President Obama takes a question in Elkhart, Indiana, Monday where he said doing nothing was not an option.

ELKHART, Indiana (CNN) - Seeking to rekindle last year's election magic, President Obama traded the beltway for the heartland Monday, hitting the road to make the case for his controversial $800 billion stimulus package in a part of the country particularly hard hit by the economic downturn.

Watch: 'We can't afford to wait,' the Pres. says

Addressing a raucous, campaign-style town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, Obama warned that the road to economic recovery would take years, and that a failure to pass an effective stimulus plan quickly could result in an "economic crisis as deep and as dire as the Great Depression."

The downturn could become a "crisis that at some point we may be unable to reverse," Obama told a packed high school gymnasium. "We can't afford to wait."

Elkhart has seen its unemployment rate triple to more than 15 percent over the past year. The city's jobless rate is roughly double the national average; a number of the nation's top recreational vehicle makers are located in Elkhart, and hundreds of workers at those plants have lost their jobs.

Full story

Then-Sen. Obama spoke with Sam and Dannielle Ericson while canvassing for votes in Elkhart, Indiana last May. Obama will return to the town as president on Monday.

(CNN) - President Barack Obama's no stranger to Elkhart, Indiana, where he's holding a town hall meeting today to promote his plan to stimulate the economy.

Obama made a short stop in the northern Indiana city in early May, when he was battling Hillary Clinton for his party's presidential nomination. Clinton narrowly edged Obama in the primary, but she ended up dropping out of the race for the White House a month later.

Obama returned to Elkhart and held a rally in the northern Indiana city in early August, when he was fighting Republican Sen. John McCain for the presidency. Obama edged out McCain by 1 percentage point in the general election, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1964.

Elkhart's unemployment rate topped 15 percent in December, about triple what it was a year ago. The city's jobless rate is about double the national average - a number of the nation's top recreational vehicle makers are located in Elkhart, and hundreds of workers at those plants have lost their jobs.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.

(CNN) - CNN projects that Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels will win re-election in Indiana.

CNN projections are based on actual results and exit poll data from areas where Daniels is expected to do well.

(CNN) – Voting machine problems and some delays are reported in Lake County, Indiana, just across the state line from Chicago.

Damian Rico, communications director for the city of East Chicago, Indiana, said at one precinct in Riley Park, two machines were down for about 15 minutes when the polling place opened. Both machines are up and running now.

County election director Sally La Sota was not aware of any major problems, other than long lines.

The county is expected to vote heavily for Democrat Barack Obama. There is a significant black population and the county is just southeast of Obama's hometown of Chicago. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lake County has a 26% black population, 13.9% Hispanic population.

Statewide, officials say there are no significant problems. Jim Gavin, communications director for the Indiana Secretary of State, said there were long lines statewide but no issues that he was aware of.

(CNN) – A CNN poll of polls released Saturday suggest the presidential race may be tightening in Pennsylvania — a state John McCain’s campaign has made a top target in the campaign’s closing days.

Sen. Barack Obama’s lead over Sen. John McCain in Pennsylvania stands at eight points, according to CNN’s latest poll of polls in the state. Fifty-one percent of likely voters in the state back Obama while 43 percent back McCain. Six percent are undecided. CNN’s previous Pennsylvania poll of polls, released October 30, showed Obama leading McCain by 11 percentage points – Obama had 53 percent support and McCain had 42 percent.

The race in Indiana is tied in CNN’s latest poll of polls in the historically Republican state. Both nominees have the support of 47 percent of likely voters in Indiana, with 6 percent are unsure about their choice for president. In CNN’s previous Indiana poll of polls, released October 30, McCain had a one-point advantage over Obama – 47 percent to 46 percent.

In Florida, Obama is ahead of McCain by four points. The Illinois senator garners support from 49 percent of likely voters in the state and 45 percent support the Arizona senator. Six percent of likely Florida voters are unsure about who should be the next president. In CNN’s October 31 Florida poll of polls, Obama was ahead of McCain by 3 points – 48 percent for Obama and 45 percent for McCain.

CNN’s latest Pennsylvania poll of polls consists of the following four surveys: ARG (October 29-31), Morning Call/Muhlenberg (October 27-31), NBC/Mason-Dixon (October 27-28), and Marist (October 26-27).

CNN’s latest Indiana poll of polls consists of the following three surveys: ARG (October 28-31), Indianapolis Star/WTHR (October 26-28), and Research 2000 (October 24-28).

CNN’s latest Florida poll of polls consists of the following: five surveys: ARG (October 29-31), CNN/Time/ORC (October 23-28), LATimes/Bloomberg (October 25-27), Suffolk (October 23-26), and Reuters/Zogby (October 23-26).

CNN’s state polls of polls do not have a sampling error.

Sen. Biden took a shot at Sen. McCain during a campaign stop in Indiana Saturday.

EVANSVILLE, Indiana (CNN) – The morning after Joe Biden told reporters he hoped John McCain would finish the campaign with a positive tone - “his strength” - the Delaware senator said he doesn’t remember a presidential campaign ending so viciously.

“In my view, over the last few weeks, John McCain’s campaign has gone way over the top,” said Biden Saturday at an outdoor rally on Evansville’s Main Street. “They are trying to take the low road to the highest office in the land. It’s not only George Bush’s economic policies that John McCain has bought hook, line and sinker. He’s also bought Karl Rove’s brand of political tactics.”

“It is disappointing, I never thought I’d see this from a McCain campaign,” Biden continued. “They’re calling Barack Obama every name in the book. They are going out in a way that I don’t recall it being more personally vicious.”

