Results Update
With 99 percent of the votes counted, Clinton was clinging to a narrow 51 percent to 49.percent lead. Only about 22,000 votes out of about 1.2.million cast separated her and Obama.
Obama has one easily over Clinton in North Carolina, with a 56% to 42% victory after 99% of the polls have come in.
Indiana Primary Results Thread
Tue May 06, 2008 at 16:59:56 PM EDT
If you haven't already made your prediction, now is the time. We're an hour out from the first results starting to trickle in, and two hours from the first races being called.
In terms of turnout, I'm hearing that counties across the state are running out of Democratic ballots. Tippecanoe County has surpassed 35,000 total votes for the day, Vigo is reporting a shortage of ballots, and Lake County has turned out in full force. Others mentioned in the rumor mill are Porter, Howard and even Hamilton.
The question remains, of course, as to who will benefit the most from these historic numbers.
The first exit polls will be hitting the streets shortly, and I'll bring you information as I receive it.
Update: I'm hearing that Lake, Marion, and Monroe Counties have experienced huge turnout today -- a definite plus for Obama. In the 7th, evidence seems to be pointing to big cross-over voting from Republicans -- a big plus for Dr. Woody Myers, if conventional wisdom is to be believed.
Reports of heavy cross-over voting in Indianapolis
12:36:25 PM EDT
It may be anecdotal, sure, but it's still something to keep in mind as we wait for word from polling locations across the state. Via the Star:
"The two precincts at Broad Ripple Family Center selected Republican Jon Elrod over Democrat Andre Carson in March's special election for U.S. Congress. But by 9 a.m., just 21 voters in one of those precincts had requested Republican ballots -- out of 168 cast.
Amid heavy turnout, Republicans appeared to be crossing over in droves today in Marion County and suburban counties, where fewer Republican voters might impact down-ticket primary races."
Conventional wisdom says this is good news for Clinton, but is it possible that the split for these non-traditional Democratic voters will be more even than we first thought?
Make or Break: New voters may be the difference today
Tue May 06, 2008 at 10:42:57 AM EDT
I've given some radio interviews and the like over the past few weeks, and the one thing that I keep saying when we get to the inevitable request for predictions is that there is no way to know. Polls are all over the place, pundits are erratically buying and selling candidates and their spin, and it has become perfectly normal for the narrative to do two or three 180s in a single day 24-hour period.
But at the end of the day, the grand wildcard in today's election is this: A lot of people are going to vote today who under almost any other circumstance wouldn't be voting. Niki Kelly of the Journal Gazette breaks it down:
"The national spotlight will shine on the Hoosier State today, and Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita says the election system is ready to handle more than 165,000 new voters and a possible record turnout.
"Indiana has studied for this exam, and we are prepared," he said, noting that no election is ever perfect but he hopes today's will be an "exercise in accuracy and fairness for the candidates, the parties and, most of all, the voters."
Couple these unpredictable new voters with cross-over voting from traditional GOP supporters, and you have a recipe that could result in a lot of back-peddling pundits before the end of the night. I think it is safe to say that any top-of-the-ticket race called before 9pm will favor the females, and the same goes for Congressman Andre Carson in the 7th.
If we find ourselves huddled around the television and computer screens at 10:30pm, counting the votes as they slowly trickle in, you can safely assume that these new voters are to blame for the lack of sleep we'll all enjoy.
Election Day: It's our turn, so let's enjoy it
Tue May 06, 2008 at 09:30:58 AM EDT
The polls are open, and I'm wearing my "I Voted" sticker proudly. In Indianapolis, you can't swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting a news reporter, and Hillary Clinton will be in town tonight to celebrate or spin, depending on the outcome of Indiana's vote. In Bloomington this morning, folks were hitting the streets early, and if the "Honk for Hope" signs were any indication, the Obama folks were out in full force.
Matt Tully opines on the importance of today not just for the national political narrative, but for a state that has been long-overlooked in the grand scheme of things.
"How big is this?
Think about it: Since the 1968 primary -- the last presidential contest in which Indiana's vote was considered key -- 14,609 days have passed. Clearly, we're overdue.
Seven presidents have occupied the White House in the years since the 1968 election. During that time, voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other states have determined which candidates the Democratic and Republican parties would nominate. Indiana's late primary date, coupled with the state's propensity to vote Republican in national elections, has given presidential candidates little incentive to campaign here in recent decades. Election year after election year, Indiana voters have been ignored. But not this year.
From a whiskey shot in Crown Point to a pickup basketball game in Kokomo, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have brought their big-budget brands of retail politicking to Indiana. They arrived in late winter and are still here in midspring. Along the way, they've flooded our airwaves and mailboxes with campaign advertising -- some of it positive, some not. They've appeared on "The Bob & Tom Show" and shared stages with Indiana's own John Mellencamp. They've brought the national media along with them, taking reporters to college towns, farm towns and struggling factory towns. They've met voters in every part of the state and have no doubt come to understand there's more than corn in Indiana.
The spotlight has been bright."
