they received from passersby.

In an election today in Indiana, Barack Obama takes 48% of the vote, John McCain 47% of the vote -- a statistical tie -- according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WHAS-TV Louisville and WCPO-TV Cincinnati. Obama's 1-point lead is within the survey's 4 percentage point margin of sampling error,

In an election today in Indiana, Barack Obama takes 48% of the vote, John McCain 47% of the vote -- a statistical tie -- according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WHAS-TV Louisville and WCPO-TV Cincinnati. Obama's 1-point lead is within the survey's 4 percentage point margin of sampling error, and these results should be reported as a tie. Among men, McCain leads by 5; among women, Obama leads by 7 -- a 12-point gender gap. Among voters age 18 to 49, Obama leads by 5; among voters 50+, McCain leads by 3. Obama leads by 22 points...

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)—Prayer is news at this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis. A chaplains’ luncheon and a Missional Network discussion also may yield a few lines of ink. This year’s prayer emphasis at the Southern Baptist Convention has been boosted by the efforts of Indianapolis-area pastors who have caught a vision of what can happen when people spend more time praying. At last year’s meeting of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana, a first-of-its-kind prayer room featured videos, maps and other visual aids along with Bible verses, specific requests and journals to facilitate prayer. The room was...

Commentary by Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director, RFFM.org Houston, we have a problem! Or perhaps I should say, Republicans have a problem. Even though GOP crybabies--including Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity--now seem to be rallying around the candidacy of Sen. John McCain, the message has yet to filter down to the Party's base. Though McCain is the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, in Pennsylvania Rep. Ron Paul finished second with over 15% of the Republican votes cast. Gov. Mike Huckabee snatched up nearly 12% of those who voted on the GOP's side of the ballot. Both men tallied a...

Whether or not the Democratic primary marathon between two path-breaking candidates has been good for the party or the country, it has clearly been good for people like me: political scientists who study voting behavior. We've been given a data gold mine, the results of an experiment that no one intended to conduct. Sen. Barack Obama is the all but certain Democratic nominee, but voting patterns in Indiana and North Carolina show that resistance to a black candidate among some white Democrats remains a serious threat to his chances in November: · As in other recent primaries, Sen. Hillary Rodham...

Well, Barack Obama should be one happy guy. His big victory in North Carolina has pretty much locked up the Democratic presidential nomination. Now it is virtually impossible for Hillary Clinton to defeat him in the popular vote or in the elected delegate category. Thus, Obama has the nomination won unless another Rev. Wright crawls into the picture. Spinners who talk about re-votes in Florida and Michigan are dreaming; that will not happen. The Obama campaign would be foolish to participate. They played by the Democratic Party's rules and won. They're not going to sanction do-overs. Also, as Al Sharpton...

Religious voters in Indiana and North Carolina held to familiar patterns in Democratic primary balloting Tuesday, with the controversy over Sen. Barack Obama's relationship with his former pastor deepening the divide. In network exit polling, about the same number of voters in each state said they considered the situation with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. "very important" to their vote as those who said it was "not at all important." And most who gave the issue a heavy weight voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), while those who said it was not a factor went for Obama, the...

There is debatable evidence that right-wing radio and TV commentator Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" resulted in Sen. Hillary Clinton's narrow victory in Indiana's Democratic primary on Tuesday.Operation Chaos is Limbaugh's effort to encourage Republican voters to reregister as Democrats or cross over in primaries that permit it, like Indiana's. A vote for Clinton, in Limbaugh's master plan, assures an extended Democratic primary, weakening the eventual nominee.Of course, the egocentric bloviator is taking full credit for Clinton's win by only 14,000 votes in the Hoosier State. Limbaugh has a knack for taking credit for everything he promotes.Imagine if the Democrats were...

Even as Barack Obama's campaign celebrated Tuesday's primary results, aides charged yesterday that they would have had an even stronger showing were it not for meddling by an unlikely booster of Hillary Rodham Clinton: the popular conservative radio host and longtime Clinton family nemesis Rush Limbaugh. The impact of Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" emerged as an intriguing point of debate, particularly in Indiana, where registered voters could participate in either party's primary, and where Clinton won by a mere 14,000 votes. As he had before several recent primaries, Limbaugh encouraged listeners to vote for Clinton to "bloody up Obama politically" and...