As a supporter yelled, “They’re scared!” the Delaware senator predicted that the tone would get worse in the last three days.

Stopping in Indiana for a morning rally in the middle of a two-day bus tour through Ohio, Biden said he and his wife Jill rose early Saturday. Mrs. Biden went running along the Ohio river while the senator was “walking and running.”

“I tell you, it's getting harder to keep up with her,” he told the crowd.

On her run, Mrs. Biden met a nun who was running and going to mass early so she could make it to the vice presidential nominee’s rally. Returning to the hotel, Mrs. Biden reminded her husband, a devout Catholic, that he hadn’t yet gone to All-Saints Day mass.

“Sister Jean-Michelle, I made 9:00. I made 9:00 mass. I just want to thank you,” said Biden, scanning the crowd for the nun. “I'll call my mom some time during the day and the first thing she'll ask me, 'Joey did you go to mass?' So you saved me, sister. You saved me.”

Mrs. Biden introduced her husband, taking off her coat at the podium to reveal an elegant, bright red dress that got a roar of approval from the audience.

“I didn’t think it would cause that much of a stir,” she responded.

Concerns about voter registration forms submitted by ACORN in Indiana have led Indiana's Secretary of State to ask for a criminal investigation of the group.

(CNN) - Indiana's secretary of state has requested a criminal investigation into the embattled community organizing group ACORN, which is accused of submitting hundreds of bogus voter registration forms in northern Lake County.

Watch: Drew Griffin on ACORN in Indiana

The request is based on Secretary of State Todd Rokita's preliminary examination and analysis of 1,438 questionable voter registration applications ACORN submitted in the county, which includes the city of Gary. Rokita, a Republican, has concluded there is "significant, credible evidence" that ACORN violated Indiana and federal law.

Read: Rokita's request to prosecutors

"This is a fraud perpetrated on all of the people of Indiana, because fraudulent registrations are the first step in diluting the voice of honest voters and rendering an inaccurate tally on Election Day," Rokita wrote in his request to state and federal law enforcement officials.

In response, ACORN said, "We believe the law requires us to turn in every card."

The group, which is the target of intense GOP attacks, says it flagged questionable registration forms collected by its canvassers. The group has been criticized for submitting phony forms in several states - many of which are considered battlegrounds in next week's presidential election.

But Rokita said ACORN should have turned the documents over to law enforcement, not registrars.

"Complying with the law to submit legitimate applications does not allow ACORN officials to evade the law against knowingly submitting fraudulent applications," Rokita wrote.

ACORN said Rokita "appears to have changed his opinion on this question two weeks before the election."

The group said it detailed its quality control procedures and said that election officials in Lake County had refused the group's documentation flagging applications the group considered questionable and refused to meet with ACORN to discuss how to handle the applications ACORN had flagged. It also said it looked forward to cooperating with Indiana authorities in prosecuting employees "who have defrauded us" by filing faked forms.

ACORN's registration activities in Lake County hit the headlines amid a wave of press reports about questionable voter registration applications submitted by the group in several states.

CNN also recently reported that federal law enforcement officials are reviewing information provided from several state investigations into ACORN's registration activities to determine whether a federal criminal investigation of the group should be opened.

Related: Obama camp calls for special prosecutor in fraud inquiry

In early October, ACORN and Project Vote announced that their extensive voter registration drive in 21 states had yielded 1.3 million registrations. But The New York Times reported last week that ACORN had dramatically reduced its estimate of the number of new voters actually registered during the drive.

Of that 1.3 million, roughly 400,000 were new voters who were not previously registered; another 400,000 were previously registered voters who needed to re-register for various reasons; and another 400,000 involved applications that were unusable because of they are illegible or incomplete, were duplicate applications or were "knowingly bogus," in the words of ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring.

"The Times piece got something very fundamental wrong," Kettenring said Monday. "We've never claimed that we put 1.3 million voters on the voter rolls. What we've said is we've registered 1.3 million people or when we are being more technically precise, that we have submitted 1.3 million voter registration applications."

Kettenring also said that a yield of 70 percent valid registrations is common for drives like ACORN's. He estimated that the roughly 30 percent of the 1.3 million applications that are not usable break down into 24 percent of the total pool that are duplicates, 5 percent of the total that are illegible or incomplete, and roughly 1.5 percent of the total pool that are "knowingly bogus," as in a registration for "Mickey Mouse."

Echoing prior statements by ACORN, Kettenring also said "what's clear is that there is a coordinated Republican effort to go after, to manufacture a crisis of voter fraud."

"Bogus voter registration applications are not fraud, period," Kettenring said, distinguishing between a fraudulent application and the later act of someone casting a ballot on the basis of a fraudulently procured registration that was submitted and resulted in a tainted registration being placed on the voter rolls. "And, so what you really have is a hysteria about a non-issue," Kettenring added.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said ACORN "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy." And he has challenged Democratic nominee Barack Obama's to explain his ties to the group.

The Obama campaign maintains that it has never paid ACORN or any of its affiliates to register voters on the campaign's behalf and that the campaign has its own voter registration effort that is problem-free.

"We register our own voters under our own standards and we do so successfully," Obama campaign general counsel Bob Bauer said during a conference call with reporters in mid-October.

–CNN's Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston contributed to this report.

Residents in Florida have run into long lines as they vote early.

(CNN) – November 4 is still more than a week away, but voters are already encountering long lines in their efforts to vote early.

Callers to CNN’s voter hotline have reported long lines in Gary, Indiana. James Brown, a Gary resident, told CNN that there were only two machines available to cast ballots at the city’s courthouse for the 25-40 people who were there with Brown when he went to vote early.

A local official told CNN the problem is not limited just to Gary. “There are long lines everywhere,” said Ruth Anne Hoagland of the Lake County Elections and Registrations Board. “They are out the door.” Hoagland also said that turnout has been strong during early voting and voters should expect at least an hour wait.

Another Lake County election official told CNN that early voting centers in Gary and other parts of the county need more computers to check voter registrations. The official assured CNN that the issue would be resolved by Election Day.

Florida, ground zero for many concerns about voting irregularities during the 2000 presidential race, is also experiencing long lines during early voting. One caller to CNN’s hotline reported that her 85-year-old mother encountered a four-hour wait to vote in Broward County. CNN’s John Zarella found similar problems. Watch Zarella’s report about long lines in Broward on the first day of early voting.

Related: Long lines, glitches reported in early voting

If you have any problems or concerns about voting, CNN would like to hear about them. Call CNN’s voter hotline at 1-877-GOCNN-08 (1-877-462-6608) to report your problem.

John Mellencamp joined Sen. Obama at an Indiana campaign event in April.

(CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama’s latest pitch to Indiana voters: hometown rocker John Mellecamp.

The Illinois senator’s campaign has launched a radio spot there that features the state’s favorite son and longtime Obama supporter.

“I’ve seen a lot of small towns, but now I’m seeing small towns across America dying,” Mellencamp says in the ad. “Folks losing their jobs and their homes… eight years of George Bush have really hurt. And – John McCain is just more of the same.”

Click here to listen to the ad

Last week, the Republican National Committee’s independent expenditure unit announced that it was re-directing its advertising efforts to focus on traditionally Republican states including Indiana.

In CNN’s last Indiana poll released on October 7, 51 percent of likely voters supported Sen. John McCain and 46 percent backed Obama. Pres. Bush won the state by 21 points four years ago and Democrats have not carried the state since 1964.

Questions have been raised about voter registration forms in Lake County, Indiana that were submitted by the group ACORN.

CROWN POINT, Indiana (CNN) - More than 2,000 voter registration forms filed in northern Indiana's Lake County by a liberal activist group this week have turned out to be bogus, election officials said Thursday.

The group - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN - already faces allegations of filing fraudulent voter registrations in Nevada and faces investigations in other states.

And in Lake County, home to the long-depressed steel town of Gary, the bipartisan Elections Board has stopped processing a stack of about 5,000 applications delivered just before the October 6 registration deadline after the first 2,100 turned out to be phony.

"All the signatures looked exactly the same," Ruthann Hoagland, a Republican on the board. "Everything on the card filled out looks exactly the same."

The forms included registrations submitted in the names of the dead - and in one case, the name of a fast-food restaurant, Jimmy Johns. Sally LaSota, a Democrat on the board, called the forms fraudulent and said whoever filed them broke the law.

Full story

Related: Officials raid ACORN's Las Vegas office

Obama makes major gains on the new CNN Electoral Map.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Polls in five key battleground states in the race for the White House released Tuesday suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is making major gains.

The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls of likely voters in Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin reflect a significant nationwide shift toward the Democratic presidential nominee.

Check out the latest CNN Electoral Map

In Indiana, 51 percent of likely voters say Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is their choice for president, with 46 percent backing Obama. Indiana went for George W. Bush by 21 points four years ago; the Democrats have not carried the state since 1964.

Obama has made significant strides in New Hampshire, a state which is credited with reviving McCain’s GOP primary campaign in both 2000 and 2008. Fifty-three percent of the state’s likely voters are backing Obama, while 45 percent are supporting McCain. Obama’s eight-point lead is larger than the five-point lead held by Obama in the last CNN New Hampshire poll taken in the beginning of September.

Bush squeezed out a slender one-point win in the state in 2000 - but four years ago, John Kerry narrowly carried the one-time GOP stronghold.

In North Carolina, the two major party nominees are locked in a dead heat, with McCain and Obama each claiming the support of 49 percent of likely voters.

“Obama's strongest region is in the Raleigh/Durham area,” noted CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “McCain does best in Charlotte and the surrounding counties.”

The last Democrat to carry North Carolina was Jimmy Carter in 1976. The state’s 15 electoral votes are considered to be critical to any successful Republican presidential campaign.

McCain currently trails Obama by three points in Ohio; 50 percent of likely voters favor Obama, while 47 percent favor McCain. No Republican has won the White House without carrying the state.

“McCain has a six-point lead in the Cincinnati area,” said Holland. “But a GOP candidate normally needs to do better than that in southwestern Ohio in order to win the state. And overall, Obama actually has a two-point edge among suburban communities across the state.”

In Wisconsin, which hasn’t voted Republican since 1984, Obama is holding a 51 to 46 percent lead among likely voters.

“Obama continues to maintain a ‘home field advantage’ in the southern Wisconsin counties that border Illinois,” noted Holland. “He has nearly a 30-point lead in the city of Milwaukee, although he loses the Milwaukee suburbs by nearly as large a margin.”

The new CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls are behind several new shifts in the CNN Electoral College map.

CNN is shifting North Carolina, with 15 electoral votes, from leaning toward McCain to toss-up. CNN is moving Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes, and New Hampshire and its four electoral votes from toss-up to “lean Obama.”

Finally, CNN is switching Michigan and its 17 electoral votes from leaning toward Obama to safe for Obama. The McCain campaign announced last week that it was shifting its resources out of the once hotly-contested Rust Belt state, instead intensify efforts in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.