It was midnight and the nation was still awaiting results from the Indiana primary, one of the biggest remaining prizes of the epic Democratic presidential battle between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. But as the clock ticked, the questions and accusations grew louder: What was wrong in Lake County? Was this more politics as usual in a county often suspected of harboring Chicago-style corruption? A day after Clinton eked out a narrow victory in the primary, no one raised allegations of illegal activity. But some say old-school politics were certainly at play in the state's second-largest county, at the...

They see themselves as partisan spoilers who sow confusion behind enemy lines: Republican voters who vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries in order to prolong and take advantage of the energy expending duel with Barack Obama. Supposedly they played a subversive role in Clinton's successes in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Indiana and North Carolina they were allegedly underhanded with their votes. They are the soldiers of "Operation Chaos." The creator and commanding General is Rush Limbaugh, the most influential talk radio showman of the right in the USA. Three hours as day, five times a week Limbaugh...

WASHINGTON - Apart from George McGovern, a plainspoken man who knows something about losing elections, not a single Democrat of national stature publicly urged Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday to end her campaign for the White House. They didn't have to. There was no shortage of other ways to signal, suggest, insinuate or instigate the same thing. And certainly no need to apply unseemly pressure to a historic political figure, a woman who has run a grueling race, won millions of votes and drawn uncounted numbers of new Democratic voters to the polls. Instead, many Democrats preferred to say softly...

The drawn out Democratic presidential race is producing "negative dividends in terms of strife within the party," said a key Senate supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton's White House bid. A day after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries bolstered Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California and a superdelegate, said she wants to talk to Clinton to "see what her view is on the rest of the race. What the strategy is." Feinstein, who described herself as "very loyal" to Clinton, said "the question comes whether she can get the delegates that she needs and I'd like to know...

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AFP) — Hillary Clinton sent a new signal Tuesday that she is ready to prolong her battle with Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination past the end of the primary calendar next month. Clinton insisted that the Michigan and Florida presidential primaries, which were voided over an internal party row, must be reinstated, raising the prospects of a party splitting backroom feud with her rival. She said in June, "if we haven't done it already, we are going to have to resolve Florida and Michigan. They were legitimate elections, people came out and voted." The former first lady...

1. Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President. That was clear before yesterday; absent a complete and unforeseen disaster, it’s a certainty now. Democratic superdelegates will soon begin to break in large numbers for Obama. They have been wanting to do so for some time now; what they needed was a plausible trigger to justify publicly supporting Obama. Last night they got it. Yesterday in the voting booths of North Carolina, the last dog died. The Clintons have done a lot of damage to our politics over the years, something which Obama tapped into with great skill. They...

Indiana's controversial photo identification rule may not have made a major dent in the state's high turnout, but it did frustrate a small group of voters more accustomed to divine law. About 12 elderly Roman Catholic nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph. Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow members of Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, even though they had been told earlier that they would need to get such an ID to vote.

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, with talent on loan from G-d, at the cutting-edge of societal evolution, with half his brain tied behind his back — just to make it fair, the all-knowing, all-caring, all-sensing, all-feeling,...

The U.S. media and blogosphere has been ablaze with speculation that conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh may have contributed to Clinton’s narrow victory in Tuesday’s Indiana primary over Barack Obama by urging Republicans to vote for the former first lady. The speculation is that the “Rush for Hillary” is seen as a way to extend the Democratic nomination battle and further damage the eventual winner. Limbaugh has also said in the past that he thought Obama needed to be “bloodied up politically, and it’s obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it and don’t have the...

The Obama campaign believes in the vast right-wing conspiracy. The Illinois senator's chief political adviser David Axelrod noted to reporters just now that Republican crossovers accounted for about 10 percent of the Indiana primary electorate, and that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had performed well with the group. "There were elements of the Republican Party, including Rush Limbaugh, Sen. Clinton's new ally, who were urging people to cross over and vote for her," said Axelrod, referring to the Limbaugh-led "Operation Chaos," a bid to disrupt Obama's path to the nomination and prolong a divisive primary battle. "She obviously was somewhat a...