With these moves, CNN estimates that if the presidential election were held today, Obama would win states with 264 electoral votes and McCain would win states with 174 electoral votes, with 100 electoral votes still up for grabs. To win the White House, 270 electoral votes are needed. Obama’s lead has expanded by 29 electoral votes when compared his margin in CNN’s last electoral map, which was released on October 1.

The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls were conduced October 3-6, with 677 likely voters in Indiana; 813 likely voters in New Hampshire; 666 likely voters in North Carolina; 749 likely voters in Ohio; and 859 likely voters in Wisconsin, all questioned by telephone.

The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points in New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin, and plus or minus 4 percentage points in Indiana and North Carolina.

(CNN) – As the general election campaign officially gets under way, a new poll suggests that Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama are running neck-and-neck in Indiana.

In a Howey-Gauge survey of likely voters in the state, McCain has support from 45 percent of those polled, Obama from 43 percent, and 12 percent are unsure about their choice for president.

The poll of 600 likely Indiana voters was conducted August 29-30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points making the race a virtual tie.

The poll does not, however, necessarily suggest that Indiana will be a battleground in the fall campaign.

"The important thing to note is that the poll was conducted entirely after the Democratic convention, and entirely before the GOP convention began. So this may represent Obama's high-water mark in Indiana," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "The real test of whether Indiana is in play will have to wait for polling that reflects the effects of both conventions."

The CNN Election Express is heading across the country.

ABOARD THE CNN ELECTION EXPRESS IN ILLINOIS (CNN) - We’re heading west, making our way through what can safely be considered Obama Country.

The Democrat’s presumptive presidential nominee also has a day job, and that’s Senator from Illinois. Before that Barack Obama was a longtime state lawmaker here, and prior to that he was a community organizer in Chicago.

We’ve been driving through a number of crucial battleground states on our way from DC to Denver, site of the Democratic National Convention, but this isn’t one of them. Vice President Al Gore won Illinois by double digits in 2000, Senator John Kerry took the state by double digits four years ago, and Obama’s expected to easily win his home state this time around.

While there’s not that much electoral drama in Illinois, it’s a different story in the two states we just passed through. Indiana’s a traditional red state that Obama would like to turn blue. And Michigan’s a state that's gone for the Democrats in the past two presidential elections, but John McCain would like to turn it red.

“I appreciate the warm welcome to Indianapolis,” said John McCain on July 1, the last time he campaigned in Indiana. And if history’s any indicator, that’s what the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee should expect.

Indiana’s voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964. George W. Bush won the state and its 11 electoral votes by 21 points four years ago.

But Obama’s working hard to put Indiana in play. And he may get a helping hand from Evan Bayh. Indiana’s Democratic Senator is also the state’s former two term governor. Bayh considered his own run for the White House before supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) in the primaries. Now he’s firmly backing Obama and is considered to be on Obama’s short list as a candidate for running mate. The two men campaigned together in Indiana last week.

It’s a different story in Michigan.

“I’m confident I will carry the state of Michigan,” said the Senator from Arizona last month. And McCain’s working hard to make that happen. He campaigned in Michigan on Wednesday, and it’s a safe bet he’ll be back again and again between now and election day.

And Mitt Romney may help him.

The former Massachusetts Governor was McCain’s rival during the primaries, but now he’s a major backer, and considered to be on McCain’s short list as a candidate for running mate. Romney has roots in Michigan. He grew up there and his father was the state’s governor.

Michigan’s voted for the Democratic candidates in the past four presidential elections, but it’s been close recently. Four years ago Kerry narrowly won the state and its 17 electoral votes. This time around, Obama has a slight lead in the polls.

In each state we’ve passed through, we’ve stopped and listened to voters, to find out what’s on their minds. We’ll keep doing that on the road to Denver. So if you see us, please come out and say hello.

We’re headed west. Next stop, Iowa. Another battleground state.

In a way it’s like going home, since the CNN Election Express called Iowa home for the month of December and the first few days of January. The Iowa Caucuses seem like ancient history now, but the first contest in the primary calendar made Obama a winner, and by doing that Iowa voters changed the landscape of the race for the White House.

See you in Iowa.

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN) - In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Jessica Yellin reports on a new, bestselling book and the goal of its author - to defeat Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

The Obama campaign announced Wednesday that former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner will deliver the keynote address at the Democratic Convention in Denver.  Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider takes a look at what the choice of Warner says about the Democrats' plans to contest Virginia.

As the CNN Election Express heads towards Colorado, Tom Foreman reports on the contest shaping up in Indiana, another battleground state.

Finally, Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley talks with Suzanne Malveaux about Obama, Mark Warrner, Colin Powell and Oprah Winfrey.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from the Best Political Team.

(CNN) – It was a split decision - with a substantial win for Sen. Barack Obama and a razor-thin victory for Sen. Hillary Clinton - in the North Carolina and Indiana Democratic primaries.

In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider breaks down exit polling data from Tuesday by age, race, and gender.

Suzanne Malveaux was with the Clinton camp on primary night, and has an inside look at the candidate’s next moves. Will Clinton fight to have the Florida and Michigan delegations seated? How will the New York senator raise the money she needs to continue her battle against Obama and his fundraising juggernaut? What arguments is she readying for her party’s superdelegates? Malveaux has all the answers – straight from sources inside the Clinton campaign.

Despite Clinton’s commitment to soldier on through the remaining contests, the math of the Democratic Party’s proportional pledged delegate allocation is working against her. Chief National Correspondent John King uses CNN’s “Magic Wall” to explain Clinton’s uphill battle to secure the delegates necessary to claim the nomination.

The next Democratic contest is in West Virginia, and CNN’s Jim Acosta is already on the ground there. Acosta takes a look at the demographics and issues in the state before Clinton and Obama face off there.

Finally, in a special post-primary version of his “What if?” series, CNN Special Correspondent Frank Sesno takes a look at what might happen at the Democratic convention if Democrats have not settled on a nominee before the party gathers in August.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

CNN projects that Hillary Clinton wins Indiana primary

Track county-by-county results here.

(CNN) – Gary, Indiana Mayor Rudy Clay defended the decision to hold back primary results in Lake County until more than 11,000 absentee ballots were tallied.

“We don’t want to present figures to anyone that’s not correct,” Clay, the county Democratic chairman and a Barack Obama supporter, told Wolf Blitzer shortly before CNN called Indiana for Hillary Clinton. “We’re counting them as we speak. This should all be over shortly.”

The county went for Obama, but not by a wide enough margin to erase Clinton’s narrow lead. With 99 percent of the vote counted, CNN projects that Clinton wins Indiana's Democratic primary.

Watch CNN Political Researcher Alan Silverleib on Tuesday's exit polls.

(CNN) - Watch CNN Political Research Alan Silverleib as he speaks with CNN.com's Melissa Long and gives a historical perspective to Tuesday's exit polling data.

Watch Bill Schneider on Tuesday night's exit polling data.

(CNN) - Watch CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider break down exit polling data about whether supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton would support Sen. Barack Obama if he wins the Democratic nomination and vice versa.

Watch John King break down different regions of Indiana and North Carolina.

(CNN) – Watch Chief National Correspondent John King use CNN’s Magic Wall to explain how the demographics in certain parts of Indiana and North Carolina may favor Sen. Hillary Clinton or her rival Sen. Barack Obama in Tuesday’s primaries.

Watch Query and Stacy discuss Indiana's Democratic primary.

(CNN) – Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Indiana is a major test for three campaigns: Hillary Clinton’s Barack Obama’s — and Rush Limbaugh’s.

Because many Republicans believe Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, has a better chance of beating Clinton in the general election, Limbaugh has encouraged listeners to his popular radio show to vote for the New York senator. Limbaugh’s pro-Clinton campaign has been dubbed “Operation Chaos.”

Some exit polls from Ohio and Texas suggest that Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” may have had an impact on results in both states.

Indiana “is so red and so Republican,” said Indianapolis radio host Jake Query, that one of the interesting questions on Tuesday “is how many people who are actually registered Republicans will now switch over for this primary and vote” for Clinton.

“There is some talk about that, there really is,” Query’s co-host Terri Stacy said Tuesday about Limbaugh’s campaign in favor of Clinton.

Query and Stacy host a morning news show on Indianapolis radio station WIBC. They discussed Indiana’s Democratic primary with CNN’s Alina Cho on American Morning. Indiana’s open primary system allows supporters of the Republican Party to vote in Tuesday’s Democratic contest between Clinton and Obama.

Sen. Hillary Clinton makes a campaign stop in Kinston, North Carolina, on Friday

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stumped for last-minute votes in Indiana and North Carolina Friday ahead of the states' Tuesday primaries.

New polls show Clinton narrowing Obama's lead in North Carolina, once seen as an easy win for Obama.

Polling in Indiana shows the two candidates running dead even.

"We are seeing terrific support all across Indiana and all across North Carolina ... I have no doubt these are going to be tight races. This campaign has been tight throughout," Obama said in Indianapolis, Indiana, Friday morning.

"But I am very confident the American people are looking for the kind of truth telling and serious policy making that is going to have an affect on heir lives, and as long as I'm talking about the issues."

Read the rest of the story

Obama is running a second Indiana ad making his case against a gas tax holiday.

(CNN) – The Obama campaign released another Indiana response ad Friday to a Hillary Clinton spot that takes aim at his opposition to a gas tax holiday.

“Pennies” – his second ad on the issue - includes quotes from critics who accuse the Clinton campaign of “political pandering.”

On a Thursday conference call with reporters, Clinton senior adviser Geoff Garin said that internal polling suggested her proposal was resonating with primary voters reeling from the impact of rising gas prices.

(Full script follows after the jump)

“Pennies” :30 seconds

www.indiana.barackobama.com/in_pennies

“Another negative ad from Hillary Clinton.

“But here’s what she's NOT saying.

“USA Today calls her three-month gas tax holiday "political pandering." It’s an election year-gimmick, saving Hoosiers just pennies a day.

“Barack Obama's plan? Take on price-gouging by oil companies. Tax their windfall profits. Invest in alternative energy. Give working families a permanent, thousand-dollar tax cut to help with rising costs.

“That's change we can believe in.

“I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message.”

(CNN) - The Indianapolis Star, Indiana’s largest paper, endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid Friday.

The paper praised the New York senator’s “clear-eyed view of the way things are,” and gave her the edge on experience and toughness, pointing to pressing domestic and international crises, writing that “Hillary Clinton is the better choice, based on her experience and grasp of major issues, to confront those challenges.”

The editorial board also said it was a difficult choice – writing that the New York senator “regrettably has pandered more to voters” than Obama, adding that some of her political experience on her husband, former President Bill Clinton’s, behalf “understandably gives many voters pause about whether another Clinton should serve as president.”

Joe Andrews said he wants to see an Obama-Bayh Ticket.

(CNN) - Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew - who was appointed to that post in 1999 by then-President Clinton - is withdrawing his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, and backing Barack Obama instead.

Andrew, who made a Thursday morning appearance at Obama's state headquarters in Indianapolis, said the time had come to "heal the rift in this party and unite behind Barack Obama now."