Hillary Clinton eked out a narrow victory over Barack Obama in the Indiana Democratic primary, but top Obama aides say Obama would have won if it were not for conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. David Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist, told reporters that he attributed Clinton’s lead in Indiana to Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” — his campaign to have Republicans cross over and vote for Clinton to prolong the nomination fight and damage the Democratic nominee. Exit polls appear to back up Axelrod’s claims. Results of the Indiana exit poll found that that 17 percent of primary voters said they would vote...

Barack Obama’s campaign issued an e-mail on Tuesday night that appeared to relegate Hillary Clinton’s lead in Indiana to efforts by Rush Limbaugh to wreak havoc in the Democratic presidential primary contest. In an e-mail entitled “The Limbaugh Effect in Indiana = 7 percent,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton wrote: “According to the latest exit polling data, 17 percent of voters in the Indiana primary today said they would vote for John McCain in a Clinton/McCain match-up. Forty-one percent of that number is constituted by people who voted Clinton in the primary but also indicated they will vote for McCain...

A day after her loss in North Carolina and a disappointing, razor-thin win in Indiana, Hillary Clinton said she was determined to stay in the race. "It's a new day, it's a new state, it's a new election," Clinton told reporters at a press conference in West Virginia on Wednesday. "I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee," Clinton later added, saying she feels "really good" about her performance in Indiana and emphasized that she continues to win groups — white, middle class, middle income voters — essential to winning a general election against John McCain, the presumptive Republican...

Watching the coverage of the Indiana primary tonight, everyone is wondering why the votes from Lake County, where Gary is located, are delayed. A cynic might assume that local officials are waiting to see how many votes are needed to put Obama over the top.

BARACK Obama has conceded defeat to Hillary Clinton in today's Democratic White House primary in Indiana but, on the back of a win in North Carolina, offered himself up as the only candidate who could truly unite American voters. "I want to start by congratulating Senator Clinton on what appears to be her victory in the great state of Indiana," Senator Obama told a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina - even amid uncertainty over who had actually won. CBS News called Indiana for Senator Clinton, but others were more hesitant and, several hours after polls closed, NBC News and Fox...

NDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton has narrowly won the Indiana Democratic primary. Barack Obama won earlier in North Carolina and declared he was closing in on the presidential nomination. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Barack Obama swept to victory in the North Carolina primary Tuesday night and declared he was closing in on the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Rodham Clinton clung to a narrow Indiana lead, struggling to halt her rival's march into history. "Tonight we stand less than 200 delegates away from securing the Democratic...

Dear JJ, Tonight's victory in Indiana was close, and a margin that narrow means just one thing: every single thing you did to help us win in Indiana helped make the difference. Every call you made, every friend you spoke to about our campaign, every dollar you contributed made tonight's victory possible. And I couldn't be more thankful for your hard work. Every time we've celebrated a victory, we've celebrated it together. And tonight is no exception. This victory is your victory, this campaign is your campaign, and your support has been the difference between winning and losing. Thank you...

INDIANAPOLIS, IND.---Here's the official Obama team spin on what is shaping up as a likely Indiana loss: "There really has never been any question that Senator Clinton would win Indiana," said a Obama talking points memo out Tuesday. Team Obama also blames Rush Limbaugh for urging Republicans to infiltrate the primary and vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. full memo, click below... Talking points on Limbaugh Crossovers Limbaugh has been urging right-wingers to vote against Obama * There really has never been any question that Senator Clinton would win Indiana, where she has the support of Senator Evan Bayh’s political...

This could be nothing- but with 85% of the vote reported in the Indiana Primary, only two counties haven't reported a single vote - one of them is Lake County (Gary, IND) - a county with a large African American population. Maybe they're trying to 'find' some more votes for Obama. The Dems have done this before, in St. Louis during the 2000 presidential election, and a fe years back in King County (Seattle) during the WA state governor's election. Sorry, but this stuff makes me nervous.

As the fate of a nailbiter Indiana primary -- and possibly the course of the Democratic race -- hung on his city, Gary Mayor Rudy Clay said just now that it might take a while yet to finish counting the vote in Lake County, which includes Gary, and said that his city had turned out so overwhelmingly for Barack Obama that it might just be enough to close the gap with Hillary Rodham Clinton. "Let me tell you, when all the votes are counted, when Gary comes in, I think you're looking at something for the word to see," Clay,...