On a conference call with reporters and Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, Andrew said superdelegates need to make their decisions "now." He added that he'd like to see Obama pick Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh - a strong Clinton backer who has said the Jeremiah Wright controversy would pose general election problems for the Illinois senator - as his running mate.

"I'm going to be an advocate for an Obama/Bayh ticket," he said. Andrew will be doing local media interviews Thursday, and appearing at campaign events Friday.

Andrew released a letter Thursday morning explaining his decision. "Many will ask, why now? Why, with several primaries still remaining, with Senator Clinton just winning Pennsylvania, with my friend Evan Bayh working hard to make sure Senator Clinton wins Indiana, why switch now? Why call for super delegates to come together now to constructively pick a president?"

"The simple answer is that while the timing is hard for me personally, it is best for America. We simply cannot wait any longer, nor can we let this race fall any lower and still hope to win in November. June or July may be too late. The time to act is now."

The Indiana superdelegate served as party chairman from 1999 through 2001. He had endorsed Hillary Clinton last year, on the day she officially announced her White House bid.

With the switch, Clinton's lead over Obama among the party's superdelegates stands at 19.

Indiana voters head to the polls on Tuesday.

In response to Andrew, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said, "We have seen record turnout in state after state because Democrats are excited and enthusiastic about this primary process."

"On Tuesday, Hoosiers will have their turn to come out in record numbers and support their candidate. We support that Democratic process and think that every American should be able to weigh in and support the candidate of his or her own choosing."

(updated with Andrew comments)

KOKOMO, Indiana (CNN) – Hillary Clinton is defending her proposal to eliminate the gas tax this summer, as rival Barack Obama and some economists continued to criticize it as a gimmick to appeal to voters that won’t actually impact their wallets.

“You’re going to hear from my opponent, and you’re going to hear from columnists and you’re going to hear from talking heads about how there’s nothing we can do about these gas prices except to have a long-term plan,” Clinton told supporters at an Indiana rally Wednesday night.

Clinton and McCain are calling for a summer gas tax holiday.

“Well of course we need a long-term plan,” said the New York senator. “But I’m not going to sit idly by and see people go out of business who are independent truckers not able to continue to choose between food and gas because they can’t afford either. I’m not going to sit idly by.”

To illustrate her point, Clinton rode to work with a steelworker from South Bend, Indiana, Wednesday morning in a pickup truck. In a staged photo-op, they stopped for gas and paid over $60 for just under three-quarters of a tank.

Clinton has said hers is a short-term solution that would mostly benefit truckers and drivers with long commutes. She plans to introduce legislation in the Senate in the near future.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Supreme Court on Monday backed Indiana's law requiring voters to show photo identification, despite concerns thousands of elderly, poor, and minority voters could be locked out of their right to cast ballots.

The 6-3 vote allows Indiana to require the identification when it holds its statewide primary next month.

At issue is whether state laws designed to stem voter fraud end up disenfranchising large groups of Americans who might lack proper documents to prove they are eligible to vote.

The justices wrestled with a balancing test of sorts to ensure both state and individual voter interests were addressed, in what has become a highly partisan legal and political fight.

Watch Sen. Clinton explain her proposal to debate Sen. Obama one-on-one without a moderator.

SOUTH BEND, Indiana (CNN) – Standing on the field of South Bend’s minor league baseball team the Silver Hawks, Hillary Clinton challenged Barack Obama to a debate in Indiana before the state's May 6 primary. Clinton has repeatedly asked for a debate before the next contest, but this time there was a twist.

“I’m offering Sen. Obama a chance to debate me one-on-one, no moderators. Just the two of us going for 90 minutes asking and answering questions, we’ll set whatever rules seem fair,” Clinton told supporters.

A letter sent from Clinton’s campaign manager to Obama’s revealed more details about the Lincoln-Douglas style debate – “No questioners, no panelists, no video clips. One candidate would speak for two minutes, then the other, alternating back and forth all the way through the debate. Their discussion – not any pre-set rules – would determine how long they spend on one subject before moving on to another.”

Obama has complained that the widely-panned April 16 debate in Philadelphia wasn’t substantive enough and points to the 21 debates the candidates have already participated in when asked why he doesn't want another.

“We’ve had four debates between Sen. Obama and myself,” Clinton countered, “we’ve had debates other candidates were in, but just four between the two of us.”

Shortly after Clinton’s remarks, Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod rejected the challenge out of hand, telling CNN, “In the next nine days we're going to devote our attention to the voters and we will see where we are after May 6. It doesn't matter whether it's Lincoln-Douglas, standing, sitting, what language it is in, it does not matter.” (Related video: Watch David Axelrod on Ballot Bowl Saturday.)

Update: The Obama campaign released this statement by Communications Director Robert Gibbs after David Axelrod spoke with CNN.

"We have participated in 21 nationally televised debates, the most in primary history, including four exclusively with Senator Clinton.  Senator Clinton refused an earlier invitation that had been accepted to debate in North Carolina.  Over the next 10 days, we believe it's important to talk directly to the voters of Indiana and North Carolina about fixing our economy, cutting the cost of health care and ending a war in Iraq that never should have been authorized in the first place."

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Sen. Obama campaigned in Marion, Indiana Saturday.

ANDERSON, Indiana (CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama flat out denied any possibility that he would accept a debate with rival Sen. Hillary Clinton prior to the next big round of primaries.

Shortly after maintaining he isn't "ducking" debates, the Illinois senator admitted the two Democratic rivals are "not going to have debates between now and Indiana."

Voters in both Indiana and North Carolina will head to the polls May 6.

Obama's comments came in an interview with FOX News' Chris Wallace set to air Sunday. Wallace first asked Obama why he was ducking another one-on-one meeting.

"I'm not ducking one. We've had 21," Obama said. "We want to make sure we're talking to as many folks possible on the ground taking questions from voters."

Clinton has repeatedly called on Obama to meet for another debate since their last meeting in Philadelphia on April 16.

Sen. Clinton shakes hands with supporters in Ft. Wayne before speaking Saturday.

FT. WAYNE, Indiana (CNN) – Coming off a big win in Pennsylvania thanks largely to working-class voters, Hillary Clinton tried to convince Indiana supporters on Saturday that she is one of them.

Talking about helping her father (a “small businessman,” she emphasized) in his drapery business when she was growing up in Chicago, Clinton told the crowd, “It was one of the many experiences that really taught me the values that I’ve had my entire life. You know, hard work, self-reliance, individual responsibility. Good Midwestern values that we were raised with and that we believe in.”

“I feel so fortunate to have that kind of background and upbringing and I know that’s what many of you have experienced as well here in Ft. Wayne and across Indiana,” she added.

Jabs at George W. Bush are always easy applause lines at Clinton’s rallies and she used his unpopularity to push her populist message on Saturday.

“ We need a president, especially after the last seven years of George Bush who doesn’t just make speeches about American values but understands them, and lives them and believes them and wants to make sure that they are available for everybody.”

When Barack Obama made his infamous “bitter” comments, Clinton was quick to cast him as an out of touch elitist. Now she is locked in a dead heat with Obama in Indiana polls with just over a week before the state’s May 6 contest that many consider a must-win for the New York senator.

Obama and Clinton are in a dead heat in Indiana.

(CNN) - Three days after Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania, a new poll suggests it’s a dead heat in Indiana - the next crucial battleground that could decide the Democratic presidential nomination.

Barack Obama leads Clinton by 1 point in the Hoosier State, according to a just-released poll conducted by Research 2000, 48 percent to 47 percent. Given the polls' 5 point margin of error, the two candidates are statistically tied.

The poll also shows both candidates are holding strong with constituencies that have backed them in other states: Clinton easily wins among seniors and women, Obama has the advantage with young voters.

Indiana has been called a 'must win' for Clinton, even by some of her strongest supporters. On CNN's Larry King Live Wednesday, Clinton backer James Carville said the May 6 voting state could serve as a "tie breaker."

"I think it's going to be very difficult for Senator Clinton if she loses both in Indiana and North Carolina," he said. "I think she has to keep pressing the bet, doubling down."

"If she wins in Indiana, it's going to cause some people to turn up and look around," he said. "I think it's a very important contest."

Update: CNN poll of polls shows Clinton, Obama tied in Indiana

Watch Sen. McCaskill's interview with Wolf Blitzer.

(CNN) – Sen. Claire McCaskill, a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama defended Obama’s decision not to participate in a previously scheduled debate in North Carolina.

“What he wants to do is make sure the people of Indiana and North Carolina get a chance to know him,” McCaskill told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday on The Situation Room. “So, I think he really wants to stay on the ground and make people understand that he gets it.”

Earlier in the broadcast, the Clinton campaign’s communications director, Howard Wolfson, said Obama had cancelled the North Carolina debate because of a poor performance at last week’s debate. “Sen. Obama basically said, boy, I don’t want to debate anymore,” Wolfson told Blitzer.

Indiana and North Carolina will both hold their primaries on May 6.

Related video: Watch Howard Wolfson on the Democratic race

Sen. Clinton enjoyed a shot of whiskey Saturday night in Indiana. (Photo Credit: AP)

CROWN POINT, Indiana – After a day of taking shots at rival Sen. Barack Obama over his "bitter" remarks, Sen. Hillary Clinton relaxed in Crown Point, Indiana and took a shot of a different kind – Crown Royal whiskey.

Clinton was at Bronko’s Restaurant having a beer when the bartender asked, “You want a shot with that Hillary?” After some deliberation, Clinton settled on a shot of Crown Royal, a Canadian whiskey.

Later in the evening, the Democratic presidential hopeful also sat down and had some pizza.

Related video: Watch Clinton have some whiskey on Saturday night

Sen. Evan Bayh looks on as Sen. Clinton greets supporters in Valparaiso, Indiana.

VALPARAISO, Indiana (CNN) - Hillary Clinton appealed to Second Amendment supporters on Saturday by hinting that she has some experience of her own pulling triggers.

“I disagree with Sen. Obama’s assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about trade and immigration simply out of frustration,” she began, referring to the Obama comments on small-town Americans that set off a political tumult on Friday.

She then introduced a fond memory from her youth.

“You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught me how to shoot when I was a little girl,” she said.

“You know, some people now continue to teach their children and their grandchildren. It’s part of culture. It’s part of a way of life. People enjoy hunting and shooting because it’s an important part of who they are. Not because they are bitter.”

Minutes later, in a slightly awkward moment, Clinton faced a question from a woman in the audience whose son had been paralyzed by a gunshot. The woman asked Clinton what she would do about gun control as president.

Clinton touted her husband's record on gun control during his administration, and said "there is not a contradiction between protecting Second Amendment rights" and the effort to reduce crime.

Noting that many hunters and gun collectors want to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals, Clinton referred to her positive childhood experiences with firearms.

"As I told you, my dad taught me how to shoot behind our cottage,” she said. “I have gone hunting. I am not a hunter. But I have gone hunting."

Clinton said she has hunted ducks.

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

Supporters show their enthusiasm for Sen. Clinton by bringing bobblehead dolls in her likeness to a campaign event in Indianapolis Saturday. (Photo Credit: AP)

Watch Sen. Bayh talk with reporters Saturday.

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (CNN) -– Sen. Evan Bayh, Hillary Clinton’s top backer in the May 6 primary state of Indiana, argued Saturday that superdelegates need to evaluate Barack Obama’s “bitter” remarks when deciding who to back for the Democratic nomination.

“I think it’s a real potential political problem and it’s something for superdelegates and voters to think about,” said Bayh, who was made available to reporters by the Clinton campaign to speak about the controversy.

“The far right wing has a very good track record of using things like this relentlessly against our candidates, whether its Al Gore or John Kerry,” Bayh said, “I’m afraid this is the kind of fodder they might use to harm him.”

The popular Indiana senator said Republicans were able to tarnish Kerry’s war record and turn Gore into a “serial fibber,” and predicted they will “use this to damage Barack, the Democratic party, and ultimately frustrate the change that we need in this country.”

Asked if there was some truth to Obama’s remarks, made at a San Francisco fundraiser last Sunday, Bayh acknowledged there is “frustration and some justifiable anger” in America because of economic hard times.

But Bayh disagreed with Obama’s depiction of economically downtrodden Pennsylvanians, a characterization Clinton called “elitist and out of touch" in her own remarks earlier in the day.

“I think you’re on dangerous ground when you morph that into suggesting that people’s cultural values, whether its religion or hunting and fishing or concerns about trade, are premised solely upon those of kind of anxieties and don’t have a legitimate foundation independent of them,” Bayh said.

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

Watch Sen. Clinton respond to the controversy surrounding Sen. Obama's recent comments.

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (CNN) - Hillary Clinton sought on Saturday to fan the flames surrounding Barack Obama's controversial assertion that voters in some small towns are "bitter."

Clinton told an audience of automotive workers here that she was "taken aback by the demeaning remarks Sen. Obama made about people in small town America."

"Sen. Obama's remarks are elitist and out of touch," she said. "they are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans, certainly not the Americans I know, not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York."

Clinton aides said they planned to make Obama's comments central to their message on the campaign trail this weekend. The New York senator will campaign across Indiana Saturday, and will return to Pennsylvania on Sunday.

In a soft-spoken denunciation of her Democratic rival that lasted several minutes, Clinton played up her own faith and Midwestern roots before attacking point by point Obama's claims that people who feel disenfranchised in small town America "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

"Americans who believe in God believe it's a matter of personal faith," she said, to periodic applause. "People of faith I know don't cling to religion because they are bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor but because they are spiritually rich."

On the issue of guns, Clinton said: "People of all walks of life hunt, and they enjoy doing do because its an important part of their life, not because they are bitter."

"I don't think it helps to divide our country into one America that is enlightened and one that is not," Clinton continued, finishing her remarks with a line she introduced on Friday in Philadelphia after the story broke: "People don't need a president who looks down on them. They need a president who stands up for them, and that's exactly what I will do."

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

Sen. Evan Bayh, a prominent Clinton surrogate, in her new Indiana ad.

(CNN) - Hillary Clinton's campaign is featuring one of Indiana's most popular politicians in its first statewide ad in the state. The spot hits the airwaves Tuesday.

In 'Steel,' Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh says:

"America faces challenging times. We need a leader who'll fight for good jobs, change trade deals like NAFTA, cut taxes for middle class families. Someone who's ready to be commander in chief from day one.

"That leader? Hillary Clinton. I've known Hillary for 20 years. She's got a spine of steel. She'll fight for our jobs, our troops, and the America we love. Strong. Seasoned. She'll always stand up for us."

Primary voters in the state head to the polls May 6.

Clinton and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh. (AP Photo)

TERRE HAUTE, Indiana (CNN) – Hillary Clinton spent Thursday stumping in Indiana, as her campaign looks ahead to states that vote after Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary.

"We see Indiana as a very competitive state," said Clinton spokesman Doug Hattaway. "Like Ohio and Pennsylvania, the economy is the top issue we see. We feel like voters are in a place where they do see her as the candidate who can turn it around."

Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state of Illinois. Despite that advantage, the Clinton campaign is confident that Hoosier voters see the New York senator as best-equipped to handle the economy, as primary voters did in Ohio on March 4, according to exit polls.

Hattaway said Indiana had lost 9,000 manufacturing jobs in the last year and ranks tenth in the nation in home foreclosures.

He added that along with Pennsylvania, the campaign also sees upcoming states like West Virginia (May 13) and Kentucky (May 20) as places where Clinton will run strong due to economic concerns.

Clinton – who campaigned Thursday with backer Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh - chose a convenient day to get her message out, 24 hours before the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team kicks off their NCAA tournament bid against Arkansas.

The campaign wasted little time getting into the nitty-gritty, low-key policy pitch that has come to define Clinton's campaign style: her first stop was held in a cramped diner in Terre Haute, where she held a roundtable with locals, discussing health care, education, the war in Iraq and gas prices.

Bayh introduced his candidate at the diner, telling the audience to "join me in giving a warm Hoosier welcome to the next president of the United States."

"This is the first time in 40 years that Indiana has had a meaningful presidential primary, and all I can say is it’s about time," Bayh said.

At a press conference after the roundtable, Bayh praised Clinton but was careful to note Obama’s built-in upper hand in the state.

“Sen. Obama is going to have some advantages in our state,” he said. “Twenty percent of our citizens watch Chicago TV. He is probably going to outspend Sen. Clinton, I don’t know, two, three, four to one. But this is a place where results and substance matters.”

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby